Congress and Greed.

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P. J. O'Rourke.

It is a known fact to run a campaign, one needs scads of money. Donations from private citizens can help a candidate run for office, but it comes nowhere close to paying for offices, paid workers, advertising and day to day operations. This is true for all levels of seeking office.

Running for Congress can be very expensive and there are monied interests who are more than happy to fund a candidates campaign; the problem is the candidate becomes their property. So long as the Candidate pushes their agenda, they will keep the money flowing. Other monied interests who have the same point of view will also contribute and the Candidate finds he has many masters. If he wants to keep the faucets open, he has to vote the way they tell him to.

This is what the NRA is doing to many in Congress; behind the scenes they are telling our Congresspeople if they want money for their war chest, then they had better vote against any firearm legislation which may come their way. As of this writing, I do not have the figures as to how much money the NRA gives to select Congresspeople, but I am sure it is substantial.

Why do Congresspeople do this? Part of this is running campaigns, but the other part is just plain greed. " Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction." said Erich Fromm. To many of these people, the money they receive is never enough. They must have more and they get to the point it becomes apparent they do not care where or how they get it. They become detached from society at large and their constituents are just little ants who keep on voting them into office. They may do something for a photo-op or a feel good story on the news, but in reality they do not have the voters interests at heart unless there is a groundswell of dissatisfaction which threatens them. 

When the threat becomes a clear and present danger to the life they are living, they will turn on their corporate masters, but will team up with others.

Campaign reform is needed but only Congress has the power or authority to do this  so do not expect change any time soon.