Crony Capitalism

Call it rent seeking, special interest politics, political capitalism, or as John Stossel calls it in this video crony capitalism.



The point is the same, but one thing is for sure it is not the capitalism that economists refer to when they speak of voluntary exchange and the free market.  What is clear is that rent-seeking behavior (my personal preference of the terminology) is alive and well. 

As the tables below from the Center for Responsive Politics website Open Secrets show for the standing members of Congress for 2010 they are not shy about receiving money from PACs and individuals to benefit special interest groups and ensure (re-)election.

House

Party  No. of Cands         Total from PACs      Total from Indivs
All          432                       $128,470,184          $158,049,647
Dems      254                        $84,615,843           $92,513,570
Repubs   178                        $43,854,341           $65,536,077

Senate
Party  No. of Cands       Total from PACs       Total from Indivs
All          99                        $38,901,871             $93,257,179
Dems     56                        $24,690,472             $66,015,468
Repubs   41                        $14,053,749             $26,956,468