Money buys influence, but is anyone surprised?

A new poll shows a growing number of California voters favor tinkering with Proposition 13, the 1978 property tax limitation measure long considered the third rail of politics.
No more.
About half of voters surveyed by the Field Poll support changing some parts of the law and 69 percent support indirectly increasing taxes on businesses to make it harder for commercial properties to avoid reassessments.
In fact, the poll found that 71 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans favor changes to the law to prevent businesses from structuring property transactions to avoid triggering reassessments under Proposition 13.
A bill that sought to address that issue stalled in stalled in a legislative committee last year where it was opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce, which labeled it a “job killer.”
Interestingly, the Field Poll results come as Princeton and Northwestern universities released a report, "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens."
The report concludes that the U.S. government does not represent the interests of the majority of the nation's citizens but is instead ruled by those of the rich and powerful (www.princeton.edu/~mgilens/Gilens%20homepage%20materials/Gilens%20and%20Page/Gilens%20and%20Page%202014-Testing%20Theories%203-7-14.pdf).
It would not be a stretch to suggest the findings of researchers Martin Gilens of Princeton and Benjamin I. Page of Northwestern fit the California experience.
Said the researchers: "The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."
The influence of these powerful elites suggests, in the case of California, despite bipartisan voter support for changing Proposition 13, chances are slim.
And getting slimmer, thanks in no small part to the conservative bloc of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Two infamous decisions by the high court -- the 2010 Citizens United decision bestowing First Amendment "personhood" on corporations and unions, and this month's McCutcheon ruling abolishing campaign-contribution limits -- make it even easier for the powerful elites to drown out the voice of the average citizen.
You don't support the state's high speed rail project or Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to bore twin tunnels under the Sacrament-San Joaquin River Delta? Sing out. Just don't be surprised when your concerns are muffled by the chorus of south state and south Valley water interests, unions representing workers that will build them, and companies that stand to profit handsomely from the multi-billion dollar projects.
In Sacramento, just as is the case in Washington, those who have the money can make sure they are heard. It's not that they overtly buy votes, although surely that has happened. Rather it's access to those officials who vote and the ability to constantly remind them that election campaigns cost money -- money the rich and powerful can make available or withhold.