"Extortion" by Peter Schweizer

I haven't read it yet, but I'll add it to my list:

Here's a link to the book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Extortion-Politicians-Extract-Money-Pockets/dp/0544103343

I have a few close friends who are involved in politics and it's such a weird game.  Even the "good guys" are nothing more than glorified fund raisers that spend half of every day making phone calls so they can stay in office the next go around.  The fund raising is so important that the threat of withholding donations next time around can be a heavy hand.

I'll even give a personal anecdote.  I was trying to get ahold of a state senator for a simple phone call to discuss my opinion on a law he was pushing.  He wouldn't even take my call no matter how many times I tried.  However, I contacted his staff and said I'd donate the max to his campaign if he would have lunch with me and guess how long it took me to get a lunch with him?  Yeah, about 30 minutes and I got the callback.

Even with the cleanest of candidates money provides a very loud voice.  If you're bringing the big bucks to the table, they will listen to you at the very least.