Introduction

When elected officials accept money from special interest groups and then elevate those interests above the needs of the people who sent them to office, they cease to function as representatives of the public and instead become political puppets — animated not by conscience or constitutional duty, but by the hands that finance them.

The American constitutional republic was founded on a radical and enduring ideal: that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. Our system was designed so that citizens — not corporations, not lobbying blocs, not entrenched financial interests — would be the ultimate sovereign authority. Representation was meant to be a sacred trust, a covenant between the electorate and those temporarily entrusted with power.

When that trust is traded for campaign checks or political advantage, the structure of self-government begins to erode. A political puppet may still speak the language of public service, but their priorities reveal their allegiance. Instead of deliberating for the common good, they maneuver to satisfy donors. Instead of accountability to voters, they demonstrate loyalty to benefactors.

The strength of a republic depends not merely on elections, but on fidelity to the principle that representatives serve the people first. When financial influence displaces civic duty, the gap between the governed and the governing widens — and the promise of the American experiment drifts further from its founding aspiration.

If the republic is to approach its highest ideal, it requires leaders who are independent in judgment, transparent in motive, and accountable above all to the citizens whose voices placed them in office — not to the interests that attempt to purchase influence over it.

We cannot know what our representatives do and say in private to gain contributions from special interests, but it is probably generally the case that PAC and business contributions are given with an expectation of a return on investment (paid for by you and me). This website aims to identify candidates and elected officials whose political funding efforts are indistiguishable from those of a political puppet.