How Money Talks On Capitol Hill

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"When these political-action committees give money," Bob Dole once said, "they expect something in return other than good government." The Kansas Senator may have been more candid than he intended. In a new book, The Best Congress Money Can Buy (Pantheon; $18.95), the veteran muckraker and anti-PAC crusader Philip M. Stern contends that special-interest donations have often been used to purchase crucial votes from U.S. legislators. Citing reports in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, Stern accuses several lawmakers of flip-flopping on issues after they received big campaign contributions. Others, he says, have been handsomely rewarded for past votes.