monied

That's because the people cannot be bought, making all the lobbying by the monied interests as relevant as eight-track tapes.

Despite the rhetoric of populists like McManus, the evidence is that the closer we get to direct democracy, the more we disempower the common man, and at the same time enhance--or at the very least keep intact--the muscle of the monied interests.

But not even Homer could mythologize the success of majoritarian government in California and other states, especially with regard to the clout of the monied interests.

It's not unusual for monied interests to outspend their opponents by factors of 20-to-1.