It sure looks that way. Reich writes:
Our elected representatives have been acutely sensitive to the needs of Wall Street bankers, hedge-fund managers, and the executives of big pharma, big oil, and the largest health insurance companies. This is not because these individuals and interests are particularly worthy or specially deserving. It is because they are effectively bribing elected officials with their donations.
As anybody who has been paying attention knows, Wall Street money heavily favored Democrats last time around (as did Big Business money in general) and flowed generously into the campaign coffers of Barack Obama. Democrat Chuck Schumer is busily shunting great streams of Wall Street cash into Democrats’ campaigns right now. Seven out of ten of the top recipients of Goldman Sachs cash in this election are Democrats. The insurance industry is showering money on Democrats. Republicans have a big fundraising lead among . . . farmers.
If Professor Reich is going to call this bribery, he ought to point out who it is that is being bribed. It’s not like his Berkeley kids are going to look it up for themselves.