Most people realize that Congress’ party-line vote to kill the FCC’s consumer broadband privacy rules earlier this month was a clear, albeit grotesque, example of pay-to-play American politics. Especially given the majority of Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike thought the rules should have remained in place. But how overt of a display of pay-to-play politics was it? The Intercept looked at campaign finance filings and found that the Senators and Representatives that voted to kill the rules received significantly more cash from broadband providers.

Pay-to-play politics at its most blatant.