Hillary Clinton is the Kevin Bacon of Wall Street.

[Divernan]

76. Legislators' votes are very fine-tuned by party leadership.

When there's a vote on an issue which will be very unpopular with a legislator's constituents, he or she can be given a pass by leadership, which painstakingly counts the votes it will need so the bare minimum of legislators have to bite the bullet and vote for a bill which might hurt them in their next election.

Congresspersons with their 2 year terms are equally vulnerable, but Senators, with their six year terms, count on the fact that an unpopular vote one or two years into their terms will be long forgotten by the general public by the time they're up for re-election. Similarly, Senators or Congresspersons who will not be running for re-election can bite lots of bullets when it comes to legislation. And since Citizens United, that last term is when they can collect big time from lobbyists (did you know politicians can keep unused campaign war chests? There are limitations on what those moneys can be spent for, but just tack some de minimis political interest on and they can travel the world.) That's also the time they can exchange votes for promises of post-political-office speaking engagements, book contracts, lucrative board appointments, etc.