Atwater Hates the People, Campaign Finance

Sen. Jeff Atwater doesn't care about the spirit behind campaign finance laws and tells the people that they don't matter, only money matters to him:

State Sen. Jeff Atwater can't accept a free cup of coffee when he meets with a lobbyist because of a gift ban intended to lessen the influence of special interests on Florida's Legislature. But the North Palm Beach Republican rakes in donations of up to $25,000 for a political committee under his control.

Roughly a year before he is expected to assume the Senate presidency, Atwater sits atop a $521,000 fund raised from a few dozen donors in the past 11 months. Among the $25,000 contributors were AutoNation, political action committees for car dealers and Realtors, and Hartman & Tyner, a gambling company. Atwater is one of more than two dozen lawmakers who together have amassed millions of dollars under a continuing anomaly in Florida' political fundraising laws.