Yea, I passed Civics 101, too. Then along came the reality of the current political workings in these United States. The " checks " are being written by moneyed, vested interests. Said checks are being used by the Senators to " balance " their reelection accounts.
I don't mean to hijack a thread, but I'm afraid Mr. Franklin & Mr. Swanson have not looked up from their Civics textbooks in quite some time. A man much smarter than I, Mr. Clay Jenkinson, has most accurately described our elected officials as "... answering entirely to moneyed interests. Their interest in the needs of the average citizen is subordinate in every way." I could site an example from current NorCal rail news, but I don't want to say the " N " word. Or acronym, such as it is...