Those words are fascinating to me because I'm so aware of politicians giving something for something; but what I see more often, is politicians who accept bribes or politicians who intimidate to get their way, or even wthdraw (ex.committee) appointments if they don't get their way.
"If you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" is so common in politics, politicians don't tend to worry about the consequences of engaging in this kind of practice, or can't recognize when an illegal quid pro quo occurs.
If you're a politician, I would tread carefully, because you just might get caught up in an illegal quid pro quo.
What I find far more serious (in my opinion), is the politician/public employee (usually the one with considerable power) who gets caught up in a deprivation of rights under color of law case.
