The late Senator John McCain strongly supported legislation for reform of political campaign funding. The McCain-Feingold Act was passed in 2002.

However, the Supreme Court undid much of the reform in various rulings, including the Citizens United ruling in 2010. The decisions opened the door for unlimited contributions from corporations and allowed more channels of secret money to pour into political campaigns.

According to opensecrets.org, election spending for the 2016 presidential and congressional elections was 6.5 billion dollars.

In a political process depending more and more on money, the advantages to the wealthy are obvious.

Consider also the increasing amounts of money given to political campaigns that might previously have been given to other causes—programs for troubled youth, drug rehabilitation, spiritual growth, to name a few.

Politics has consumed us in the past few years. We seem to believe that the magic candidate will solve all of America’s problems. Even ordinary citizens of limited means, who never before gave politically, turn anger into campaign spending.

In truth, it’s probably the efforts of individuals and small groups concerned for neighbors that do more good. But money given in the past for such programs may be finding its way into political campaigns instead.