Today's High Price of Purchasing Political Power

 PREDICTABLY, the twenty twenty election is the most expensive in history. The price of politicians, like everything else, keeps going up. The total amount of political power purchasing will reach fifteen billion dollars, a wildly absurd amount. corporations purchase and own the political leaders, and therefore purchase and own us, and the country. Arguably, much of the money does no good, has no impact on elections.Billions of dollars are spent on losing campaigns. by purchasing all candidates, corporate interests guarantee that they will have complete control, no matter who wins, so form their perspective, its money well spent. The principle beneficiary is the corporate news and information industry, which reaps a veritable gold mine every election year. The dispensers of allegedly fake news, the scourge of conservatives rake in billions in conservative money, conservatives willing to overlook their complete contempt for the mainstream media to purchase political power. Despite the media's alleged liberal bias, which in fact does not exist, conservatives overlook this bias in order to buy the time and space necessary to dispense their own fake new, lies, and outrageous untruths. Overall the media are biases for neither liberal nor conservative, are neither pro left or pro right, but rather, pro profit. Campaign spending is something of an arms race, like national military spending or stealing signs in baseball. The enemy is doing it, and will do it whether we do it or not, so,we must do it too, just to even the playing field. Of the billions spent, nobody knows for sure how much is reported, how much is reportable legally, and how much is legal, and how much is "dark money". The citizens United Supreme court decision of 2010 might well have been properly decided and fully constitutional, but is among the most devastating decisions in American history, because it opened the flood gate for corporate money, and rendered a corrupt political system thoroughly, irrevocably corrupt. ironic, the cure is so painfully obvious that nobody  ever mentions it; nine little words, enacted into law by congress, which would read; "The sale and purchase of political advertising is prohibited."Nine little words. Nine little words which, if enacted into law, would utterly transform the American political system, and eliminate much if not all of the corruption. As T.S. Eliot said, "so elegant, so intelligent". But it is not likely to ever happen, because our politicians are so addicted to campaign contributions. things like travel expenses, hotel accommodations, food and drink, entertainment; the list is long. the disappearance of paid political advertising would stifle the power of the billionaires, greatly reduce corporate media revenue and profit, and leave the public at the mercy of a benevolent media to provide information on candidates without realizing any profit for doing so.Obviously, its a lot to overcome, a lot of power to work against, a long shot. Very heavy lifting. But there is no harm in dreaming about a better world, and maybe, just maybe, if the situation gets desperate enough, the is desperate measure will actually come to fruition.