Money in Politics.

"Campaign finance reform" never does "get the money out of politics." Yet, the faith that "good government" is just over the horizon continues to entice educated people, now about a hundred years after the Progressive Era.

So it is no suprise that the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) is a flop. "Money Keeps Talking", by Julian Sanchez in the Feb 2004 Reason, includes data on money spent by the candidates in 2000 and 2004: $3,042 million vs 3,862 million. I could not find similar tallies in the major newspapers.

Big government means big stakes which means big attempts to buy influence. Smaller government is the only alternative.

That's not a serious option. The real, serious options are laid out in a recent Brookings study and involve further election campaign law reforms.