America's Political Finance System is "Legalized Bribery"

"So why is it [American government] so broken? Let's consider the matter of money. When I left for Oxford in 1974, the total spent by all candidates for Congress, House and Senate, was $77 million. In 2010, it was $1.8 billion. Members of Congress spend up to 70 percent of their time raising money; that is their job; they become fundraisers far more than they are legislators. In that same year [1974], 3 percent of retiring Congressmen became lobbyists. Now it's 50 percent of Senators, 42 percent of House members. Critics from the left and right and middle alike call our political finance system one of 'legalized bribery.'" [Emphasis mine.]

To Make America Great Again, We Need to Leave the Country (The Atlantic)