rainy taxi.

a moment of clarity. 

words. 

"The steady deregulation of election financing has disenfranchised ordinary voters. Part of their disenfranchisement comes from the capacity of donors to remain unaccountable to the electorate at large. The combination of lax regulation by the F.E.C., weak oversight by the I.R.S. and a Supreme Court majority blind to the corrosive power of money in politics has created a system of campaign finance dominated by those with vast fortunes answerable to no one but themselves.

A two-class structure of election financing is emerging. The first is the traditional system of federally regulated individual contributions in which the small donor has become increasingly important. The second is the combination of “super PACs” and tax-exempt independent expenditure groups, including 501(c)(4)s, which together operate without limits and cater almost exclusively to those at the very top of the economic pyramid. Policing the hodgepodge of regulations, statutes and rulings governing elections has become virtually impossible. A kind of lawlessness prevails that is incompatible with the goals of democracy."

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Who Needs a Smoke-Filled Room?: Karl Rove, the Koch Brothers and the End of Political Transparency