The campaigns in the last election cost $14 billion[0] (for Congress subtract the $6.6B the Presidential race used). That's a lot of money to raise. It's likely

The campaigns in the last election cost $14 billion[0] (for Congress subtract the $6.6B the Presidential race used). That's a lot of money to raise. It's likely to be a major factor in Congress' paralysis: some significant amount of attention is being diverted away from lawmaking for the common good and instead towards finding ways to raise enough cash to simply stay in office. The number of dollars spent on federal elections is starting to approach the magnitude of the revenue other large industries (such as cars or movies). So the effect of money in US politics cannot be understated. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/politics/2020-race-money.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/politics/2020-race-mon...