WHAT DO YOU GET FOR $2 BILLION?

Campaign money pollutes political system

WASHINGTON — There is a distinct smell of immorality about our national elections. You can spell that odor M-O-N-E-Y.

The humorist Will Rogers once said the American Congress is the best that money can buy. The current campaign should dispel any notion that he was wrong, except he should have included the presidency and, of course, the governorships.

So much cash is available that TV operators are running out of time slots to sell. Candidates and their supporters in so-called super PACS are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into key U.S. House and Senate races in an effort to sustain their points of view and protect their special interests.

President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney are expected to spend more than $2 billion combined to secure what most sane men and women consider the worst job in the world.

A tsunami of “filthy lucre” is coming in from everywhere. A big casino operator recently pledged $100 million for the Romney campaign and donors on Obama’s side probably will equal that.

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