I completely agree that politicians are not cheap at all. The reality is that so much of the money that's invested in influencing politicians is through means other than campaign contributions.
It's through season tickets to the network of friends that know the politician, it's through donations to the university that gets their child into college, it's through pacs and issue groups, it's through lining up and bundling donors to max out their individual donations to a politician's preferred presidential candidate, it's through flying them out to special events, it's through hiring their best friend, it's through investing in their brother in law's new business, it's through buying things at their husband or wife's charity auction, it's through arranging a job for them after they retire from politics, it's through finding them a buyer for their investment property, it's through an entire network of investments one or two degrees removed from the politician.
The only sliver of that that people typically cite is the amount directly spent on campaign contributions which (1) mistakenly makes it seem like politicians are cheap and (2) is underwhelming, to people who cite those numbers sincerely believing that that's the only economic dimension to political influence.
It's through season tickets to the network of friends that know the politician, it's through donations to the university that gets their child into college, it's through pacs and issue groups, it's through lining up and bundling donors to max out their individual donations to a politician's preferred presidential candidate, it's through flying them out to special events, it's through hiring their best friend, it's through investing in their brother in law's new business, it's through buying things at their husband or wife's charity auction, it's through arranging a job for them after they retire from politics, it's through finding them a buyer for their investment property, it's through an entire network of investments one or two degrees removed from the politician.
The only sliver of that that people typically cite is the amount directly spent on campaign contributions which (1) mistakenly makes it seem like politicians are cheap and (2) is underwhelming, to people who cite those numbers sincerely believing that that's the only economic dimension to political influence.