NY Times-"Buying the Election?" Summary

This article, by Joe Nocera, is questioning the amount of political campaign spending that takes place in the modern day society. It compares the spending of Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford in 1976 -a limit of $35 million each- to the 2012 candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney -estimated to spend over $1 billion each-. Nocera compares this situation to that of a scene in an Austin Powers movie. When Dr. Evil returns after being frozen for 30 years, he demands $1 million dollars from world leaders for a nuclear warhead, only to be laughed at for such a low sum. Public financing limits campaign spending as seen when Obama opted out of this system during the 2008 election. He was able to raise over $750 millon, while, John McCain was only able to use $84 million of his fundraising due to the limits of public financing. Nocera claims that today candidates are using the loop hole made by PACs. The federal government limits individual donations to $5000, however, there is no limit on donations a PAC. Although some people such as Jim Bopp Jr. think "...limits on political spending are a violation of the First Amendment", Nocera encourages us to ask if candidates are now Buying the Election?