So, the rich pour money into elections; in return, politicians write laws that make the rich richer still, and now there’s no ceiling on how much can be spent. Is there a way out of this cycle?

Traditionally a government whose bill is overturned by the legislature has to quit. But here is the Supreme Administrative Court verdict.

My reading of that case is that the U.S. Supreme Court has said that the state legislature has plenary power, full power, in respect to appointment of presidential electors and that power cannot be eroded even by the state constitution,

Established politicians are also bumping into a new cast of characters within corridors of legislative power. In 2010 parliamentary elections in Brazil, for example, the candidate who won the most votes anywhere in the country (and the second-most-voted congressman in the country's history) was a clown - an actual clown who went by the name of Tiririca and wore his clown costume while he campaigned. His platform was as anti-politician as it gets. "I don't know what a representative in congress does," he told voters in YouTube video that attracted millions of voters, "but if you send me there I will tell you". He also explained that his goal was "to help needy people in this country, but especially my family".

Money-makers are tiresome company, as they have no standard but cash value.

The difference between the wealthy and the poor are the choices and priories in there lives.