> I get the politicians I am willing to pay for.

But why is this true? Why does the politician with the most money almost always win?

Personally I find this a failing in the electorate, not the system. The fact that more votes are almost a guarantee with more advertising dollars spent tells me that the electorate isn't doing their job, they are just voting for whomever they see more.

From the article:

"Six of Jefferson County's former commissioners have been found guilty of corruption for accepting the bribes, along with 15 other officials."

This shows an obvious pattern, but to me that doesn't mean "the government is broken" it means "the electorate is either not paying attention or gullible".