In a typical election year, campaigns for the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives spend about $1 billion. It is the same amount Americans spend every year on chewing gum. The objection to money in politics is a moral one; it's because it's like the literal manipulation of society. In a country with six million pools, that means that roughly 550 children under 10 age drown each year. There's one child killed by a gun for every one million who dies from swimming accidents.