"Cromnibus" Spending Bill - Shutdown Averted!

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Money is the mother's milk of politics.  It's practically the only kind of nutrient that politicians digest.  That's the problem.  Those guys take the money, turn around and practically, at times literally, let the organizations that bankrolled their campaigns write legislation for them.  That's not just free speech, that creates systematic distortion of an elected official's capacity to represent the interests of the bulk of their constituents. I really don't understand, given the current state of our system, why anyone would believe sunshine laws with unlimited contributions would make things anything other than worse--except the parties and politicians who benefit, of course.  Politicians are not generally afraid of having people know who gives them money now--few voters even pay attention--, and unlimited contributions would enable them to return donations to occasionally embarrassing sources with even less damage to their campaigns than already occurs.  Contribution limits would make the raising of extra funds illegal, and that's a far stronger deterrent for someone seeing the public trust than having to b.s. one's way to explaining why donor so-and-so's "vision" is "good for American and Americans."