Crowd funding would have been more difficult in President Washington’s day. Today, even people in the lower economic strata could raise big bucks for any kind of political campaign. However, we would still need open records to see who’s backing what candidate and for how much. $$$ could still be used to corrupt a candidate.

We need to enforce banning of any foreign monies to candidates in any government office, as well as money from lobbyists and big business. Enforce the laws on political donation amounts in any shape or form. That means someone like Zuckerbuck can’t donate to any NGO to influence. Donations are capped to any particular individual. If yo file your taxes jointly, you must also be constrained jointly as to how much you can donate, both personally and through businesses. If any abuse of funds occurs, they must pay a substantial fine, prison time, be banned from holding any government/public office, and be banned form any further political contributions in their lifetime, including via immediate family (present and past, if divorced or separated.

This is the way.

I see political parties as clearing houses. Politicians frequently lie about their record and political goals. Or, the origin of the money raised. Party affiliation alone gives a baseline from which to start.