To the editor:

It seems not so long ago that Sen. Russ Feingold and others in Congress were leading the effort for campaign reform for national candidates. My, how things have changed, and not for the good. Since the Supreme Court Citizens United decision, billions of dollars have been given with no transparency to super PACs which support various candidates from both parties. Small contributors have been totally turned off.

Something we do know is that energy executive Kelsey Warren and IT tycoon Darwin Deason have donated $6 million and $5 million, respectively, to super PACs backing former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s White House candidacy, according to the Aug. 18 USA Today. This is a total waste of much-needed money that could be used for our country’s infrastructure and charities that help people. And all that money to a flawed candidate who will never win his party’s nomination, much less the presidency. 

Businesses like Capital Federal, which has donated $20 million toward the construction of the new Kansas University School of Business, show us the way for a much better use of money. And how about Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, who are contributing billions toward world health? And reaching into history, there was steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, whose name is known all over America for his library contributions. 

This writer is totally disgusted with what has happened to our democracy during the past decade. We are now what some people would describe as an oligarchy.