Profit, Power, and Policy | Business Ethics Insights
Oct 22, 2026 · 26 min · 9 segments
Big political gifts create big obligations. Bill Keep and Nancy Lasher of *Profit, Power, and Policy* take a fresh look at campaign finance after Citizens United, using two live examples: - The…
As of this writing, the Maine Senate race has seen about $200 million spent on ads.
Here at Profit, Power & Policy, we worry about how the few write the rules and capture most of the rewards.
When someone gives hundreds of thousands or millions, even tens of millions of dollars to back a candidate or a cause, that isn't an act of generosity.
From ancient Rome to the Pacific Northwest, anthropologists have consistently found the same rule.
In this campaign, we are definitely talking about big gifts, huge amounts of money.
And donors and politicians are smart enough to avoid the appearance of a quid quo pro.
But let's face it, for people making these political gifts, giving is an investment, and sooner or later, they expect a return.
This election looks to be the most expensive midterm yet, and for a lot of that money, we will never learn the name of the actual donor.
Glad you said most expensive and not the most spent by candidates, because increasingly abs designated to help a candidate or hurt their opponent are not paid for by the candidate.
Intentionally or not, this Supreme Court made it easy to hide the source of the money used to create and support political ads, flyers, and other campaign materials.
The average voter hardly has the time and energy to try to figure out who is responsible for saying what.
As of this writing, the Maine Senate race has seen about $200 million spent on ads.
Here at Profit, Power & Policy, we worry about how the few write the rules and capture most of the rewards.
When someone gives hundreds of thousands or millions, even tens of millions of dollars to back a candidate or a cause, that isn't an act of generosity.
From ancient Rome to the Pacific Northwest, anthropologists have consistently found the same rule.
In this campaign, we are definitely talking about big gifts, huge amounts of money.
And donors and politicians are smart enough to avoid the appearance of a quid quo pro.
But let's face it, for people making these political gifts, giving is an investment, and sooner or later, they expect a return.
This election looks to be the most expensive midterm yet, and for a lot of that money, we will never learn the name of the actual donor.
Glad you said most expensive and not the most spent by candidates, because increasingly abs designated to help a candidate or hurt their opponent are not paid for by the candidate.
Intentionally or not, this Supreme Court made it easy to hide the source of the money used to create and support political ads, flyers, and other campaign materials.
The average voter hardly has the time and energy to try to figure out who is responsible for saying what.
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