I have written this guest post as part of a celebration of the 5th anniversary of RegBlog. It begins:

Over the last five years, the rules regulating money in federal elections have become increasingly loosened, not as the result of a single decision made by courts or campaign finance regulators, but due to a combination of court rulings, bureaucratic shortcomings, political gridlock, and aggressive election lawyers. The result is that it is becoming child’s play to spend unlimited and undisclosed sums to influence our federal elections. No one should have illusions things will get better quickly, even if Judge Merrick Garland is confirmed to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.