Politics, money, and the environment

This seems a good time of year to ask, whatever happened to election reform?I just heard a news story today saying that billions of dollars have been spent in election advertising on television for this election alone. Who donates the substantial portion of this money? Is it the average person looking to make ends meet? Is it the average person who might care about clean air, clean water, open space for recreation? No, it's more likely corporations, or individual representatives of corporations, who have more specific, and often more selfish interests in mind. I propose something far more equitable, for instance free or government subsidised television time for any qualifying candidates. We should not be such a consumer society that even our government offices are up for bid.