Buying a politician is not really in the spirit of free market capitalism. You buy the politician to evade the harsh realities of the marketplace.
Not true. You buy politicians because than can get you around the laws and other restrictions politicians have put in place. Pelosi, for example, made sure that American Samoa was exempted from Federal minimum wage laws. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that her husband happens to own a tuna fish processing plant in American Samoa.