The people who keep track of such things estimate that spending for the 2012 presidential and congressional elections will reach a record-breaking $5.8 billion.

The people who do the spending probably shrug at the figure, considering that during the last election cycle, the payout was a mere 7 percent less at $5.4 billion. What’s another $400,000,000 when you’re buying democracy’s representatives?

There’s value in the purchases. The money is their investment in their America’s future. That’s why business interests account for 77 percent of all campaign contributions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The ideological, labor and other groups that shelled out the rest likely also see the cost as wise underwriting.

Far down on the scale of spending, I recently had my first “shopping experience” at a national chain store whose trademarked slogan is “Expect More. Pay Less.” There I found a skirt that was marked down by half. Unable to resist the giddy discount, I paid $13 to take it home where it resides in a spare closet, thus far unworn, its value unfulfilled.

Also in that category is, dare I say it, the city’s rail project. To be fair, spending on rail has yielded route maps, station designs, environmental studies, contract awards, a ruling structure and at least one concrete support pillar.

It has also generated conflict and more expenses. The project is supposed to come in at $5.27 billion, a tad less than what will be spent on the election campaigns this season. But unanticipated bills keep piling up, mainly because the city put its cart before the horse.

Instead of completing a key archaeological survey for the entire rail route, the city rolled the dice and came up snake eyes when the state Supreme Court ruled against its rush job. Before the ruling shut down construction, the city’s early awarding of contracts, purportedly to lock in costs during a down economy, began to rack up bills as contractors filed delay claims and change orders were issued.

The tally for the mess is $114 million so far and in comparison to the total guesstimate of rail, $114 million doesn’t seem like a lot. Still, the value of the accelerated work is dubious. If rail is built, I doubt those extra expenses will bring a better return. 

While $114 million is freely spent for steel wheels and concrete, the Great Sioux Nation of the plains is desperately struggling to put together $9 million to regain land that is of spiritual and cultural importance to its people. The land and the Black Hills were given to the tribes through various treaties and a federal court ruling and it can be argued that they were the original owners to begin with.

As things stand, the Sioux,  Lakota and others, who are among the poorest of Americans, must buy back the 1,942 acres in order to guarantee access for ceremonies that go back 3,000 years.

In a society where money is unrivaled, assigning worth to isolated lands and a range of mountains is complicated, unless cultural and spiritual values are considered transcendent.