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This week, I happened upon two profiles of hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah, mega-donors to the Trump campaign and to conservative politics in general. While both pieces cover much of the same history, Jane Mayer’s story in The New Yorker focuses more on Robert, while Vicky Ward, writing for The Huffington Post, recounts the role played by Rebekah both pre- and post-election.

On the heels of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, wealthy interests have flooded American politics with huge amounts of cash. We are now familiar with names such as Adelson, Koch, Steyer, Soros and Simmons, the ultra-rich who appear to want to reshape government by buying influence. Mayer, a dogged investigative reporter, detailed the Koch’s activities in a 2010 article, pulling the curtain back on their shadowy political operation for the first time. As some have observed, with big-money war chests, the influence of Super-PACs has outstripped the importance of the two major parties.

What is unique about the Mercers is not that they enabled Trump’s electoral victory, but that they subsequently inserted themselves into the governing process. Rebekah, an ally of Trump’s campaign manager (now Chief Strategist) Steve Bannon, wrangled an appointment to the transition team where she pushed for specific appointments to the new Administration (Jeff Sessions as Attorney General and Michael Flynn as National Security Adviso were two; she was reportedly very upset that John Bolton was not named Assistant Secretary of State). However, the chaotic beginning to Presidency-by-reality-TV-star is probably not the great libertarian make-over of the Federal government she envisioned.

The take-away? Money may buy you victory in an election, but it does not confer the political skills and policy chops to govern. Like the dog chasing the car, the problem is what do you do when you catch it. The inexperience of the Trump team has been on display since before the inauguration. And, while it not unusual for new administrations to suffer growing pains, this bunch is further beset by the uncomfortable mix of ideologues and inexperienced billionaires attempting to manage entrenched bureaucracies. Then there is the matter of the erratic personality of the President himself, a man, simply stated, not up to the job. Picking simultaneous fights with both the media and the intelligence community does not seem to be a formula for a successful Presidency, nor does spewing, willy-nilly, a constant stream of prevarications. Throw in the odor of scandal and corruption that is seeping out from under every door in the White House, and governance seems a distant after-thought.

The inconvenient truth is that the very design of the United States government makes its institutions resistant to change. With two legislative houses and an executive needed to make laws, it is often difficult to overcome the venal and petty concerns of the people involved. There is no substitute for political skill and experience. Outsiders parachuting in with grand schemes to remake the government have lots to learn… No matter how much money they spend.