I don't understand what you mean by "allowing one group to make all the decisions based on what they alone like." There are two options, give money and don't give money. There are two groups, for and against. One of these two groups will "make the decisions based on what they alone like".
As for the republic, we have survived this far because we have a constitution limiting government. As those limits get relaxed our conditions deteriorate and our survival as a republic is threatened.