Media

In a new report, called Auctioning Democracy: The Rise of Super PACs and the 2012 Elections, we take a comprehensive look at Super PAC fundraising -- from their advent in the wake of 2010's Citizens United Supreme Court decision through 2011 Federal Election Commission year-end filings.

As if we needed still more evidence that financial authority over national political campaigns is increasingly wielded by fewer and fewer really rich people, consider this exhibit:

"Super PACs raised about $181 million in the last two years — with roughly half of it coming from fewer than 200 super-rich people."

Citizens United has opened the door to what one report is calling the auctioning of democracy. Much of the money being donated through Super PACs is keeping their source secret and the money is untraceable.

If what these Super PAC donors are doing is nothing to be ashamed of, then why are they hiding their identity?

Today Illinois PIRG Education Fund and Demos released a new analysis of the funding sources for the campaign finance behemoths, Super PACs. The findings confirmed what many have predicted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s damaging Citizens United decision: since their inception in 2010, Super PACs have been primarily funded by a small segment of very wealthy individuals and business interests, with a small but significant amount of funds coming from secret sources.

Last I checked, the whole point of a reduced payroll tax was to stimulate growth by keeping more money in the economy as opposed to channeling it into the coffers of the U.S. Treasury.

Americans don't need more reasons to distrust Congress these days, with polls showing record levels of public disapproval of the legislative  branch. Yet the reasons keep coming -- like the fact, as I wrote yesterday, that so many lawmakers and congressional staffers morph into highly paid lobbbyists the moment they leave Capitol Hill.

An excellent series here on PolicyShop details how corporate money corrupts our political system and erodes democracy, particularly in the wake of the Citizens United ruling.

Last month WNYC public radio launched a funny silly little tool to mock the new dangerous phenomena that are Super PACs. The "Generate Your Own Super PAC Name!" tool shoots out mocking but all-too-true faux SuperPAC names (for me it chose "Augment Personal Responsibility").

D.C. – This Wednesday, February 8th, Demos and U.S. PIRG are holding a press call to release a new and comprehensive analysis of Federal Election Commission data on Super PACs, from their advent in 2010 through the end of 2011. This new report, “Auctioning Democracy: The Rise of Super PACs and the 2012 Election,” details FEC data findings, lays out actionable recommendations for all levels of government, and provides vivid new infographics (for use with attribution) that illustrate the damage dealt by Super PACs.