August 7, 2012

Political Advertisements Advance The Media’s Profits

Industry analysts are predicting that upwards of $3 billion will be spent on political advertisements in the 2012 election. This is an increase of more than $500 million from 2008. But who will benefit the most from this cash infusion? Not President Obama. Not even Mitt Romney. Rather, the National Association of Broadcasters, a lobbying group
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August 2, 2012

‘Persistence Matters, Public Engagement Matters’: House Democrats Dare To Reform Campaign Finance System

Yesterday, House Democrats held a press conference outside of the capitol building along with Public Campaign, a campaign finance reform group. Their goal was to issue a D.A.R.E to Congressional Republicans encouraging them to act on campaign finance reform. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. James Clyburn, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen
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July 3, 2012

It’s Not Just Super PACs: 91% Of Independent Election Ads Have Come From Groups That Don’t Disclose Donors

As the election approaches, the public has been inundated by millions of dollars of television commercials intended to sway them one way or another in the upcoming races. While much of the media focus has been on Super PACs — new entities formed after the Citizens United decision — it’s important to remember two things about
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June 15, 2012

John McCain: Is Romney’s Super PAC Funded With “Foreign Money”?

Maverick, indeed. Despite being a prominent Mitt Romney surrogate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) criticized one of the Republican presidential contender’s super PAC sugar daddies and questioned whether the millions of dollars Adelson is spending on the election is considered “foreign money.” Yesterday, he told PBS’s News Hour: “Much of Mr. Adelson’s casino profits that go
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March 15, 2012

GRAPH: The Long Shadow of the Super PAC

The rise of the super PAC has been one of the defining trends of the 2012 election. These non-campaign organizations which, thanks in part to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, can raise and spend unlimited amounts influencing elections have had a staggering impact on how candidates and campaigns get their messages to voters.
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March 13, 2012

69 Percent of Americans Agree: Super PACs Should Be Illegal

With 91 percent of campaign ads in Mississippi and Alabama in the past month funded by super PACs, Americans have one thing to say to these political spending monsters: Get off my TV. A new poll finds that the majority of all Americans and registered voters alike say super PACs, the non-campaign organizations that can
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February 28, 2012

Super PAC Slow Jam

Last night on his show, Jimmy Fallon was joined by Brian Williams and the Roots to slow jam on President Obama’s decision to embrace super PACs. He sang: “Aww yeah, sounds like the president goes both ways on this issue. I ain’t mad. There ain’t nothing wrong with a campaign getting an insertion of backdoor
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February 22, 2012

Colbert: Obama Using Super PACs to Win Like Lincoln Using Slaves to Win The Civil War

Comedy Central fake news host Stephen Colbert’s best contribution to the Election 2012 coverage so far has been his hilarious and incredibly illuminating takedown of the super PAC: Colbert has started a super PAC, employed a former Federal Elections Commission (FEC) chairman as his lawyer, and even transferred control of his super PAC to Jon
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