Secret Money Fueling a Flood of Political Ads
Source: NY Times
ore than half of the general election advertising aired by outside groups in the battle for control of Congress has come from organizations that disclose little or nothing about their donors, a flood of secret money that is now at the center of a debate over the line between free speech and corruption.
The advertising, which has overwhelmingly benefited Republican candidates, is largely paid for by nonprofit groups and trade associations, some of which are established with the purpose of shielding wealthy individuals and corporations that contribute. More money is being spent on advertising by the secret donors than by “super PACs,” the explicitly political committees whose fortunes have dominated attention with the rise of big money in politics.
Fifty-five percent of broadcast advertising in the midterm elections has been paid for by groups that do not fully disclose their donors, according to an analysis by The New York Times of advertising data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group, compared with 45 percent from super PACs, which are required to file regular financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission.
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The dominance of secretly funded advertising defies one of the underlying assumptions of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allowed outside groups to raise and spend more money, so long as they did not coordinate with candidates and parties. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy envisioned campaigns in which unlimited independent spending by unions and corporations would be paired with robust real-time disclosure.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/us/politics/ads-paid-for-by-secret-money-flood-the-midterm-elections.html?_r=0
While much is made of the "fundraising advantage" Democrats are holding in terms of dollars flowing from donors directly to candidates, this does not include the dark money that is being spent in support of Republicans by billionaires who can now readily hide their identities thanks to Citizens United. Also, the complete disconnect between the assumptions made by Anthony Kennedy in Citizens United and reality underscores the lack of integrity of the Court's right wing appointees in trying to legitimize corporate corruption of the political process.
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