Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Corporate Appetite

A report by Public Citizen (hattip: Chris Kromm at Facing South, for bringing it to our attention) begins to show the corrosion to our democracy in 2010 from the Citizens United case, which unleashed unlimited corporate money on our electoral process:
* Spending by outside groups jumped to $294.2 million in the 2010 election cycle, a nearly four-fold increase from the $68.9 million spent in 2006, the last mid-terms. Nearly half of that ($138.5 million) came from just 10 groups, with the biggest share by far benefiting Republicans.

* In 60 out of 75 congressional races, the candidate benefiting most from outside spending won the race -- a remarkable 80 percent win rate.

* The source of the money flooding into elections after Citizens United remains largely hidden: Because many of the independent groups aren't required to disclose their donors, barely a third -- 34 percent -- of the groups reported which people and groups gave them money.

4 comments:

Brushfire said...

This country is screwed. We need a constitutional amendment that clearly codifies the fact that corporations are not human beings.

think things through said...

This country is screwed. We need a constitutional amendment that clearly codifies the fact that corporations are not human beings.

And what is this going to do to your retirement accounts that are comprised of stock in corporations?

BlueDog said...

The scariest part of the whole scenario is that, apparently, voters are selecting their representatives based largely on which candidate has the most prolific advertising.

Anne said...

I agree with Billy Kennedy. A corporation should have the right to participate in our elections after they have provided a valid original of their American birth certificate.