My give a damn is busted

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ProPublica:

Two Dark Money Groups Outspending All Super PACs Combined

Two conservative nonprofits, Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity, have poured almost $60 million into TV ads to influence the presidential race so far, outgunning all super PACs put together, new spending estimates show.

These nonprofits, also known as 501(c)(4)s or c4s for their section of the tax code, don’t have to disclose their donors to the public.

The two nonprofits had outspent all other types of outside spending groups in this election cycle, including political parties, unions, trade associations and political action committees, a ProPublica analysis of data provided by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group, or CMAG, found.

Super PACs, which do have to report their donors, spent an estimated $55.7 million on TV ads mentioning a presidential candidate, CMAG data shows. Parties spent $22.5 million.

Crossroads GPS, or Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, is the brainchild of GOP strategist Karl Rove, and spent an estimated $41.7 million. Americans for Prosperity, credited with helping launch the Tea Party movement, is backed in part by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, and spent an estimated $18.2 million.

Campaign-finance reform advocates say the spending by the two organizations highlights the role anonymous money is playing in this election, which will be the most expensive in history.

“First of all, it shows how much desire there is for secrecy among huge donors who want to be able to spend money to influence this election without leaving any fingerprints,” said Fred Wertheimer, who runs Democracy 21, a watchdog group. “Secondly, it shows that so far, there is an enormous advantage being played in this election by just two groups that are exercising undue influence in the elections.”

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Once upon a time I would have been outraged by this story, but right now my give a damn is busted.

Part of the reason is the way that four years ago Barack Obama used his fundraising advantage like a club against his opponents. And don’t hand me that shit about how he raised all that money from college kids sending him their beer and choom money over the internets. They used online donations to launder money, not to raise it.

Last time around Obama raised about $750 million in the primaries and general election. He raised so much money he broke his promise to accept federal matching funds, giving him a 3-1 advantage over John McCain. This time he set a fundraising goal of a cool $1 BILLION. It doesn’t look like he’s gonna make his goal but that doesn’t change the fact that he sure has tried. I can’t remember any POTUS who spent so much time begging for money.

But that was only part of it. How much has media bias been worth to Obama? MSNBC gave up any pretense of objectivity and neutrality long ago. FOX stayed neutral during the 2008 primaries but supported the GOP during the general election.

Despite what they might claim, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and pretty much every newspaper and magazine not owned by Rupert Murdoch has been cheerleading for Obama since 2007. Billionaire George Soros funds a variety of online Obamafluffers. How do you measure all that?

When you really think about it these 501(c)(4)s are just a way for rich people who don’t own their own news network or newspaper to participate in politics.

Am I happy about this situation? Hell no!

But since there is very little I can do about it I figure we just might as well turn ‘em loose and let ‘em go at it. The more the merrier, with mutually assured destruction. Then maybe the voting public will finally get so sick of this shit that they’ll finally do something about fixing it.

Mo’ Money

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Exclusive: President Obama Asks Campaign Donors to Send Him More Money

President Obama sounded weary and maybe a tad worried late Friday during a rambling conference call with campaign donors whom he repeatedly begged to send money—and send it now.

“The majority on this call maxed out to my campaign last time. I really need you to do the same this time,” the president said in a highly unusual (and presumably legal) fundraising pitch from Air Force One on his way back to Washington from Colorado Springs, where he’d been assessing the terrible damage caused by uncontained wildfires. A special phone on the government aircraft is dedicated to political calls that are paid for by the campaign.

“I’m asking you to meet or exceed what you did in 2008,” the presidential pitchman continued, speaking to donors who were invited to dial in based on their contributions during the last election. “Because we’re going to have to deal with these super PACs in a serious way. And if we don’t, frankly I think the political [scene] is going to be changed permanently. Because the special interests that are financing my opponent’s campaign are just going to consolidate themselves. They’re gonna run Congress and the White House.”

The president’s 18-minute pleading—a recording of which was provided to The Daily Beast by an Obama contributor—hardly sounded like a man doing a victory lap after Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling upholding Obamacare, as the Affordable Care Act has come to be known. Or, for that matter, like a candidate who has been beating his Republican opponent in recent polls of key battleground states.

[...]

“In 2008 everything was new and exciting about our campaign,” Obama said. “And now I’m the incumbent president. I’ve got gray hair. People have seen disappointment because folks had a vision of change happening immediately. And it turns out change is hard, especially when you’ve got an obstructionist Republican Congress.”

But lest any of his donors believe the president sounded depressed, Obama quickly added: “Nevertheless, we’ve gotten more done in the last three years than most presidents do in eight years … I just hope you guys haven’t become disillusioned. I hope all of you still understand what’s at stake and why this is so important … I still believe in you guys, and I hope you still believe in me and the possibilities of this campaign.”

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Remember four years ago when raking in big bucks was “proof” that Obama was the superior candidate?

You have to admit though, Obama really has caused more damage in three years than most presidents manage to do in eight.

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The best government that money can buy

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Jim Messina, Obama campaign manager:

But this cycle, our campaign has to face the reality of the law as it currently stands.

Over the last few months, Super PACs affiliated with Republican presidential candidates have spent more than $40 million on television and radio, almost all of it for negative ads.

Last week, filings showed that the Super PAC affiliated with Mitt Romney’s campaign raised $30 million in 2011 from fewer than 200 contributors, most of them from the financial sector. Governor Romney personally helped raise money for this group, which is run by some of his closest allies.

Meanwhile, other Super PACs established for the sole purpose of defeating the President—along with “nonprofits” that also aren’t required to disclose the sources of their funding—have raised more than $50 million. In the aggregate, these groups are expected to spend half a billion dollars, above and beyond what the Republican nominee and party are expected to commit to try to defeat the President.

With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm.

Therefore, the campaign has decided to do what we can, consistent with the law, to support Priorities USA in its effort to counter the weight of the GOP Super PAC. We will do so only in the knowledge and with the expectation that all of its donations will be fully disclosed as required by law to the Federal Election Commission.

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Gee wow, didn’t see this one coming. Here’s an article from four years ago:

McCain attacks Obama for opting out of public financing

Sen. John McCain on Thursday accused Sen. Barack Obama of breaking a promise when the Democrat decided to forgo public financing in this fall’s campaign.

Obama told supporters in an e-mail message Thursday that he would not accept about $85 million in public funds when he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.

In the e-mail, Obama said the public campaign financing system allowed “special interests [to] drown out the voices of the American people” and asked his supporters to “declare our independence from a broken system.”

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Poor Obama, he wants to do the right thing but his opponents won’t let him. This is the same Obama who wants to raise a billion dollars (that’s BILLION with a “B”) for his campaign even though he has no primary challenger.

Speaking of which, Obama heavily outspent Hillary in the 2008 primaries too, but I’m sure that was somehow that was her fault as well.

As for special interests, Obama donors have seen a nice return on investment since he took office, haven’t they?

This was the best part:

” . . . all of its donations will be fully disclosed as required by law to the Federal Election Commission.”

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That means they won’t disclose anything they don’t HAVE to, like the names of those small (under $200) online donors in 2008.

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UPDATE:

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