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Last Friday, Nicholas Confessore reported for the The New York Times that more than half of all ad spending this cycle — 55 percent — has come through dark money groups.
Accompanying the article was this brief video explaining what dark money is and detailing its rise to prominence. It’s a good video to share with people who aren’t yet familiar with the ins and outs of campaign financing.
Read: The Latest in Dark Money: Oligarchs Form Their Own Shadow Parties | Economy In Crisis
Writing in The New York Times Magazine, Jim Rutenberg offers a big-picture view of how virtually unlimited campaign cash has changed the very nature of our political process. Wealthy donors effectively create their own shadow parties to advance personal agendas. The result of Citizens United was “a massive power shift, from the party bosses to the rich individuals who ran the super PACs.
"Almost overnight, traditional party functions — running TV commercials, setting up field operations, maintaining voter databases, even recruiting candidates — were being supplanted by outside groups. And the shift was partly because of one element of McCain-Feingold that remains: the ban on giving unlimited soft money to parties. In the party universe, rich players like the Wylys, Tom Steyer or the Kochs were but single planets among many. The party bosses had to balance their interests against those who brought just as much to the table in the form of money or votes. A party platform has to account for both the interests of the oil industry and those of the ethanol industry; those of the casino industry and those of the anti-gambling religious right; those of Wall Street and those of labor.
With the advent of Citizens United, any players with the wherewithal, and there are surprisingly many of them, can start what are in essence their own political parties, built around pet causes or industries and backing politicians uniquely answerable to them."
The Latest in Dark Money: Oligarchs Form Their Own Shadow Parties | BillMoyers.com
Accompanying the article was this brief video explaining what dark money is and detailing its rise to prominence. It’s a good video to share with people who aren’t yet familiar with the ins and outs of campaign financing.
Read: The Latest in Dark Money: Oligarchs Form Their Own Shadow Parties | Economy In Crisis
Writing in The New York Times Magazine, Jim Rutenberg offers a big-picture view of how virtually unlimited campaign cash has changed the very nature of our political process. Wealthy donors effectively create their own shadow parties to advance personal agendas. The result of Citizens United was “a massive power shift, from the party bosses to the rich individuals who ran the super PACs.
"Almost overnight, traditional party functions — running TV commercials, setting up field operations, maintaining voter databases, even recruiting candidates — were being supplanted by outside groups. And the shift was partly because of one element of McCain-Feingold that remains: the ban on giving unlimited soft money to parties. In the party universe, rich players like the Wylys, Tom Steyer or the Kochs were but single planets among many. The party bosses had to balance their interests against those who brought just as much to the table in the form of money or votes. A party platform has to account for both the interests of the oil industry and those of the ethanol industry; those of the casino industry and those of the anti-gambling religious right; those of Wall Street and those of labor.
With the advent of Citizens United, any players with the wherewithal, and there are surprisingly many of them, can start what are in essence their own political parties, built around pet causes or industries and backing politicians uniquely answerable to them."
The Latest in Dark Money: Oligarchs Form Their Own Shadow Parties | BillMoyers.com
