Given all the hysteria about “Super PACs” – for an antidote, check out Wendy Kaminer in the Atlantic – here’s a tidbit worth passing along: through February 22, all Super PACs combined had raised a total of $130,330,844. Through January 31, President Obama’s re-election campaign alone had raised a total of $136,886,599. From the Atlantic piece:
Like Fox News, The New York Times has a First Amendment right to spread misinformation about important public issues, and it is exercising that right in its campaign against the Citizens United ruling. In news stories, as well as columns, it has repeatedly mischaracterized Citizens United, explicitly or implicitly blaming it for allowing unlimited “super PAC” contributions from mega-rich individuals. In fact, Citizens United enabled corporations and unions to use general treasury funds for independent political expenditures; it did not expand or address the longstanding, individual rights of the rich to support independent groups. And, as recent reports have made clear, individual donors, not corporations, are the primary funders of super PACs.
