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Shawn Thew / EPA
Occupy D.C. protesters link arms on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 20, 2012, during protest on the two-year anniversary of the high court's Citizens United ruling.
The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision unleashed nearly $1 billion in new political spending in the 2012 election, with media outlets and a small number of political consulting firms raking in the bulk of the proceeds.
Spending records released by the Federal Election Commission show that throughout the 2012 election, corporations, unions and individuals that could take advantage of the high court’s ruling were responsible for about $933 million of the estimated $6 billion spent during the contest.
Nearly two-thirds of the new money — about $611 million — went to 10 political consulting firms, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis. All but one of the top 10 recipients bought advertising in various media markets on behalf of super PACs and nonprofits. Eighty-nine percent of the expenditures made to the top 10 went to spots attacking candidates, the data show.
“For some in the industry, it has been a definite boon,” said Dale Emmons, president of the American Association of Political Consultants. “This election appears to have set a new benchmark on the amount of money that could be spent, because there were no limits on what could be spent.”
The 2010 Citizens United decision and a lower-court ruling allowed unlimited donations to super PACs and nonprofits, independent groups that used the funds primarily to fund ad campaigns.
Media buyers keep only a fraction of the total spending — usually 15 percent, according to Federal Communications Commission records, with the rest going to media outlets.
The winners
The top recipient of independent spending among media buyers was Mentzer Media Services, the Towson, Md.-based media placement firm run by longtime GOP consultant Bruce Mentzer.
Mentzer attracted nearly $204 million from conservative super PACs and other outside groups. In a tough year for Republicans, only 26 percent of the candidates who were supposed to benefit from the ads won their races, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis.
The firm was the preferred vendor for the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, which paid Mentzer nearly $132 million to purchase air time in presidential battleground states.
A Mentzer employee who answered the phone declined to comment on the firm’s involvement in the 2012 election.
Second was Crossroads Media, which was paid about $163 million to buy media time for conservative super PACs and nonprofits in 2012. The firm is run by Michael Dubke, the former president of Americans for Job Security — a pro-Republican nonprofit and one of Crossroads’ top clients.
Waterfront Strategies, which worked for Democratic groups, ranked third, at $81 million.
Democratic-aligned Mundy Katowitz Media, fourth on the list, was the preferred vendor for the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action, placing more than $57 million in television ads for the group.
American Media & Advocacy Group, a favorite of conservative groups, ranked No. 5 at $27 million.
Target Enterprises — a Los Angeles-based media buyer for conservative super PACs — was paid $17 million, ranking it No. 6. The firm had a dismal success rate, coming in dead last among firms catering to super PACs and nonprofits. Seven percent of its preferred candidates won on Nov. 6.
A woman who answered the phone at Target Enterprises Tuesday said both principals of the company were “mid-flight” and unavailable for comment.
The Center analyzed FEC data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics. The $933 million in spending came from super PACs, nonprofits and, to a lesser extent, “527” organizations that were the favorite independent spending vehicle in past elections.
FEC coordination law a ‘joke’
The Citizens United decision opened a huge new potential market for consultants, but there was a catch. Consultants who work for candidates — but also work for “independent” groups that support those same candidates — have to be careful.
The high court’s decision did not affect the ban on donations to candidates from corporations and unions, nor did it affect contribution limits from individuals. Instead, it focused on spending by independent groups, unaffiliated with candidates.
As long as super PACs act independently of the candidate, there is no danger of corruption, the high court reasoned.
But sometimes the separation between the campaign and the like-minded super PAC or nonprofit can be hard to discern.
Waterfront Strategies, for example, in its FEC filings lists the same address as GMMB — a well-known Democratic media consulting firm and the preferred vendor for President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
Waterfront was the beneficiary of $81 million paid by some of the biggest Democratic outside spending groups — including Majority PAC, a super PAC backing Democrats running for Senate, and the League of Conservation Voters.
The Huffington Post reported that Waterfront is an internal branch of GMMB. It was incorporated in Delaware, and its president is listed as Raelynn Olson, GMMB's managing partner.
Both Waterfront and its parent company, GMMB, worked to elect Democrat Richard Carmona in his unsuccessful bid for Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat. Majority PAC hired Waterfront to purchase airtime for ads supporting Carmona and attacking his Republican opponent, then-Rep. and now Sen. Jeff Flake. Carmona’s campaign hired GMMB for its ad buys in the same race.
One Majority PAC ad used the same childhood photo of Carmona that was featured in an official Carmona campaign ad.
GMMB did not reply to requests for comment.
Setting up spinoffs is more about “optics” than skirting coordination rules, said Paul S. Ryan, senior counsel for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.
Under current law, as long as a firm assigns each client separate consultants — and those two don’t coordinate their activities — that constitutes a satisfactory firewall, according to Ryan.
“That’s a pretty ridiculous and modest constraint on campaign coordination,” Ryan said.
Texas two-step
American Media & Advocacy, which also has no website, received nearly $27 million to buy media for super PACs and other outside groups.
The organization worked for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC that paid for ads attacking Pete Gallego, a Democrat who defeated Republican Francisco Canseco in the race for U.S. House of Representatives in Texas’ 23rd District. The firm also worked for Canseco’s campaign.
Records show that at least one of American Media’s buyers purchased media in the San Antonio market for both the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Canseco campaign.
Records show that American Media shares an Alexandria address with the high-profile, bipartisan consulting group Purple Strategies. Purple Strategies failed to respond to the Center’s repeated inquiries about any affiliation that it might have with American Media & Advocacy Group.
American Media and Advocacy is “well aware of the FEC coordination rules, including the common vendor rules,” said Jim Kahl, the group’s attorney, “and they have procedures in place to comply with them.”
In Ohio, American Media & Advocacy Group was paid by the Congressional Leadership Fund to purchase ads slamming Democrat Betty Sutton in the House race for District 16. American Media was also working for Sutton’s Republican opponent, Rep. Jim Renacci.
The same person was listed in records as buying media in the Cleveland market — at the same TV station in at least one case — for both the Renacci campaign and the Congressional Leadership Fund.
Candidates and super PACs can avoid charges of coordination altogether by sending up smoke signals in cyberspace.
For example, one of Target Enterprise’s top clients was Freedom PAC, a super PAC that paid the firm nearly $3.4 million for ad buys supporting Rep. Connie Mack, the unsuccessful Republican candidate in the Florida Senate race.
Freedom PAC released an ad containing some of the same footage that was on the Mack campaign’s YouTube channel.
Under FEC coordination rules, campaign committees and the outside groups that boost their candidates may share material as long as it is publicly available.
The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit independent investigative news outlet. To read more of its stories on this topic go to publicintegrity.org
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Leave a Comment:
6 Billion dollars to influence the voters into choosing Clown A or Clown B....what a waste
The WORST ROI EVER!!!!!
ha ha! MORONS all those that invested on the party of CLOWNS
Not so.
The $6 billion buys the votes of corrupt politicians who authorizes spending hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons; wage global wars costing over one trillion dollar per year; hundreds of billions on 'Education;" hundreds of billions on farm/dairy/business subsidies; hundreds of billions on housing subsidies such as Fannie/Freddie/FHA; and the pork list goes on.
The American government is one of the most corrupt government among the developed nations. The real clowns are the America people who gets fooled every four years with "Hope and Change."
Well what the hell is left?
6 billion,in DECLARED TRACEABLE MONEY. I said before the election started that it would be a couple of billion, this surpasses that amount. Add to that additional undeclared money given. How many people could that money have put to work for last year and this coming year. How would that money have jump started this economy to put those who are unemployed back to work. Where did this money come from? Corporations sending US jobs overseas. Corporations and their entities paying their employees poverty wages for skilled jobs. Bankers, still free to do again, who created and sold junk derivatives that caused a collapse to the worlds other financial institutions. Greed and power breeds corruption for the elite. Been going on for thousands of years. Won't stop or even slow down until we the people make it stop.
Where did that money end up? Mostly broadcasters, the big 3 networks, CNN, Fox, and don't forget Clear channel. Clear Channel's 900 radio station raked in millions in additional revenue while pushing the right wing agenda. They are owned by Bain capital, Mitt Romney made a big profit on the election.
The biggest clowns and morons are the OWS crew.
From this article, I guess the fat cats have plenty of money to use for their taxes, too. The $6 Billion used to buy the candidates would have fed a lot of hungry people.
This is why thinking people know that the GOP is group of heartless, narcissistic, 'good ole boys'; they would rather spend twice as much as the Dems on the election, than give it up for taxes that would actually help the country they supposedly lead. That's the way a Monarchy works, not a Republic. I'm just glad their clown prince lost.
I am quite confused but I guess that is why we spend such absurd amounts on Political TV advertising.
If you can contribute any amount to any orgainization and NOT IDENTIFY WHO YOU ARE how in the hell can this article contain any facts. The Money contributed is not traecable unless the donor wants it made public.
The Citizens United decision by the supreme court is a joke. It has nothing to do with the citizens of the United States and certainy doesn't make them United. How can all those wise Judges think that a Corporation is a person. That is absurd. Corporations should have the right to vote if they have the right to contribute to a political campaign.
The one saving grace in this decision is the people still have the only vote for President. As long as the Republican party thinks they can piss off the Women, Litino's amd Seniors of the United States and still get elected our Republic will survive. The citizens will not allow their government to be bought by campaign contributions.
The next step in getting control of our Government again will be to make our elected Representitives actually represent the constituamts in their distrists.
It is often said that there is a positive for every negative. I suppose the offset for this obscene level of political spending ... is that the economy really needed the boost.
That like saying illegal narcotic sales boosted the economy, too. Same erroneous logic can be applied to waging war, criminal justice system, and Big Government.
The economy benefits far more if we get something of value for our spending. Buying infrastructure - say a bridge- not only stimulates the economy by putting $ in the pockets of the workers, but it also stimulates the economy by making transportation more efficient. This kind of spending by the superpacs produces no lasting assets, only ill will.
The money only went to connected people..both Dems and Repubs. It was a huge give away and these well connected people made millions.
'WallStFatCat', 'Procustes' and 'jp'. I agree with your comments. I think you three misunderstood my point.
I'm not defending this political spending. Quite the opposite in fact. I find it abhorrent. But the fact is the money wasn't simply accumulated and put in the closet. The money was spent throughout the American economy. Any way you look at it, this was an infusion of $6 billion in nation-wide economic stimulus.
I would certainly prefer to have seen $6 billion spent for bridge repair, and highway improvements, and infrastructure ... but that's a straw-man argument. The money wasn't going to be spent that way even if there were a complete ban on campaign contributions and political spending.
It would have sat idle on the books of corporations, business associations, unions, etc. just like the rest of several trillion dollars in surplus cash which the US Treasury says is currently sitting idle and not circulating in and stimulating the US Economy.
Given ONLY the choice of NO stimulus to the economy OR the stimulus of political spending, I would hold my nose and vote for political spending (pun intended).
For this $6 billion, the alternatives we all would have prefered were not options on the table.
Perfect example of tricle-down economics. Not a damn dime of all of this spending trickled down. It rushed UP.
All that money which didn't help the GOP at all..Worse decision ever made by the Supreme Court...
One of the best US Supreme Ct decision. As under-the-table political contribution was rampant any way, the Court merely let "the cat out of the bag."
If "all that money [which] didn't help the GOP at all, " the other money did help the Democratic Party.
Money can't buy you love and evidently nor can it buy an election.
Agree, but like alcohol it must make some people better looking.
ohhh, i believe it did but the election as it has for years
They should have just paid me.... Im rather cheap really.
The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision unleashed nearly $1 billion in new political spending in the 2012 election, with media outlets and a small number of political consulting firms raking in the bulk of the proceeds.......
Aaahhhahhhh..... and they were decimated by Obama and his grassroot political machines.
They spend four years and $1B to be certain Obama was a one term President.
That just has to be the biggest failure in American political history.
Other than the little bush, of course. His place at the bottom of American political history is very secure.
Agreed, Bush is near the botttom, but for some historical perspective - I suggest you look into the tenure of WOoodrow WIlson - who managed to lay the groundwork for WWIII through a combination of lll-health and naivete. ALll Bush did was exacecerbate world wide animosity betweeen Muslims and everyone else. Hopefuyllly it work out bettter than WIlson's maneuvers.
Maybe the real clowns are the ones that don't recognize democracy in action - free elections for example. Some act as though rejecting the electorate's decisions is in some way patriotic. If you don't like the results, fouling the attempts of the elected for 4 years is 'looking out for the interests of America." Spare me.
On the other hand, legions of utterly non-productive 'political consultants' raking in hundreds of millions in (vain) attempts to convince the voters of the relevance of their alternate reality. If you don't farm, teach, heal or otherwise contribute to the maintenance and improvements of our nation, you're no more than ballast.
From what this article was saying, there was nothing "free" about this election.
brain: No one was holding a gun to my head when I voted.
I agree that this is the worst decision the Supreme Court has ever made. But then it really goes along with everything else in America these days. Nothing is about the issues or about the right thing to do. It's all about money. Greed, guns and god. Thankfully... the average, intelligent American can't be bought and that was reflected in the outcome of the election. It just frosts me to make another bunch of do-nothing entrepreneurs (just like corporate raiders and Wall Street gurus) wealthy in the process...as opposed to the rest of hard-working folks who actually contribute something to society.
We are in serious danger of losing the power of the people's vote to the power of corporate money! Im SURE the Constitution never meant to authorize THAT!
Have you looked in Washington lately? What have they done lately that has inspired confidence that they're adhering to ANYTHING in the constitution?
Rulings like this are small fish though. They keep renewing crap like the Patriot Act and authorizing stuff like the NDAA, which rapes your Fourth Amendment rights, and nobody utters a word. 200 years ago, they would have our politicians heads on platters. Today, the fatasses in this country can't keep their attention off what's on the boobtube.
We need a reset button. Quick.
The Constitution never authorized the formation of the political party system. It also did not envision the political influence of labor unions, the private corporations that are the purveyor of labor as well as of the business corporations.
For nearly 100 years, the political power of special interest groups have grown to the level where it has usurped the power of the people. As a result wars are fought without end, laws are passed for the financial benefit of WallSt's Too-Big-to-Fail, and a Big Government that exists at the expense of the people.
As the US Constitution never authorized the current form of Federal government, the DC government is a rogue government.
wall street: In a word...'lobbying'. Legislation/influence for sale. What is the definition of 'bribe', again?
Do you think that the folks that spent that $1B could pony-up the same amount to help re-build after hurricane Sandy?
Or do you think they're only interested in buying politicians?
We gotta change this folks. We will never get our country back until we do.
they buy the politicians that send pork to sandy and every other hand that is held out
They should cut out the middle-man! :-)
billybob-6210632
they buy the politicians that send pork to sandy and every other hand that is held out .So true but if you want to mention Sandy funds you might want to look back to ALL THE OTHER DISASTERS that have occurred in the last 50 yrs. and dig a little deeper into their aide packages too. Add to that the TARP funds that wouldn't have passed by Republicans but for the billions of aide added to the original bill for their own kiddie parks.
And we have the Supreme Court to thank. On the upside almost all of the candidates Citizen United backed lost. Woophoo! so for that I am happy just thinking about the 1% Teapublican's pissing away all the cold hard cash and getting nothing.
you do realize that citizens affected everyone and not just republicans? lotsa money collected and spent by democrats too
My point exactly, Bob. As it stands now, we have the best government money can buy. And it ain't good enough.
For some reason, my mind's eye saw that goofy dog with Elmer Fudd....which way did he go? which way did he go? as they try to track down the rabbit money trails.
What? A discussion about Super Pacs and no mention of the words "Karl Rove?" Shocking. Anyone who wants a better understanding should read the book Boss Rove. We need to do what other countries do and limit the campaigning season to six or eight weeks. At least then we wouldn't have to listen to this crap all day.
If we do not amend the constitution to block citizens united only the rich will continue to vote.
You don't need to amend the constitution to block C.U. You just need to change the campaign finance law to allow media "corporations", such as MSNBC, FOX, etc., to cover the election process. That was the ultimate reason for why Citizens United went the way it did. It oppressed the freedom of the press since our press in the U.S. are for-profit corporations and as such would not have been allowed to really cover the elections at all under the current rules. If you write the same bill that was struck down, but exclude media/press corporations, then the problem goes away.
It is a shame the politicos can't put the same effort they use for raising campaign funds into fixing/helping our economy. The media industry fared well, but did that create long term jobs? Unreal.
I wonder if the GOP learned you can't buy yourself a President.
i wonder if the democrats learned you can buy a president
billy: Revisit your avatar.
Note that this was only a 20% increase in funding, not really that large. What kind of increase occurred in 2008 when Hussein refused to take public funding, after he pledged to do so?
do-man: Who's this 'Hussein' person?
do-man: Who's this 'Hussein' person?
Saddam Hussein? He's dead bro.
SDN and NoFacts - The current POtuS - B. Hussein Obama. Try to stay up on current events.
Try to stay up on current events.
I typically don't call people by their middle name, makes it hard to know who it is you're talking about.
But why oh why would you just focus on someone's middle name? Hmm...
The left referred to George W. Bush as "W" throughout his entire presidency. Just using their terminology.
These whiners cant afford to pay more taxes but sure have enough money to throw down a black hole and get no return on their investment what so ever...
the best democracy money can buy. thank you right wing supreme court!
The new world corporate order: USA = The Unapt Statism of Anarchy, LLC (Limited Liability Corruption) What we need is to form a new Citizens United company, owned and operated by the people....something like "United Rent-a-Drone" or "Have Drones, Will Travel. Wake up people, it's time for the 'herd' to stampede - the so-called government will run out of sheep dip soon and when they do, it will be too late!
And the Republicans are reintroducing bills in swing states to rig the next election. They're trying to redefine how electoral votes are awarded--by county, not overall. Had those laws been passed long before the last election, Obama would still have gotten the popular votes by the same margin, but lose with fewer electoral votes. Republicans cannot win honestly.
The main reason they lost the last general election is because some of them got too bold and said what they were really after, i.e. slanting the laws to keep democrats from voting and admitting that they want to control and restrict raped women. And, there was the 47% comment gotten by good spy work.
One Repub even went so far as to say that some rapes aren't legitimate and Virginia's McDonnell/Repub Party wanted, in case of a raped woman wanting to abort the pregnancy, for the state to rape her again with a vaginal probe. These, and many other examples are the real reason the Repubs want full power, and admitting that lost them the election.
hobbs: Well done. I remember several reasons they got owned at the polls. Palin, Santorum, Limbaugh, Rove, Perry, Norquist, O'Reilly, Coulter, Bachmann, Romney. The American voter isn't as dim-witted as Fox News imagines them to be - but then, they imagine a mirror to be a window. We know clowns, liars and fools when we see them.
When elections are won by nothing more substantial than a farcical roadshow, we will be beginning to see the dark at the end of the tunnel.
Yup. "they imagine a mirror to be a window." love the metaphor.
Had it not been for corporate dollars and Faux News, the propaganda arm of the RNC, Obama would have won in a huge landslide. We have to remember that a hell of a lot of Americans don't pay attention because they are too busy trying to find a job or support their families. Thus, they are prone to be taken in by self-serving politicians.
My own daughter, for example, fell for the early propaganda that suggested that Obama's middle name, "Hussein," proved that he was not a citizen and that he was a Muslim. It's interesting that the right wing professes to be strict Constitutionalists, but ignore the part of the Constitution that calls for NO religious tests for office, and, of course, they ignore the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the "well regulated" statement in the Second Amendment.
The people behind Citizens United had this idea in their heads that since their side are group of nutty know nothing people that the rest of us are, but they found in 2012 that is NOT TRUE!
Thanks SCOTUS for your wisdom. (sarcasm)
It's not the SPENDING that's the problem- it's the fact that Wal-Mart can hide behind the "angry old white man" PAC without having to identify itself....that is what needs to be addressed...
That's the contention I'd make as well; the Citizens United ruling destroys the accountability which would allow potential or current customers to vote with their wallets- a very important consideration, as I choose not to support anyone bent on enslaving me or encroaching as closely as possible upon my rights and freedoms.
The ruling made it impossible to use the political agendas displayed by who and what a corporate citizen backs to discern the degree of truth behind their stated public policies.
Just as one example, Chik-fil-A's support of forthrightly homophobic politics was only changed because it was exposed- and had that support gone undetected the contributions would still be taking place.
In point of fact, that may yet be the case- because their public change of position may not reflect who they choose to privately fund through the cutout of a PAC.
With regard to people like the Kochs and the Waltons, no one sane doubts that whatever they back is bad for most Americans- but we now have no idea who or what that might be.
How ironic that Occupy Wall Street members often chose to use a Guy Fawkes mask; after all, the agendas of American Corporations (offshoring, for example) have often been explosively destructive- and the mask provided them by a suborned Supreme Court far more perfect.
The better option would have been to eliminate the McCain-Feingold Act, which is what led to Super-PACs.
db: Just for fun, I Googled 'Largest US retail importer'. Ahh, you guessed already - WalMart. Brought enough containers to our shores last year to build (another) eight Great Pyramids of Cheops. (Forbes)
With respect to the US (and Chinese) economies and balance of trade, they are the Mastodon in the Closet.
They are by far the largest retail importer of goods to this country, and that lead is increasing daily. (Forbes)
The Black Hole of the retail world, and the ultimate end to US retail competition.
Was Citizens United the republicon economic stimulus package?
When you try buying an election you have already declared democracy a failure. Does that mean the gop gangsters have given up and are simply planning a coup, like Bill Kristol wants?
How about investigating the bribes that the Democrat party has put in place to get half the population to vote for them even as those voters pay no income taxes!?
There is your story. Bribery!