Why is election spending by outside groups up 1,600% this year in the GOP primary?
by Thom Hartmann
January 31, 2012
Today the Republican primary race for the White House hits Florida. Polls indicate that Mitt Romney is headed for a victory in the sunshine state - but are voters this year really choosing candidates - or special interest groups? Research shows that election spending by outside groups is up 1,600% this year in the Republican primary compared to 2008 - and about half of all the political ads on the air are paid for by Super PACs - those corporate front groups that came into existence thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.
Most of the 13,000 television ads running in Florida on behalf of Mitt Romney are not paid for by the Romney campaign at all - but instead by pro-Romney Super PACs. Because of Citizens United - we no longer have candidates running for office, we have INTEREST GROUPS promoting the candidates they like running for office. Interest groups like Wall Street - big oil - and the for-profit health insurance industry that now have free reign to buy our elections this way.
So even though Mitt Romney will likely win Florida tonight by double-digits - the real winner will be Wall Street, which has already handed $3.6 million to the Romney camp.
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