Super PACS, "A Threat To Our Democracy", Obama Joins In

restoringtruthiness.org

I suspect the cries from his campaign team were loud and ferocious when discussing 'to play or not to play' regarding the decision to join the Super PAC crowd.  President Obama made his feelings very clear when the Supreme Court ruled on SpeechNow.org versus Federal Election Commission allowing the flood gates to open for Super PACS.  "A threat to our democracy", were his exact words.  His campaign crew has clearly seen what capability the Super PACS can have on an election watching what the Super PACS have been able to accomplish during the Republican Party primary season. 

The Romney affiliated PACS took on Newt Gingrich in Florida and hurt him dramatically.  Unable to respond in kind, Newt was pummeled at the polls.  Tim Pawlenty, former Republican candidate noted, "Now I know why my campaign didn't work, I didn't have a billionaire."  The Obama team recognized that the playing field would not be level and had to respond.  Fortunately for them, they learned it early enough to be able to respond.  Had they failed in this, there would be no way that the President could be reelected.

Information available through the Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecretsorg/pacs/superpacs.php, shows that the breakdown of Super PACS includes 165 groups that align themselves with conservative causes and 73 aligned with liberal causes.  Total receipts for all 318 Super PACS is $98,650,993 of which $36,360,855 has been expended on the current election cycle. 

Corporations, unions, associations and individuals may be solicited for contributions to these Super PACS.  The Super PACS must report their donors to the Federal Election Commission on either a monthly or quarterly basis.  The only significant difference between a PAC and a Super PAC is that Super PACS are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates.  However, Super PACS may spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for or against any political candidate. 

We have already seen during the Republican primary season, a wealth of advertising by Super PACS portraying candidates in a less than favorable fashion with half-truths, false and often times misleading ads.  As we move toward the general election pitting party against party, this inflammatory advertising will only get worse.  Congressional candidates will not be immune from facing the attacks of Super PACS.  One would suspect that Super PACS will become a growth industry over the course of the next six months. 

For years, our elections in the United States have all been about money.  Generally, the people who run for office are made of money.  All of our legislation occurs because of special interests or lobbyists with money espousing their cause.  Now, Super PACS have entered the foray and there seems to be no boundaries of what will be said and how much money spent to say it.  "A threat to our democracy", said the President.  His prediction is coming true in 2012.