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.          

The Poor And Disenfranchised Have A Friend In Mitt Romney

thefastertimes.com

Forty-six million Americans can give thanks this Super Bowl Sunday to Mitt Romney for his comments earlier this week about not being concerned for poor people.  "I'm not concerned about the very poor", Romney said.  "There's a safety net there, and if it needs repair, I'll fix it.  I'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine.  I'm concerned about the heart of America, the 90%, 95% of Americans right now who are struggling."  Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, the utterance of those two sentences have thrust the plight of the poor and disenfranchised in America into the forefront of this year's presidential election.

One has to wonder where Romney obtains his information.  There are actually 46 million Americans who live in poverty.  That number is actually 15.1% of our nation's population.  The actual dollar standard for poverty in 2012 is earnings of $11,000 for an individual and $22,300 for a family of four.  The safety net that Romney speaks of consists of numerous state and federal government programs with the four most significant including unemployment insurance, food stamps, welfare and Medicare.

papermasters.com

Forty million Americans currently receive food stamp assistance; 4.4 million Americans are on welfare, ten million Americans currently receive unemployment insurance and another 50 million Americans receive health care assistance through Medicare.  Staggering numbers for the most prosperous nation in the world.  These government safety net programs are designed to protect families during tough economic times and hopefully before they fall into poverty.  The percentage of Americans enrolled in these safety net programs are all up during the current economic crisis including food stamp assistance by 50%, welfare recipients up by 18% and Medicare recipients by 17%.  Americans receiving unemployment assistance is four times higher than what it was just in 2007. 

The statistics and staggering numbers should be an eye-opener for Mitt Romney who has indicated he is "not concerned about the very poor".  Romney will be reminded throughout this year's campaign that he should be concerned, gravely concerned about the plight of those Americans who currently are living in poverty or soon will be due to any number of economic conditions.  Many Americans fall into poverty or rise above poverty several times during their lifetimes.  As a presidential candidate, Mitt Romney should be concerned about this population and have strategies to help lift them out of the cycle of poverty. 

Nevertheless, Romney's comments regarding the poor will elevate the discussion on the poor people of our nation living in poverty.  They can become the forgotten few ( 15.1%) in our nation during the election cycle when the middle class and all their votes are up for grabs.  Thanks to Mitt Romney, maybe 2012 will be the year when the poor are considered as part of the national debate.