The October 25 issue of Newsweek reports that, collectively, candidates for the US House of Representatives have raised $733,647,242.31 in campaign contributions for these midterm elections. (To put that figure in perspective, the TARP bailout cost about $700 billion, and President Obama's stimulus program cost about $787 billion , including tax cuts for the middle and working class.) That's almost 3/4 of a billion dollars - and that's just for Congress. It doesn't include the Senate and all state and local races. And it doesn't include all of the money that corporations and PACs are spending on political advertising that is "independent" of the campaigns themselves. Imagine what the grand total of what is being spent in this election cycle must be!!
In these dismal economic times, where is all that money coming from? Well, it seems likely that huge chunks of it are coming from the very corporations that are not investing, not lending, not hiring - and, under the Citizens United holding, not disclosing what they're spending. These are corporations (and organizations representing them) that would rather buy control of our government than help dig us out of the economic hole they dug for us.
Another likely source is individual donors of the conservative stripe - Tea Baggers and Republicans - because liberals, as the media have told us, are currently disaffected. These are folks who are so burdened by taxation that they are invoking the spirit of revolution, but can nevertheless find the wherewithal to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to seize control of every level of government.
Imagine how many middle class jobs $733,647,242.31 could create, or how much of a dent it could make in the deficit. But attacking unemployment or the deficit directly isn't really the point, although Tea Baggers, Republicans and corporate America complain bitterly about both. These corporate and individual contributors are spending on what they really think is important: control of our government.
No comments:
Post a Comment