Big Money In Politics Is Ugly And Should Be Illegal

Friday, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, reporting for the Washington Post, named the 11 biggest donors to SuperPACs since the Citizens United case was wrongly decided by a right-wing, corporate Supreme Court.

1- Sheldon Adelsons (R)- $287 million ($112 this cycle)
2- Tom Steyer (D)- 213.8 million
3- Michael Bloomberg (I)- 120.7 million
4- Fred Eychaner (D)- $74.1 million
5- Donald Sussman (D)- $62.9 million
6- Richard Uihlein (R)- $61.3 million
7- James Simons (D)- $57.9 million
8- Paul Singer (R)- $42.5 million
9- Robert Mercer (R)- $41.2 million
10- George Soros (D)- $39.4 million
11- Joe Ricketts (R)- 38.4 million

So... 5 Republicans, 5 Democrats-- although Eychaner is a huge supporter of the Republican wing iff the Democratic Party-- and Bloomberg, who was an independent giving to both sides and is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination and gives massively to help Democrats. As Lee put it, a bunch of hedge-fund billionaires, entrepreneurs, media magnates and a casino mogul."

What do you think? Heroes of America? Oligarchs who should be stood up in front of a wall, handed a last cigarette and shot by a firing squad? "Just 11 donors," she wrote, "have injected $1 billion into U.S. political races in the past eight years through super PACs, the big-money entities that have given wealthy contributors a powerful way to influence elections... together contributed more than one-fifth of the $4.5 billion collected by super PACs since their inception in 2010... The intense concentration of money shows how a tiny group of super-rich individuals has embraced these political groups, which have emerged as indispensable allies of candidates and political parties since the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision in 2010. That ruling helped give rise to super PACs, which are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on political activity."

"Indispensable?" Really? I don't think so. Destroyers of democracy sounds more accurate-- especially if you care to read it in this context, which I highly recommend. Meanwhile, NBC reported yesterday that Democrats outraised Republicans in about 90% of the most competitive House districts in the last 3 weeks.

Out of 107 House races rated as Toss Ups, Lean or Likely contests by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, 97 saw the Democrat outraising their GOP competitor. In 70 of those races, the Democratic candidate will enter the final weeks of the election with more cash on hand.

The new data shows that Democratic fundraising-- which has continually outpaced GOP hauls-- isn’t waning as the election clock ticks down, even as Republicans cite tightening races and increased Republican voter enthusiasm. The average Democratic candidate in a competitive race raised about $528,000, while the average Republican clocks in at just $196,000 on average. The discrepancy is somewhat less when it comes to money left in the bank; the average Republican has about $490,000, while the average Democrat has $691,000... A total of 50 House candidates in competitive races raised more than half a million dollars in this 17 day fundraising period. Of those, just six are Republicans.

These were some of the Democratic heavy-hitters in October:

• Democrat Kim Schrier in WA-08 outraised Republican Dino Rossi by nearly $1.3 million.
• Democrat Antonio Delgado in NY-19 outraised Republican John Faso by more than $1 million.
• Democrat Katie Hill in CA-25 outraised Republican Steve Knight by $824k.
• In NY-27, where indicted Rep. Chris Collins is still on the ballot, the Republican has raised just $1,799, compared with about $246k for his Democratic opponent.
• In VA-10, a race that heavily favors Democrat Jennifer Wexton despite outside GOP groups still spending on Republican Barbara Comstock, Wexton has $1.3 million in the bank, while Comstock is down to $544k.

All of those candidates are getting some level of help from the DCCC. If you want to help candidates who need some more money for their ground games and who the DCCC still refuses to help, I'd suggest Kara Eastman, J.D. Scholten, James Thompson, Audrey Denney, Jess King, Mike Siegel and the other candidates on the ActBlue page you will get to by clicking on the thermometer above. Bloomberg isn't riding to the rescue of any of them.