With the midterm election a little over a week away, reports are surfacing that outside groups —many of them funded by anonymous donors — are spending more money than ever this election cycle. The 2010 election is set to be the most expensive in history, with politicians and others spending 40 percent more than they did in 2008. One group estimates that political action committees and nonprofit groups will spend $564 million, with pro-Republican groups spending $334 million and pro-Democratic groups spending $230 million. Many experts think that these political action committees (PACs) and nonprofit groups are the cause of the increase; they’ve spent 73 percent more than they did in 2008.
A large factor in the spending increase may be January’s Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which allows corporations to spend an unlimited amount of money on elections. The court ruled that corporations are essentially “people” with the right to free speech. This means that corporations can, just like people, contribute to PACs and nonprofit groups. But due to a loophole in U.S. tax law, these companies don’t have to report which nonprofit groups they’re contributing to, leading to charges that many of the new groups are fronts for corporate interests that don’t want to be transparent about their donations.
Clearly, there’s more money in the system than ever before, and anonymous groups can seem to have enormous power to shape our politics. But it’s important to remember that they can’t vote — we can. People running for office and re-election want our votes more than anything else, and it’s within our power to shape campaigns by making ourselves heard.
Calling your senator’s office to ask about her or his position on the Paycheck Fairness Act and asking congressional candidates where they stand on No Child Left Behind and school vouchers — this is how we make ourselves heard. Most of us don’t have millions of dollars, but we do have passion for these issues and, if we chose to use it, the ability to make legislators listen to us.
No one knows how this new infusion of cash will affect the election. The only thing we know will affect the election is what voters do — whether they ask questions, write letters, make calls, or, most important, vote. That’s really what unites us as citizens.
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