The Price of Politics

In the last federal campaign cycle, approximately 6 billion dollars was contributed to candidates or political committees by individuals.  This number does not include the dollars contributed to outside organizations, such as Political Action Committees (PACs) and Super PACs.  According to this article from the Washington Post, there is another astonishing number that must be addressed.  Of that 6 billion dollars, 28% of it was contributed by 31,385 people.  This means that 1% (one-tenth) of 1% of all Americans contribute 28% of the money to federal political campaigns and committees.

What are your thoughts after reading the article?  Should anything be done to limit contributions in political campaigns?  After all, there are limits in place.  The OpenSecrets website helps address that aspect.

527 Organizations

The following ad is from the 2004 Presidential Election.  It is an important one since it was the first Presidential campaign cycle that employed the usage of 527 organizations.  These organizations come from a section of the tax code which allows groups to subsequently get involved in issue advocacy campaigns.  The organizations, however, cannot support a candidate.  They can only advocate against someone running for office.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Super PACs are now more influential in political campaigns.  In their ads, Super PACs can advocate for or against candidates running for office.  They have surpassed 527 organizations in terms of their effectiveness.

Should there be a limit to what campaign ads can advocate?