PDA

View Full Version : Most expensive elections in American history - 2010 midterms



Noir
10-05-2010, 01:47 PM
From the Guardian,


The US midterm elections are on course to become the most expensive in history next month, estimated at well over $5bn (£3.15bn) – an indication of how much is riding on the outcome of the biggest test of US public opinion since the 2008 White House race.

With the Democrats facing electoral disaster and Barack Obama battling to save his presidency, the Republicans are resurgent, their campaign chests bursting with money from big corporations whose spending power has been unleashed by a supreme court ruling earlier this year providing anonymity for donors.

The estimated $5bn dwarfs the $1bn spent on the White House race.

Public Citizen, a non-profit organisation that tracks corporate spending on elections and lobbying, said today Republicans had received six times more cash than the Democrats last month, and this could rise to 10 to one this month. Much of the cash had come from Wall Street, banking and the health and pharmaceuticals industry, it said.

"We are going to see record amounts. This is the first year in which all limits are removed. The supreme court ruling reverses a century of political tradition in the US in which corporations are not supposed to get involved," said Craig Holman, Public Citizen's representative on Capitol Hill.

At stake on 2 November are 37 of the 100 US Senate seats, all 435 House seats, 37 of the 50 governorships and a raft of state legislative places. Voting has already begun in seven states.

Polls suggest the Democrats face their biggest drubbing since 1994, losing control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans, and seeing their nine-seat majority in the Senate reduced to about two or three, with an outside chance of losing it altogether.

As an indication of the historic scale of the looming defeat, a House seat in the south that has not been Republican since 1875 could now go either way.

Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia's centre for politics, is writing a book about these midterms elections. He is so confident about the outcome that he already has the title: The Pendulum Swings.

"These elections will determine how much freedom of movement President Obama has in the second half of his term. That is what it is about," Sabato said. "There are only two possibilities: he is going to have modest freedom or no freedom."

More at - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/04/us-midterms-most-expensive-elections

DragonStryk72
10-05-2010, 02:36 PM
I do think, though, that some candidates who are spending these huge loads of money are going to lose still, especially if they don't bring a solid message. Obama's going to lose his majorities from the backlash of the unpopularity of his first term, and there's no one to pin the blame on but him.

Even with majorities, the Dems have not been able to really do anything, and people are clearly fed up with it, just as they were fed up with republican rules in 06 and 08.

bullypulpit
10-06-2010, 04:26 AM
We have the right wing ideologues on the SCOTUS with their decision in the case of "Citizens United v. FEC" for that.

And the sad truth that no one in the GOP/tea-bagger axis want to acknowledge:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/library/Money-heads-10-5-10-web.jpg

red states rule
10-06-2010, 04:32 AM
We have the right wing ideologues on the SCOTUS with their decision in the case of "Citizens United v. FEC" for that.

And the sad truth that no one in the GOP/tea-bagger axis want to acknowledge:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/library/Money-heads-10-5-10-web.jpg

BP, I damn near pity you. So it is not the failed policies of your Dems that will see them crash and burn on the night on Nov 2 - it is campaign donations from corporations?

I thought you would be blaming Fox News and talk radio for the Dems defeat :laugh2:

KarlMarx
10-06-2010, 11:24 AM
We have the right wing ideologues on the SCOTUS with their decision in the case of "Citizens United v. FEC" for that.

And the sad truth that no one in the GOP/tea-bagger axis want to acknowledge:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/library/Money-heads-10-5-10-web.jpg

BP.... George Soros.... care to explain how a foreigner with billions of dollars contributes to Democrats in this country and doesn't expect a little, shall we say, "quid pro quo"?

Oh, and by the way, BP.... Obama is the reason why tens of thousands of people from Defense contractors and NASA have lost their jobs... those "chumps" as your cartoon calls them...

Obama can cut billions from defense and nothing from entitlements... when entitlements easily cost twice what defense does.

PostmodernProphet
10-07-2010, 07:34 AM
I expect each consecutive election will be "the most expensive in history", though certainly there are a lot of people fired up about this election and willing to spend money to see their candidates win......

bullypulpit
10-07-2010, 07:35 AM
BP.... George Soros.... care to explain how a foreigner with billions of dollars contributes to Democrats in this country and doesn't expect a little, shall we say, "quid pro quo"?

Oh, and by the way, BP.... Obama is the reason why tens of thousands of people from Defense contractors and NASA have lost their jobs... those "chumps" as your cartoon calls them...

Obama can cut billions from defense and nothing from entitlements... when entitlements easily cost twice what defense does.

Well, Soros...favorite boogeyman of the American right, is a US citizen. The money from US business interests flowing into the coffers of GOP and right wing interests groups are dwarfing anything Soros has ever contributed to the left. And gosh, the US Chamber of Commerce is up to its nose in a potential cesspool of scandal surrounding foreign money. Never mind that it is the right wing, monied interests...like the Koch brothers and their fellow travelers...who are the greatest source of funding and the driving force behind the astro-turf populism of the tea-party movement. A movement dedicated to convincing working class Americans to vote against their own interests.

Oh , and with US corporations exporting more jobs to third world countries than NASA has had in it's entire history, that argument holds NO water. Had those jobs remained in the US, the current demand for social safety net programs would be reduced.

Y'all just ain't big picture thinkers, are ya.

fj1200
10-07-2010, 11:00 PM
We have the right wing ideologues on the SCOTUS with their decision in the case of "Citizens United v. FEC" for that.

Love that free speech. :cool:


Oh , and with US corporations exporting more jobs to third world countries...

If we could only get the Dems to stop scapegoating the actual job creators in this country and change the corporate tax laws to... I don't know... actually encourage domestic job creation; That just might be helpful.

KarlMarx
10-08-2010, 05:16 AM
BP....

First of all, corporations exist for the benefit of the shareholders. So long as they don't break the law, you can't say much about it, just as George Soros peddles his influence with his money, so do corporations...

Speaking of corporate donors....

http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.php

As you can see (well, you if bothered to actually try)... the top corporate dollar amounts are going to Democrats, many of those "on the fence" corporations are still sending money to the Democrats than the Republicans

And, guess what?, UNIONS are sending money to the Democrats....

UNIONS who don't pay a thin dime in taxes because they are tax exempt 501(c)(5) organizations

http://www.irs.gov/charities/nonprofits/article/0,,id=96169,00.html

According to the IRS....

"The exempt purposes of a labor or agricultural organization do not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. "

So.... tell me why are unions giving any money to any political candidates AT ALL?

Corporations pay taxes, unions don't... Unions are breaking the law, corporations are not