USA Today and others are shouting about the 2014 dark money spending by liberal 501(c)s. THEY DO IT TOO, they tout. And what's with the word "Liberal" when even liberals seem to flinch at the word, preferring to refer to themselves as Progressives?
The most important missing FACTS in most of the reporting are
(1) A comparatively dinky amount of so-called liberal dark money has been spent in the 2014 cycle, seen on this chart:
(2) Most of the $1.7 million were spent to elect Ed Markey MA to the Senate, as seen in the chart below;
(3) Very little reporting for 2014 exists, except for a few Congressional races this year as seen here created from data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. .
(4) The Koch Cabal dark money 501(c)4s and 6s may not have all filed their reports yet; I remember the Romney campaign lagging behind; and
(5) It looks like industries might be fed up with the GOP and are donating more heavily to liberals according to this interactive chart created from data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
(Make sure to click on "Toggle Liberal/Conservative percentages" found at the top right hand side of the chart to see the whole picture.
Here's how Liberal Money was spent on Ed Markey's Senate campaign:
So boldly claiming Liberals are spending more dark money is a very incomplete statement.
Once again, citizen journalists have to jump in and clarify the sort of news most of the public sees. So, please share this on twitter, facebook, and with your misinformed conservative friends and family.
Yes, "Liberals do it, too." However, it will take huge climb to come close to the dark money spent and about to be spent by the well-oiled, hidden from public scrutiny, creatively accounted (or not accounted) for Koch Cabal $Billions spent and waiting in the wings to be spent.
Below are three articles. The original report from OpenSecrets, a gotcha report from the Washington Times, and a similar, soft ball report that made the front page of USA Today today.
The story begins with this article posted on OpenSecrets Blog, written by Robert McQuire on November 7th.
Liberal Dark Money Dominating 2014 Elections
Needless to say, this political football fell happily into the hands of the Koch Cabal quarter backs spread throughout the country and acting as journalists.
You can view this chart here as well. When the chart opens, click on colum heading "Type" to view the 501(c)s a seen above.
To McQuires credit he clearly states:
That means liberal dark money in 2013 makes up 70 percent of all the dark money spent so far. At this point in 2011, liberal money accounted for less than 6 percent of the dark money spent, and in 2009, the total was a little higher, at 6.5 percent.
The top spender, the League of Conservation Voters, has already reported laying out more than $800,000 in direct support for Ed Markey's (D-Mass.) successful run for the Senate seat vacated by John Kerry -- almost twice as much as all dark money groups combined had spent at this point in the 2012 cycle.
LCV's pro-Markey efforts account for nearly half of the liberal dark money spent so far in 2013, and a third of all dark money spent.
LCV is only one of the 12 501(c) groups that donated to Ed Markey. Furthermore, of the 12 501(c) groups listed, 4 groups or 25% of the so-called dark money fully discloses its donors so they are not "dar." That drops the number of "dark money" groups to 8 that don't disclose donors because they don't have to.
By comparison, and again hats off to McQuire, the following information is provided.
Conservative dark money spending is low in comparison to liberal groups, though it too has increased. Currently sitting at $740,161, conservative dark money spending has increased 78 percent over spending at this point in 2012.
That means conservative dark money spending in this midterm election already outpaces spending during the presidential election cycle -- which shattered previous records -- but the increase is nowhere near the jump seen among liberal dark money groups.
The 2014 Election Game is on!
Up until this election cycle, conservative 501(c)s and especially a long list with ties to the Koch brothers that I refer to as the Koch Cabal have spent fortunes to defeat Democrats and a host of other politically motivated activities.
Liberals have finally realized that, if money is the rule of the game unleashed by Citizens United, they have little choice but to join the Battle of the $Bills until Citizens United is reversed.
Sadly, this is giving the conservatives the joy of touting "Both sides do it" and now they do.
Let the GOP glee begin.
From the Washington Examiner, an article written by Ashe Schow, former editor for the Heritage Foundation.
Liberals spending more 'dark money' than conservatives in 2014 election cycle
Falling from one’s high horse can really hurt.
Dark money refers to spending by 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) nonprofits that are not required to disclose their donors.
At this point in the 2014 election cycle, liberal dark money makes up 70 percent of dark money spent so far.
Liberal groups have spent more than $1.7 million so far, a 6,700 percent increase from their spending at this point in the 2012 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org
$1.7 million is chump change in our new Corporations are People election finance world, btw. Again, if you review the chart above, most of the so-called Liberal 501(c) money was spent electing Ed Markey.
Front page today from USA Today, written by Fredreka Schouten:
Pro-Democratic super PACs outspend conservatives
Liberal super PACs have spent $10.8 million on federal races this year —twice as much as conservative super PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' tally of independent spending in federal races. Much of the money has flowed to a handful of elections to fill congressional vacancies. Liberal money also makes up 70% of the election-related federal spending by "dark money" groups — politically active non-profits that don't have to disclose the sources of their money, the center found.
Let's look at the numbers for 2014 to date:
Spending by party for All Outside Spending Groups
What is true but somehow either downplayed or ignored all together is the fact that mostly conservative outside money has hugely outspent liberal/progressive outside money since 2008.
Look at the numbers from this chart from opensecrets for the 501(c) dark money sources since 2008:
Political Nonprofit Spending Since 2008: Politicization Rankings
Political spending by nonprofits has exploded since the Supreme Court's decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC decision, issued during the 2008 cycle. This influx of nonprofit spending correlates directly with the increase in "dark money" from unknown sources in federal elections because the vast majority of nonprofits aren't required to -- and don't -- disclose their donors.
Much of the data on this page had to be created manually by the Center for Responsive Politics, since the IRS does not provide it.
Also, they give the IRS a figure for their political spending, but it's hard to know what those numbers include since the groups don't file detailed reports
If you go to this interactive link, you will find by clicking on the mostly conservative 501(c)s is that they are just conduits. By conduit I mean that the 501(c) just passes the money forward to other conservative 501(c)s.
THE FEC AND THE IRS really need to sit down together to fix the accountability problems that are so blatant in the chart directly above.
IN CONCLUSION:
The eruption of right wing creative 501(c) political spending has to be countered by the left wing until Citizens United is reversed if we want to avoid a Tea Party and/or Dominionist takeover.
What a freaking waste of money when we consider the fact that 1 in 5 children in America are food insecure, Vets are homeless, our infrastructure is crumbling, and a host of many other real needs that simply require investment.
So, when you sit down to your family Thanksgiving dinner and one of your beloved right wing relatives starts in with "Both sides do it", whip out your copy of this article to explain the facts on the ground.
Liberals have no choice. The Koch Cabal dark money has to be challenged.