I have been so upset over the last few weeks watching the flood of political ads on the airways, most of them sponsored by groups I had never heard of. Then the stories of corporate contributions began to surface and I decided to pay closer attention. What I found was astonishing to me.
The majority of the Republican ads were not coming from the candidate's campaign or from their PACs, but were coming from a variety of shaddow groups with innocuous names: U.S.Chamber of Commerce, American CrossroadsGPS, Americans United Fund, The American Fund, Americans for Prosperity,etc. The Democratic ads were all from the candidate's campaign or PAC, or from the DSCC.
The flood of money coming into Republican campaigns from these shaddow groups is the result of Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to corporate money. Corporations of all stripes, banks, oil companies, chemical companies, lobbyists, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hedge funds, mining companies etc., plus individual multi-millionares and billionares are giving unlimited money to these groups to buy the best Republican Congressmen and Senators that money can buy. They are not giving out of the goodness of their hearts.....they all want something- regulations to go away so they can screw the country again, favorable legislation for their companies, access to a Senator or Representative, more tax loopholes for the rich, favorable tax havens to hide profits and wealth from taxation, and favorable legislation to send millions more jobs overseas. They want the best country they can buy, and have NO interest in the welfare of the people of this nation.
I voted early. I decided to fight back. My Country deserves better than this. Any candidate who was supported by any of these shaddow groups I voted against. No candidate who did not run an ad with their own campaign funds I did not support. MONEY CANNOT BUY MY VOTE! MY VOTE IS NOT FOR SALE!