Hawaii just found a way around Citizens United. Other states are following.

 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Exposes the Problem of Dark Money in Politics

Wall Street Forms Super PAC With Sole Purpose of Attacking Bernie Sanders

The Connection Between Super PACS and Flint's Water Crisis

How One Donor Bought a North Carolina Senate Seat...

Silver lining on Romney's clouded campaign

Rachel Maddow points out that despite the missteps and terrible headlines and campaign infighting afflicting the Mitt Romney campaign, he can at least take comfort in the fact that outside spending favors him by a big margin and Republican voter suppression efforts remain robust.

Rachel Maddow - Shedding a little light on dark money

Rachel Maddow reports on a new online resource that is the result of an FCC requirement to disclose political ad spending so that now Americans can look up who's running political ads, if not (yet) the money behind them.

How One Mega-Donor Could Save $2.3 Billion Under Romney’s Tax Plan

How One Mega-Donor Could Save $2.3 Billion Under Romney’s Tax Plan: The $100 million that billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson pledged to donate to Mitt Romney will turn out to be a good investment if the Republican nominee wins the presidential election in November, a new report from the Center for American Progress Action Fund found. Thanks to Romney’s tax proposals, which call for massive tax [...]/p

Minnesota Corporations On Brink Of Winning Legal Right To Secretly Campaign | Alternet

Minnesota Corporations On Brink Of Winning Legal Right To Secretly Campaign | Alternet
"The right of corporations to spend money in campaigns—resurrected under the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling—may have been given a big boost Friday when a federal appeals court ruled in an ongoing suit that Minnesota corporations could independently spend money in campaigns without submitting ongoing reports to state officials.

In contrast, on Monday in another federal appeals court, the Seventh Circuit handling Illinois, that state’s campaign disclosure law was upheld in a similar suit—foreclosing the prospect of secret corporate electioneering in 2012 and beyond. (Each federal appeals court has the final say in its region until the U.S. Supreme Court steps in.)"

The US Chamber of Commerce's Multimillion-Dollar Attack Plan | Common Dreams

The US Chamber of Commerce's Multimillion-Dollar Attack Plan | Common Dreams
"The 2012 elections in many ways represent a crossing-the-Rubicon moment. Can the democratic system survive being swamped by hundreds of millions of dollars of Super PAC money? Can it endure the rise of superfunders like Sheldon Adelson (Newt Gingrich’s backer in the primaries, who has since thrown his financial muscle behind Romney’s campaign), Foster Friess (Rick Santorum’s sugar daddy), Texas billionaire Harold Simmons and the powerful Koch brothers, as well as the overwhelming clout of organizations like the Chamber of Commerce? Will citizens rally around investigations such as the one launched by Schneiderman, and will they demand limits to independent expenditures during elections as well as the disclosure of those who seek to buy the country’s elections and legislative process? Or will ever more politicians who oppose the Chamber’s values simply suffer the fate that befell Alan Grayson in 2010?"

Bill Moyers: Christian Right Hypocrite Ralph Reed Has Resurrected Himself in the GOP -- He Must Be Praying We'll Forget His Past | Alternet

Bill Moyers: Christian Right Hypocrite Ralph Reed Has Resurrected Himself in the GOP -- He Must Be Praying We'll Forget His Past | Alternet
"Scandal-stained Republican activist Ralph Reed is back in the GOP’s good graces with a new “grassroots” operation organizing right-wing Christians. Also back on the Republican agenda is protection for an old Reed cause, maintaining sweatshops in the Marianas."

Fight Rove's big money bid for a 2012 Senate takeover

Fight Rove's big money bid for a 2012 Senate takeover
"Rove motivated the attendees to cough up millions more by telling them of the millions he's raised to use against "the bad guys" not to elect Mitt Romney, but to get Barack Obama out of the White House. It's not just the White House, though, he's got his sights on the trifecta: White House, House, and critically, the Senate."

Beyond Super PACs: Nonprofit Millions Flooding Elections | Common Dreams

Beyond Super PACs: Nonprofit Millions Flooding Elections | Common Dreams
"While super PACs have received plenty of attention since the Citizens United ruling for flooding money into elections, a new investigative report shows how social welfare groups known as 501(c)(4)s "are pouring much of their resources" into elections."

Better Know A Right-Wing Attack Group: American Crossroads

Better Know A Right-Wing Attack Group: American Crossroads: Part two of ThinkProgress’ profiles of right-wing groups that are taking advantage of the Citizens United ruling to flood the airways with independent attack ads. See Part 1 here. American Crossroads is an independent expenditure-only Super PAC. Created in 2010, American Crossroads claims a “deep love for all that America represents – and a deep [...]/p

Welcome To The Era of Super PACs

"Unlike previous presidential elections, this year's election isn't only about which candidate has the most money in their war chests. This year it's all about which candidate has the most Super PACs pouring money into advertising on their behalf. And so far, these massive PACs have poured tens of millions of dollars to get their guy elected. Mike Papantonio talks about how money will be the determining factor in this year's election with Andy Kroll, correspondent for Mother Jones magazine."

'Dark Money' Groups Exceed Super PAC Spending, Secrecy | Common Dreams

'Dark Money' Groups Exceed Super PAC Spending, Secrecy | Common Dreams
"The top five outside spending groups on presidential election ads have reported less than 1% of their spending to the Federal Election Commission, according to a new report by national research and advocacy organizations Dēmos and US PIRG. Multiple types of outside spending groups are playing an even larger and more secretive role in the 2012 election cycle than previously thought or estimated."

After Citizens United, Conservative Undisclosed Donors Spent 8 Times As Much As Liberal Ones In 2010 Election

ThinkProgress » After Citizens United, Conservative Undisclosed Donors Spent 8 Times As Much As Liberal Ones In 2010 Election