1792 PAC Land

Ah, the cost of democracy. Ever since the Supremes voted to stop the whole campaign financing limits thing, expenditures have skyrocketed. Now that Super PACs can spend what they want and not name donors all sorts of special interests are filling the coffers of every media outlet from Seattle to Sheboygan.
So much so that Borrell Associates, a national media consultant firm, estimates that political advertising on presidential, congressional, state, and local campaigns will get near $10 BILLION nationwide. In 2008, $7 billion was spent, so that's a 43% increase.
Looks like everyone has tooled up to campaign on the green bandwagon this year. Except this green actually has denominations.
It's all thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision recognizing corporations as people, and giving them the power to pump unlimited amounts of money into campaigns.
But hey, there's got to be a bright side, right? Yep, economic stimulus. Oh sure, the corporations could be spending that 10 billion on factories and energy efficiency upgrades. Or they could even be bringing some of it back from offshore and using it to pay those taxes they're always complaining about so the rest of us could get some upgrades in infrastructure so we're not stuck in traffic burning expensive fuel, depleting our wallets and personal budgets and dragging down the economy because we can't afford their goods.
But one sector of the economy is being stimulated. Advertising. And even now that Super PAC bonanza is at work in a very democratic fashion. It's providing much needed cash to not just Fox, but ABC, CBS, and even MSNBC.
Which, you know, must be hard on certain Super PACs. Keeping their sworn enemies in business so they can preach to someone other than the choir.
Ah, the profits of democracy.
America, ya gotta love it.