Watchdogs Seek To Shed More Light On 'Dark Money;' It's Not Easy
NPRWatchdogs Seek To Shed More Light On 'Dark Money;' It's Not Easy A top concern raised by critics of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision was that it would unleash a torrent of poorly disclosed, if disclosed at all, spending by the superwealthy. A report called "Million-Dollar Megaphones" by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Demos found that outside organizations reported to the Federal Election Commission spending $167.5 million for the 2012 election cycle. What's more, the report says that its data analysis indicates the five outside groups that have spent the most on presidential campaign TV ads — a combined $53 million, according to Kantar CMAG, a firm that follows such spending — have reported less than 1 percent of that spending to the FEC. Then there's this: Only 47 individuals — each giving at least $1 million to superPACs — accounted for more than 57 percent of the money raised by superPACs during the current election cycle. Sponsor Message As NPR's Peter Overby, who closely follows money in politics, tells me: "When we look at those 47 donors who account for 57 percent of superPAC money, we can't see the much larger sums flowing thru the c4s."
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