The $1 billion presidential campaign

CBS News/AP

NEW YORK This year's presidential campaigns are on pace to reach a $1 billion in spending, their latest reports to the Federal Election Commission reveal.

The potential ten-figure total does not even count what the Democratic or Republican parties or independent groups like "super PACs" are spending on the race.

Outside groups are closing on $300 million in expenditures in the presidential general election, according to political watchdog groups, with the main pro-Romney super PAC responsible for a third of that amount.

Together, the campaign committees for President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney raised a combined $915 million and spent a combined $756 million by the end of last month, the latest FEC reports filed on Saturday's monthly deadline show.

Through September, the Obama 2012 campaign had raised a total of $558 million and had spent a total of $462 million, while the Romney 2012 campaign had raised $357 million and had spent $294 million, the reports said.

Obama For America continues to outpace Romney For President in fundraising, spending, and cash on hand. However, pro-Romney and anti-Obama spending by super PACs and other independent groups erase that disadvantage.

Outside spending on the presidential race has favored Romney over Obama by more than two to one, according to the Sunlight Foundation, which found pro-Romney advocacy since he clinched the Republican nomination has totaled $202 million, while pro-Obama spending was $79 million during the same period, a $113 million difference.

The Obama campaign raised $126 million in September, $48 million more than the $78 million raised by the Romney campaign last month, and spent $116 million, or $61 million more than the $65 million spent by the Romney campaign.

The Obama campaign entered October with $99 million cash on hand, which is $36 million more than the $63 million the Romney campaign reported in cash on hand entering October.

Each campaign reported relatively small debts -- $2.6 million by the Obama campaign, and $5 million by the Romney campaign.

The totals raised by the Obama and Romney campaigns, just $85 million shy of a combined $1 billion, do not reflect fundraising activity by the campaigns during the first three weeks of October.

Mr. Romney was attending his final scheduled fundraiser Saturday in Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Obama had already attended his last fundraiser. Still, both campaigns will continue to raise money.

Restore Our Future, the main pro-Romney super PAC, revealed in its FEC monthly report that it had become the nation's first $100 million super PAC.

Super PACs are political action committees permitted to raise and spend unlimited sums following a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that found legal limits to be an unconstitutional infringement on free speech

Restore Our Future raised $14.8 million in September, bringing its total raised since its founding by former Romney aides last year to $111.5 million.

The group spent $4.6 million on attack ads last month concentrating on the nation's unemployment rate in battleground states such as Florida, Virginia, Iowa, and Wisconsin. To date, the group has spent $95 million.

Restore Our Future entered October with $16.6 million cash on hand, the most it had in the bank since February, the height of the presidential primary season.

Earlier in the year, the super PAC spent $40 million in attack ads on Romney's closest rivals for the Republican nomination, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

In September, three of the super PAC's top givers -- Bob Perry, William Koch, and Steven Lund -- gave more, and there were five givers who cracked the $1 million mark for the first time.

Restore Our Future now has at least 31 million dollar givers and 26 donors who are billionaires.

Joe Craft, President & CEO of Alliance Coal, from Tulsa, and Bruce Kovner, a hedge fund founder from New York, each gave $500,000 to raise their totals given to the pro-Romney group to $1 million each.

Texas tycoon Harold Simmons, the nation's second-largest super PAC giver with nearly $20 million given overall, gave another $500,000 to the pro-Romney group to raise his total to $1.3 million.

Craft, Kovner, and Simmons were already among the group's billionaire givers. So was William Koch, a lesser-known brother of Charles and David Koch, who gave another $1 million to Restore Our Future through Oxbow Carbon, one of his Florida energy companies. William Koch has given a total $4 million.

Billionaire Robert McNair, Chairman & CEO of the NFL's Houston Texans, who made his fortune in the energy industry, gave $1 million to the pro-Romney group.

Fellow Houstonian Bob Perry, who owns a homebuilding company, gave another $2 million, raising his total to $10 million, tied for first with casino mogul Sheldon Adelson among donors to the super PAC.

Stanley Herzog, President & CEO of Herzog Contracting, a railroad and highway construction firm, from Missouri, gave $1 million to Restore Our Future.

Steven Lund, the Vice Chairman of Utah cosmetics company Nu Skin, gave the super PAC another $1 million -- half in his name, half in the name of his wife, Kalleen. Lund previously gave $2 million through companies he controlled.

Priorities USA Action, the main pro-Obama super PAC, raised $15.3 million in September, its best month ever and raising more than the pro-Romney group for the first time.

After spending $12.8 million last month, Priorities USA Action entered October with $7.3 million cash on hand. To date, the group has raised $49.5 million and spent $42.2 million.

A pair of Hollywood movie moguls -- director Steven Speilberg and his DreamWorks studio partner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, each gave the pro-Obama group $1 million in September. Katzenberg had given $2 million before, and Spielberg, $100,000.

Fred Eychaner, the Chicago-based newspaper publisher and broadcast station owner, gave another $2 million to the-Obama group, bringing his total to $3.5 million and becoming the group's top giver. Eychaner is also the nation's top Democratic super PAC donor, with more than $5 million given this election cycle.

Attorney Michael Snow, with the Minneapolis firm Maslon Edleman Borman & Brand, gave $250,000, bringing his total to $1 million for the pro-Obama super PAC.

Ann Wyckoff, who lists herself as a Seattle homemaker, gave another $500,000 to the group, bringing her total to $1 million. She is the widow of Evans Wyckoff, a president of a lumber company and apple orchard in Washington State.

One big donor not listed in the September report was billionaire investor George Soros, whose $1 million commitment to the group was announced on September 27. The donation has been made but did not clear until after October 1, said Priorities USA Action co-founder Bill Burton.

Soros would be the 20th million-dollar donor to the pro-Obama group. He is one of three billionaires to give to it.

Outside spending by all independent groups, including political parties, super PACs, and nonprofits that are not required to disclose donors, has already exceeded $840 million, according to the Sunlight Foundation and the Center For Responsive Politics, which both track daily expenditure disclosures.

That total includes $281 million the Sunlight Foundation found has been spent by independent groups advocating for Romney and Obama during the general election, plus spending during the presidential primaries, and on races for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Counting all 2012 races for federal office, the Center For Responsive Politics found that conservative groups have spent $562 million, and liberal groups have spent $265 million.

[IVoteMyConscience]

"I believe in the American spirit," President Obama said. "A President must care about 100% of their people."

Obama said that on film:

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fNUQQBE8iE"

"My priority is jobs," Romney said.

Romney's record on jobs is on video:

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZMndjLIQUFw"

In America, "47% of the people believe they are victims," Romney said. "That 47% believe they are ENTITLED [emphasis Romney's] to health care, food & housing. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. It's not my job to worry about those people. I'll never convince them to take responsibility for their lives."

Hmmm.

The steelworkers in the video above pay income tax. They take responsibility for their lives. I'm guessing that you reading this pay income taxes and take responsibility for your lives. My husband and I pay 35% income tax. We sure as heck take responsibility for our lives!

Meanwhile, Romney's defense of his unreleased tax returns is that last year he paid 14.1% income tax. (And there's evidence that he paid extra so American wouldn't know how low his tax bracket actually is--that's trying to buy votes.)

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all are endowed with CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."--the US Constitution

Did Romney really dismiss in contempt all of us Americans who pay taxes more than twice as high as his, as well as the basic tenant of our US Constitution, when he thought he was speaking secretly behind closed doors?

The record is on video:

"http://www.motherjones.com/transition/inter.php?dest=http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser"

So who told the truth in this 2nd 2012 Presidential debate? Who lied?

The record is on video:

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXpKq4UYtXw&feature=related"

Who stood firm on his platform for election? Who switched his positions?

The record is on video:

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jebDlVAcpGo"

Who told the truth in the 1st 2012 Presidential debate? Who lied?

The record is on video:

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TWHLgMCDuOs"

Romney's handlers claim debates are no place for "fact-checking" and that Romney will not be limited by "fact-checkers."

A Presidential candidate who doesn't want to be fact-checked?

What could that possibly mean. . .other than lying?

Apparently, Romney's handlers claim it means they disagree with "facts" because they like "empirical data." However, "empirical data" ARE "facts." A "fact," according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is "a thing known or proved to be true," and "data" is "a collection of facts." Yes, data are facts. "Empirical" simply means anything at all "verifiable by observation or experience."

Empirical DATA = [observed or experienced] FACTS = THE TRUTH

This is a particularly meaningless red herring designed to fool Republican voters into believing there's a difference between two identical terms and confuse them about why the facts, when checked, don't match what Romney says.

This is why President Obama doesn't object to being fact-checked.

It's a good thing American voters aren't as easy to lie to as Romney thinks.

Americans deserve the truth from our Presidential candidates.

Fact-checker's list on the 2nd 2012 Presidential debate, with citations, compiled by Milt Shook:

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/2012/10/second-debate-romney-lies-debunked.html

Fact-checker's list on the 1st 2012 Presidential debate, with citations, compiled by Milt Shook:

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/2012/10/a-small-sampling-of-romney-lies-at-last-nights-debate.html

For moderate voters, Obama and Romney compared, with citations, by Milt Shook:

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/2012/10/if-youre-a-moderate-voter-thinking-of-voting-gop-read-this-first-please.html

Obama's record as President, with citations, compiled by Milt Shook:

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

Whom among the American people Obama has really represented during the past 4 years? Revealed in detail by Milt Shook:

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/2011/08/more-politics-101-obama-is-smarter-than-us.html

By mid-October, 2012, the Obama campaign had broken all previous records for number of individual donations with 10,000,000 donations from Americans of all walks of life. That's ten million Americans not only voting for Obama, but investing their hard-earned money in a future lead by him. (And we all know exactly how hard-earned that money is these days.)

Please--read, follow up citations to their sources, educate yourself.

Don't be bought by simple-minded television ads paid for by billionaires who hope to gain financially by your loss.

Make an informed decision about what's best for you and for America.

And VOTE.

[fiddlestickawshucks]

The amount of money being spent in attempts by both Obama and Romney to buy the election is OBSCENE.!!!

When you think about how much good these BILLIONS and MILLIONS could do toward the budget deficit or helping Americans who have been screwed out of their jobs, their homes, their pensions, their IRA'S, their life savings etc. by a corrupt government, a bought-and-paid-for Congress and a totally and completely out of control Federal Reserve and the banking institutions; it's enough to make you physically ill.!!

It really shows where government, Congress, big business, drug companies and people like George Soros's priorities really lie.!

Obama's overuse and abuse of Executive Privilege give us a really clear picture of what his plans are for taking over total control of the US and all its citizens.

I have to say I still do not have a clear picture of what Romney's plans are for the US, but I will say his choice of Ryan as his running mate scares me.

I will definitely vote on November 6, but I am almost tempted not to, because I don't want my vote to be responsible for putting either one of these men in Office.!

[Repubs_R_Fiscal_Liberals]

SHALLOW-AND-REPUGS-2FOOLS

IN CASE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE DETAILS!

The day the democrats took over was not January 22nd 2009, it was actually January 3rd 2007

----------------------

Hmmm - so you're OK what the Repubs who took over in the 2010 midterms have done with further cratering us in the past two years?

Perspective's a beeyotch, ain't it? ;)

[tb91006]

Ummm they didnt take over congress in 2010 just the House.

[Repubs_R_Fiscal_Liberals]

That was the "who" I was referring to, TB91006!

[Repubs_R_Fiscal_Liberals]

The Citizens United decision by SCOTUS was tragic.

What needs to be done is to make ALL parties run using only limited PUBLIC funding.

That way the other parties will get exposure, and we can stop having special interest groups buy elections.

[tb91006]

They need to eliminate illegal outside funding from other countries like China. Ironic Obama and the liberals are always touting this but guess who is guilty of it...Obama. Since CBS wont report it I suggest you inform yourself at the Post who broke the story today. Here is a piece of it. When I did Romney's, the payment got rejected on the grounds that the address on the card did not match the address that I entered," he said. "Romney's Web site wanted the code from the back of card. Barack Obama's didn't."

In September, Obama's campaign took in more than $2 million from donors who provided no ZIP code or incomplete ZIP codes, according to data posted on the Federal Election Commission Web site.

The Obama campaign said the FEC data was the result of "a minor technical error." Obama and the liberals have become a cancer to our country.

[Repubs_R_Fiscal_Liberals]

And all of that would go away if the campaigns were ONLY allowed to fun on public funding.

I don't like either party.

I want a chance for my Libertarian Party to get equal coverage, which won't happen when their are billion-dollar campaigns.

[hypnotoad72]

Why are people complaining?

TV spots, radio, newspapers, even the internet -- it all costs money.

The problem is when special interests, especially multinationals that do not have allegiance to any one country, start meddling for their benefit over all of the country's citizens. Even unions are better*, as the people therein are workers concerned about their livelihoods and country

* but not by much, and as their influence has waned so much over time it's weird how unions are still scapegoated... especially when their for-profit counterparts have not shown themselves as being anything even remotely better. Unions are a necessary evil, when all is added up. :(

[TJphoto]

***......Over It's not an election, it's an auction!

[msimamaji]

I just donated some nickels and dimes to Obama, the DNC, and Bold Progressives. I wish I didn't have to do this, but I have no choice.

Citizens United has turned our elections into a Money Bowl competition. The GOP is bankrolled by the Wall Street Banksters and the Koch Brothers who are carpet bombing the media with all sorts of misleading and phony political ads.

The blame of course must go to the people, who are gullible enough to believe anything the boob tube tells them without any intelligent investigation.

The Koch Brothers, Karl Rove, and the Wall Street Banksters are out to buy this country. Once elected, they will find all sorts of ingenious ways to retain power and to rob you blind.

Unless we re-hire Obama and fire then entire Shifty-Mitty, lyin'-Ryan GOP, this will be the last free election.

[hypnotoad72]

We've been robbed blind for rather a long time... the last time we had a truly free election was... decades ago... or the time that lobbyists didn't have free reign...

[Lucky12345678]

The Federal government is just spending too much, tax revenues keep increasing, but spending is out of control: "... In the US for the full fiscal year, total receipts grew 6.4 percent to $2.45 trillion, while outlays fell 1.6 percent to $3.54 trillion, CBO estimated. Individual income tax receipts rose 3.4 percent while corporate income tax collections rose 33.7 percent. Most categories of spending fell, except for Social Security benefits, which rose 5.9 percent, to $762 billion, and Medicare, which rose 3.2 percent to $469 billion after adjusting for offsetting receipts..." Government spending increases the big divide in this country and creates the class warfare democrats love to talk about. As government transfer spending increases the divide between class's increase, just look at what's been happening for the last three years under President Obama! Big government is not the solution, but the cause of our problem...

[hypnotoad72]

Then why did Reagan increase taxes?

Why did GWB balloon the size of government with his programs?

Do you know that when we offshore jobs or reduce the value of work, less tax money comes in? (So it's just as much an issue of revenue generation being lost...)

And class warfare? The class war, incidentally, started when the management demanded workers take pay cuts, train their own cheap H1B replacements, lost jobs due to illegals (who are also used to drive down wages...) AND it really started when the companies doing this, and blaming workers after their extortion and other forms of chicanery, dared to be bailed out at this country's expense. If multinationals have no moral incentive to hire Americans, you'd better explain what the hell they're doing in taking taxpayer money for any single reason.



http://www.obamaftw.com/blog/deficit-and-debt/obama-vs-bush-deficit-debt-revenue

Do people know ALL the reasons for budget shortfalls, which include
(a) jobs going offshore or being automated (meaning fewer people with jobs to tax, and it hurts our trade deficit as well since we're not making or servicing anything)
(b) SMBs failing due to large competition being allowed to destroy them with predatory tactics
(c) all the corporate subsidy (corporate welfare)
(d) corporate subsidy going to corporations THAT offshore


*sigh* You dittoheads will never figure it out...

[sallychicago]

Why not put some of that $1billion spent on the campaign toward the Federal debt! You have said nothing about the obscene amounts being spent to elect a president.

[Thingumbobesquire]

Wow, but wouldn't it be cheaper if the moneyed interests could figure out a way of putting psychotropic substances in our food and beverages to render us complacent?

[hypnotoad72]

It's more profitable to put in addictive ingredients. Even better if the ingredients are toxic.

But why worry? We're a "pro-life" country.

[dj_chi]

Hypotoad, as a nun once said we're a pro-birth country not a pro-life country. ;) The right doesn't give a rats butt what happens to that life once it's out of the womb. Well, as long as they aren't required to help it. Christ's head would explode if he knew what the right has done with his church.

[JohnStockton77]

if anyone is a fool it is he who thinks his vote matters in Presidebntal elections. YOUR VOTE DOES NOT MATTER because either Reublican or Democrat, they are slaves of big interests and lobby grouops who FUND THESE ENERMOUS COSTLY campaigns. With campaign bills like this, the President whoever he is, will have to bow to those that contribute to the campaigns - these groups are the ones that really control the country, and thus your individual vote does not matter. it is just empty talk to get you to vote and make you think you have a voice. What has been COngress's approval rating in recent year? --dismal, which also just proves that who is in Washington does not represent the people. Washington is TOTALLY financially corrupt to the core, to the core.