In record spending year, millions in election cash not disclosed

CBS News

NEW YORK On a crisp October morning, a group of high school students taped one dollar bills over their mouths as they approached the Lower Manhattan offices of JP Morgan Chase. Danielle Raskin, a 17-year-old senior at Eleanor Roosevelt High, was among them.

"Those with more money should not have a larger say in politics than the rest of the people," Raskin said. "It frustrates me that these people create policies only for profit and not for the benefit of people, which is not how government is supposed to work."

Raskin and other members of 99Rise, an outgrowth of last year's Occupy Wall Street movement, were at the offices of the nation's largest bank to protest the deluge of political spending bankrolled by undisclosed donors.

While spending by independent political groups on races for the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives topped $1.3 billion this year, according to the Sunlight Foundation at least $300 million was spent by groups that are not required to disclose their donors -- so-called "dark money."

More than 100 dark money groups have been active, and overall, 80 percent of their spending supported Republicans, according to Sunlight's analysis. The top seven non-disclosing spenders backed a conservative agenda -- Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies ($70 million); Americans For Prosperity ($35 million); U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($33 million); American Future Fund ($21 million); Americans For Job Security ($16 million); Americans For Tax Reform ($16 million); and American Action Network ($12 million).

The ballyhooed super PACs, which spent at least $625 million by Election Day are registered with the Federal Election Commission and are required to disclose the sources of their unlimited funds. But the dark money groups, registered with the Internal Revenue Service as 501c non-profits or social welfare organizations, do not. (They disclose only expenditures to the FEC).

"I want big companies to say how much they are giving and to whom in these elections," said Jenny Ferreiras, a 17-year-old senior at the Bronx High School of Science, who participated in the protest at JP Morgan Chase. The demonstrators had no specific evidence of bank political donations to dark money groups.

Classmate Carolein Mossel said, "It shows that the one percent can buy politicians, while the 99 percent just sit there and watch."

Mossel and Ferreiras watched as Raskin and two other young women went inside the bank's lobby and staged a sit-in. They held an American flag and a sign demanding greater donor disclosure. After an hour of refusing to budge, the NYPD arrested them.

In Washington a few days earlier, Public Citizen had left gift-wrapped boxes of fake money on the front steps of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a mock presents for the Chamber's 100th birthday.

"What the Chamber is doing is taking money from the giant multinationals around the country, laundering it, and then spending it in huge ways in election races across the country," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. "We don't know which companies are behind this money. Today, we are calling as a first step for the source of that money to be disclosed."

A study by Public Citizen found the Chamber was the top or second-biggest non-disclosing outside spender in 29 of the 35 congressional races where it spent $100,000 or more.

Public Citizen also found 86 percent TV advocacy paid for by all independent groups, were negative attack ads.

Like other watchdog groups, Public Citizen has called for passage of the DISCLOSE Act, which would require all groups that spend $10,000 or more on campaign communications to reveal their donors. The Senate bill died in a Republican filibuster over the summer.

"I think at the very the minimum what we need to is make sure it's all transparent," said Jon Tester, the Montana Democrat who won a close battle Tuesday for a second U.S. Senate term. "So we know who's giving the money."

Tester was subjected to most of the $7.5 million in dark money ads aired in Montana, seen as a linchpin to the Senate majority Senate candidates in Wisconsin, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia, were hit with millions more - with mixed results.

"I've been told that there's very few people that are making these contributions. Let's find out who they are," Tester said. "I mean, freedom of speech is great, but if we're giving freedom of speech to a hundred people and not the rest of us, that's kind of crazy."

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[dondish1937]

I am surprised the Chamber of Commerce is involved in this sort of thing. I suppose the are more of a political organization than I thought. Guess I'm a bit naive. The thing we need to do as citizens is follow where this money is going, who it is to help and make sure we vote for the opposition! We can not allow our government to be for sale and that is what these billionaires along with the Chamber of Commerce want. They want a government that will give them a free ride, protect them from needed regulations that keep our air and water clean, protect our children and grand children from living in an enviornment that is back to dirty air, dirty water, smog and all that comes from that. If you have a company then make sure that company follows the rules that are set to protect us from your failures. The Supreme Court should revisit the Citizens United thing and reverse their decision. Our forefathers did not form this country with the idea that the rich, the filthy rich, should set it up to their benefit.

[dondish1937]

I am surprised the Chamber of Commerce is involved in this sort of thing. I suppose the are more of a political organization than I thought. Guess I'm a bit naive. The thing we need to do as citizens is follow where this money is going, who it is to help and make sure we vote for the opposition! We can not allow our government to be for sale and that is what these billionaires along with the Chamber of Commerce want. They want a government that will give them a free ride, protect them from needed regulations that keep our air and water clean, protect our children and grand children from living in an enviornment that is back to dirty air, dirty water, smog and all that comes from that. If you have a company then make sure that company follows the rules that are set to protect us from your failures. The Supreme Court should revisit the Citizens United thing and reverse their decision. Our forefathers did not form this country with the idea that the rich, the filthy rich, should set it up to their benefit.

[jesbug]

Give these girls a standing ovation! How shameful is it that the streets are not lined with citizens in their 30's, 50's and beyond who should have the intellect to understand control of our government is being sold to billionaires and monstrous corporations. Every registered voter better demand the Supreme Court revise their ruling on "501c" because surely they did not imagine the devious twisted ramifications of no disclosure. HIDDEN MONEY defies ELECTION LAW PRINCIPLE.

[RNOHB]

"The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as much as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state." - The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, 1776.

It would be fair. Businesses and investors get more use from, gain more from infrastructure than private citizens. Why shouldn't they pay more for more use?

But more to the point, it only makes good business sense to properly maintain your plant assets, your tools, your infrastructure (including the health, education and training of your livestock). In short, IT'S IN YOUR OWN BEST INTEREST YOU SHORTSIGHTED, SELF-SERVING GET!

[marychgo]

"Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies ($70 million); Americans For Prosperity ($35 million); U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($33 million); American Future Fund ($21 million); Americans For Job Security ($16 million); Americans For Tax Reform ($16 million); and American Action Network ($12 million): over $200 million in expenditures by these seven groups, and the only one whose "social welfare" purpose we know is the U.S. Chamber. (I'm guessing Crossroads' purpose is keeping Karl Rove off the streets.)
I can't bring myself to shed tears over all the millions all those billionaires wasted on this election. But I continue to support a constitutional amendment making it quite clear that corporations are not persons and have no constitutional rights!

[RNOHB]

It ain't over 'til it's over.

Every public officeholder swears an oath of office. ?Ask yourself, 'What's the point of ANY additional pledge?' ?Follow the money.

Any officeholder who genuinely believes in representative government should have already publicly denounced the Teaparty/Taliban's efforts to disenfranchise Americans.

If you stood in line to vote, write your STATE legislators an invitation to the 21st century. ?Washington state voters had their ballots weeks before election day.

The Teaparty/Taliban are still afraid of women making decisions. (John 8:3-11)

Trickle down not only doesn't spur economic growth, it stifles it. It's what led to the American and French revolutions.

"Corporations are people" = "He with the most gold rules"