superpac donor locations in the lower 48, sized by amount donated (max is $5 million). not all donors are shown owing to some geocoding errors.
As Stephen Colbert rightfully pointed out earlier this week, a 501(c) organizations — which he termed “Spooky PACs” — operate like Super PACs, except that they are completely secret organizations that do no reveal any of their donors. Like Super PACs, 501(c) groups can raise unlimited corporate and union donations, and can spend that cash on independent expenditures, better known to voters as attack ads, automated telephone calls, and political mail.
The biggest Spooky PAC since the Citizens United decision has been the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber trades on its brand. People think the U.S. Chamber, based in D.C. across the street from the White House, is somehow related to their local chamber of commerce. Rather, the U.S. Chamber is a partisan lobbying force that raises large sums of money from multinational corporations to elect pro-big business candidates.
A Tangled Web: Who’s Making Money From All This Campaign Spending?
Many have been detailing the vast sums being raised by the presidential candidates and the super PACs supporting them. But where are all those millions being spent? Among other things, the answers can provide hints on potential improper coordination between campaigns and super PACs.
Here are the 200 biggest recipients of spending by the major campaigns and most of the major super PACs. Click on each spender on the left to see where its money flows and click on each recipient on the right to see where the money ends up.
Who are the biggest players in the 2012 presidential campaign?
The presidential super PACs: five takeaways
The first round of SuperPAC annual filings came in yesterday, and we at Sunlight have been digging through them since. Our reporting team has been blogging the reports as we digest them.
Below are five takeaway points, based on a Sunlight Foundation analysis of FEC filings for nine super PACs that raised at least $500,000 in 2011 and have spent money in the presidential election.
Since the start of the presidential campaign, independent groups have spent at least $29.7 million asking voters to elect or defeat candidates through television advertisements and other means. The most active groups have been “super PACs,” which can raise unlimited money from individuals, corporations and labor unions. Although these groups cannot legally be tied to a candidate, several of the most-active ones are run or advised by former associates or campaign staff; those are noted below with the picture of the candidate.
