Dark Money Hits $50 Million, Most Still to Come

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/dark-money-hits-50-million-most-still-come-1409487674

Congressman Tom Cotton (R-Ark) is a dangerous man and a hypocrite. Cotton — who is running to unseat Senator Mark Pryor – wants to “end Medicare as we know it” while also treating himself and his friends in Congress to “taxpayer-funded health care for life.” At least, that’s what a liberal group called Patriot Majority USA wants you to believe, especially if you plan on voting in the Arkansas Senate race in November.

Neither of the claims is true, and weren’t in 2012 when Patriot Majority first trotted them out. Yet, while the group is generous with questionable facts, mum’s the word when it comes to who, or what, is the source of the $7 million it has spent on political ads so far this cycle. As a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization that isn’t supposed to have politics as its primary purpose, it isn’t required to disclose its donors.

Political spending by these groups is reaching new heights: This week, it crested $50 million, a record for this point in an election cycle, and more than seven times beyond the outlays by such groups at this time in the last midterms. And that’s just the amount that has been reported to the Federal Election Commission, which doesn’t include tens of millions more spent on “issue ads” that aired earlier in the cycle and didn’t have to be reported to the agency. It’s another reminder that the current cycle is shaping up to be the darkest election in a long time.