Is Campaign Finance Reform Dead?

Is Campaign Finance Reform Dead? Requiescat In Pace!

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Limits
on Campaign Financing...Let the Bux Flow!

Republican congressional candidates have sprinted ahead of Democrats in the race to raise money for the midterm elections, signaling a strong advantage for the GOP heading into the final two weeks of the campaign.

Really? What a surprise...

In the House, GOP candidates reported raising $104 million from July through September, compared with $89 million for Democrats, new disclosure records show. In the 18 top Senate races, Republicans brought in nearly$60 million; their Democratic opponents raised less than $40 million.

Now we’re starting to feel bad.

Guess they don’t need ten dollar donations from the likes of us regular folk...not when they have sugar daddys like  the Koch brothers,  sleeping all snug on satin sheets as I labor thru this annoying article. 

The third-quarter numbers illustrate a turnaround in fund raising for Republican House candidates, who had lagged $3 million behind Democrats the previous quarter.

For how long, 30 seconds?

GOP challengers in 34 key districts out-raised the Democratic incumbents, increasing the chances that Republicans will gain control of the House.

We didn't see that one coming, eh?

The fund-raising surge by individual campaigns coincides with an unprecedented wave of spending by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ...

Hey, folks at the Chamber won't you consider adopting us?
We're pretty orderly...
Okay...okay...we're Democrats which automatically means we're DISorderly...
But, we are faithful...and we don't stink...much

... and other Republican allies, who have spread  resources across more than 100 congressional contests. Expenditures by outside groups have eclipsed $150 million, with most of the spending in the past few weeks.

The frenzy is being fueled in part by a relatively small number of rich donors -- oil and gas industry chief executives, construction magnates and other tycoons -- who are able to exert outsize influence in specific races.

Are they the ones living in those swell, gated estates? You know the ones I mean...we can't actually see those mansions ...just the fabby gate, beautiful trees, lush, green grass...

Recent court rulings have made it easier for corporations and wealthy individuals to make unlimited political contributions, much of it cloaked in secrecy.

Sshhh...don't breathe a word...we don't really know of the huge amounts of money flying into Republican coffers... the pennies and lumps of coal to Democrats...Wait a minute!..Isn't that from an old Christmas story...or the story of Cinderella?..I don't seem to have my classics straight....
 
Ken Spain, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said donors were "mobilizing behind fresh-faced conservative candidates looking to send a message to Washington."

One of the few bright spots for Democrats came at the party level, where two congressional committees brought in more than $31 million in the third quarter, records show. The Republican equivalents raised less than $20 million.

Somehow that doesn't sound right...it must be an aberration...yeah, that's it...an aberration...

J.B. Poersch, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that despite Republican success in fund-raising, "our supporters are making sure Democrats have the resources they need to wage competitive races and ultimately keep Democrats in the Senate majority."

Sorry to tell you, Mr. Poersch, there is no way Democrats could even come close to the bux Republicans raise...They have only to pick up the phone and call two or three “swells” and voila! they're in the money...Why, it's easier than shooting fish in a barrel.

The new disclosures provide a glimpse at an array of wealthy donors and interest groups that are driving the spending on this year's elections.

Why do I feel like the poor stepchild?

In Colorado, for example, a Virginia-based group called the First Amendment Alliance has raised about $200,000 from a handful of Colorado energy, banking and media executives, including $50,000 from billionaire and longtime GOP donor Philip Anschutz, records show. The Alliance has spent about the same amount on ads in Colorado attacking Sen. Michael Bennet (D), who is in a tight race with GOP candidate Ken Buck.

Can we borrow your roll-a-dex?

The money has helped Reid stay even in the polls with GOP challenger Sharron Angle, whose campaign reported raising $14 million in the third quarter. Reid's campaign said it raised $2.8 million during the same period.

Did anybody catch Angle speechifying to a Mexican-American audience? OMG!
Google it...I couldn’t possibly do it justice...The sad truth is she will probably walk away with it...Reid can’t possibly match the big Angle bux.