527s, Corporations & You

Democrats, including Barack Obama, are furious over the recent Supreme Court ruling that removes limits on how, and how much, corporations can legally spend on advocacy advertising during elections. "We don't need to give any more voice to the powerful interests that already drown out the voices of everyday Americans," Obama said Saturday. Democrats in Congress are working feverishly to find ways around the Supreme Court so that they can restrict what corporations can and can't do.

In the last several national elections, 527 groups have had the biggest impact on third-party (not connected to the candidate's campaign) spending. The "Swift Boat" 527 was a major influence on the national conversation during the 2004 Presidential election between President Bush and John Kerry.

Interestingly, there seems to be a reason why Democrats are so up in arms about the Supreme Court ruling. The website Open Secrets has a page devoted to political expenditures by 527s during the last few election cycles. They've even got the information broken down into handy categories. For example, here is the information on "Democrat/Liberal" 527s:

Now, here's the information for "Republican/Conservative" 527s:

Spending really hasn't gotten started on the 2010 cycle yet. Comparing the three previous election cycles, Liberal 527s, in their slowest year, spent over $64 million more than Conservative 527s did in their most active year. In the three cycles, Liberal 527s outspent their Conservative counterparts by over $437 million dollars!

.

Since 77% of investors see Barack Obama as anti-business, is it any wonder that he and other Democrats would see corporations as a threat? Given how heavily 527 spending favors Democrats, corporate advocacy would mean a more level playing field when it comes to third-party spending during elections. Democrats are not against "powerful interests" -- only against those who don't support them.