Shedding Light on Dark Money

Shedding Light on Dark Money Credit: IStock Photo/ Ricardo Reitmeyer Follow the money. Its a phrase made famous by the 1976 film All the Presidents Men, which was about the journalistic efforts of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in exposing the Watergate Scandal. That simple phrase is no less important today than it was in the 1970s, as the U.S. Supreme court decision in the Citizens United case allows corporations to pour untold millions into political ads through PACs (political action committees). However, these Super PACs are required to disclose their donors, and their money is much more easily tracked. Dark money, a term that rose to popularity thanks to Mother Jones, is another threat to political fairness and transparency altogether. It refers to the money not only spent by super PACS, but by organizations known as social welfare groups, which are tax-exempt organizations (as long as they are in the interest of promoting the general welfare, whatever that ridiculously vague wording means) that do not have to disclose political expenditures. Apparently, promoting the general welfare means these non-disclosure groups can spend a whopping $28.5 million (or roughly 90%) on advertising related to the November presidential election matchup. Much of this advertising is also being directed to media markets in crucial swing states such as Ohio, Iowa, and Florida. As millions of Americans are preparing to vote in the upcoming elections, its vitally important that people not only hear what potential candidates have to say, but who they are saying it on behalf of. As this Pro Publica article details, these social welfare groups are spending even more money on TV advertising than the dreaded, but better covered by the mainstream media, Super PACs. The ambiguous standing of these organizations has created a locked box for the super-rich to make untold amounts of political advertising contributions. These organizations register with the IRS under the pretense that they are not politically motivated, but as many journalists are finding out, these non-profits are violating their status with the IRS and making waves in political advertising. And as news outlets are finding out, much of this independent ad money is being spent in favor of Republican candidates, or on negative ads aimed at President Barack Obama. Via www.i.politicomments.com Another problem with following the dark money down the political corruption rabbit hole, is that many organizations do not have to disclose their expenditures until well after the elections. Politics moves too quickly, and the IRS   simply cannot keep up with the thousands of organizations engaging in this kind of political fraud. It will be well past November 6th by the time these tax returns can be scrutinized by the IRS. The corruption is ongoing, and due to the flimsy wording in the U.S. tax code, the corruption will be difficult to stop. So what can be done? Is there a way for the common citizen to help fight secrecy and corruption in the political process? Democracy should be determined by the people, not by the people with untold fortunes. Thankfully, ProPublica has a way for you to help. They have begun a Free the Files campaign, which aims to involve the public in unlocking files from TV stations buying political advertisements, in order to find out which non-profits are spending where, and for whom. The FCC helped to lift the veil on dark money expenditures by forcing TV stations to publish online the records of political ad buys. Before this decision was made, the only way to get at these files was by visiting the station in person, an exhausting, time-consuming process. Transparency and fairness are vital components of any good democracy, and money is being spent in these elections in unprecedented amounts. These advertisements are seen by millions of voters nation-wide, many of them completely unaware of the hidden machinations that lie beneath. We can follow the money and take back the election for the common citizen, we just have to find it first.