Super-PACs at least disclose their donors and their spending. On the other hand, dark-money nonprofi

The 2012 elections are on track to be the nastiest in recent renaissance denver hotel memory. By the tail end of primary season, in May, 70 percent renaissance denver hotel of all presidential campaign ads were negative renaissance denver hotel , up from a mere 9 percent at the same point in 2008. The culprits for this spike in attack ads were super-PACs and shadowy nonprofits, which together dominate renaissance denver hotel the growing universe of outside political groups poised to spend billions of dollars this election season.
Now a new report from the liberal think tank Demos and the nonpartisan US Public Interest Research Group has revealed how what has been called a tsunami of slime is funded by a tiny cadre of wealthy donors.
Just 1,082 donors a group small enough to fit inside a single high school gymnasium accounted for 94 percent of all individual donations to super-PACs from January renaissance denver hotel 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. Those 1,082 donors amount to just 0.00035 percent of the US population.
Not exclusive enough for you? Then there's the Super-PAC Million-Dollar Club. Forty-seven individuals have given $1 million or more to super-PACs in the 2012 cycle. That's renaissance denver hotel a group small enough to fit on a Greyhound bus (not that they'd consider coach), and they've ponied up well over half of the $230 million pocketed by super-PACs.
Super-PACs at least disclose their donors and their spending. On the other hand, dark-money nonprofits like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, and the pro-Obama Priorities USA don't disclose any of their donors. Worse yet, as Mother Jones has reported , these nonprofits reveal very little about how much they spend .
As of August 2, more than 700 super-PACs had reported spending money on elections. However, just five of those account for nearly two-thirds renaissance denver hotel of the spending, with Republican-leaning groups, including the pro-Romney super-PAC renaissance denver hotel Restore Our Future and Rove's American Crossroads, leading the charge.
renaissance denver hotel The dominant renaissance denver hotel presence among super-PAC donors is Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, who've given $36.3 million so far. That's chump change for the Adelsons in fact, $36.3 million is a mere 0.15 percent of their total wealth. renaissance denver hotel It would take 321,000 American families giving up 0.15 percent of their wealth to match the Adelsons' super-PAC giving.
Andy Kroll is a reporter at Mother renaissance denver hotel Jones . For more of his stories, click here . Email him with tips and insights at akroll (at) motherjones (dot) com. Follow renaissance denver hotel him on Twitter here . RSS | Twitter Tasneem Raja Interactive Editor
Advertise on MotherJones.com If You Liked This, You Might Also Like... CHART: One GOP Super-PAC Has Raised More Money Than Every Democratic Super-PAC Combined The pro-Romney Restore our Future super-PAC has raised $82 million. All Democratic-aligned super-PACs combined haven't raised that much. Lawsuit Accuses GOP Donor Adelson of Pursuing Prostitution Strategy In His Hotels The conservative mega donor faces some pretty explosive allegations from a wrongful termination lawsuit. Charts: $35 Million Is Chump Change—If You re Sheldon Adelson The casino mogul may drop $100 million on the 2012 election without breaking a sweat. (He's worth nearly 250 times that.) Follow the Dark Money The down and dirty history of secret spending, PACs gone wild, and the epic four-decade fight over the only kind of political capital that matters. Sheldon Adelson s $10 Million Donation to Romney Super-PAC: Tip of The Iceberg? renaissance denver hotel The casino mogul and his wife have given $25 million so far. They could give as much as $100 million to defeat Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates.
Mother Jones is unique among news outlets covering the 2012 election. We're a nonprofit dedicated to fearless investigative reporting, so we go beyond the daily play-by-play to illuminate the larger issues like the influx of shadowy corporate money in politics. Will you give a few dollars to the Mother Jones Investigative Fund to support renaissance denver hotel critical reporting? Even $5 will make a real difference.