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Senate Democrats decried the influx of millions in unregulated dollars in the 2012 elections, announcing Wednesday that they will hold hearings looking into the impact of super PACs.
New York Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrats' messaging chief in the Senate, announced that the Rules committee will begin hearings this month on super PACs.
Joined by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Al Franken (D-MN), Schumer pointed to Mitt Romney's victory in Florida's Republican primary as evidence of the outsize influence of super PACs. He then bashed Karl Rove-tied groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS for raising money by the millions without having to disclose all of its donors.
"It doesn't pass the smell test to say some of these groups aren't coordinated," Schumer said, pointing to the example of a super PAC in favor of Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, an erstwhile GOP presidential contender, which was funded by Huntsman's father.
A number of super PACs made their filings with the Federal Election Commission by midnight last night, a deadline that Schumer said was "laughable." The New York senator said it made more sense to disclose those records before voters participated in January's Republican primaries.
"We think the disclosure should be as instantaneous as possible. The voters deserve to know the ugly truth of whose behind these Super PACs," he told reporters.
Schumer also didn't spare Democrats, who also have used super PACs.
"No matter who does it, the system needs to be fundamentally changed," he said.
Using charts with Karl Rove's name on them, Schumer said the donations made in secret to non-profit groups were the most troubling. He pointed to the $33 million dollars raised by Crossroads GPS as reported in the FEC filings this week.
"This is a mystery as to who is giving the money. Could it be one person who gave $33 million dollars? Could it be somebody who might have foreign links? Or huge contracts with the government ? We have no idea," he said.
The senators placed the blame on the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.
"Everyone has the right to do it. No one is going to unilaterally disarm. So we're now forced into this system," Franken told reporters.
Whitehouse mocked the idea that Super PACs operate independently of the candidate. He said these donations lead to corruption.
"You cannot pretend that people who are giving millions of dollars in support of a candidate anonymously aren't communicating that to the candidate and aren't going to come back and expect some kind of pay and we will never know who they were and what they promised," he complained.
It's not just Democrats who are worried about the corrupting influence of these new, monied groups.
We have -- on both sides of the aisle -- these incredible amounts of money and I guarantee you there will be a scandal," Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) said last Sunday on Meet the Press. "There is too much money washing around politics, and it's making the parties irrelevant."
Schumer expects the Rules committee will hold hearings sometime in February to look at ways to make disclosure of donors more regular and to improve the coordination rules between outside groups and campaigns.
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Of course this Headline News article won't be on this liberal based site, so I thought I'd post it myself:
Doesn't look good for Eric Holder! The head of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division and Attorney General Eric Holder's highest-ranking deputy, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, called Operation Fast and Furious and gun walking a "terrific idea" in emails to now-former Acting Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Ken Melson back in late 2009, according a report released by Republican staff of the House Oversight Committee.
On Dec. 3, 2009, Melson wrote to Breuer, "Lanny: We have decided to take a little different approach with regard to seizures of multiple weapons in Mexico. Assuming the guns are traced, instead of working each trace almost independently of the other traces from the seizure, I want to coordinate and monitor the work on all of them collectively as if the seizure was one case. . . We should meet again just to catch up on where we are in our gun-trafficking issues and we could talk about the above idea as well. Let me know what you think."
Breuer responded on Dec. 4, 2009, writing, "We think this is a terrific idea and a great way to approach the investigations of these seizures. Our Gang Unit will be assigning an attorney to help you coordinate this effort."
According to the Republican Oversight Committee staffers' report, Breuer — Holder's number two — assigned a prosecutor to help ATF handle Fast and Furious. That attorney, according to the report, was Joe Cooley.
This information comes as Democrats on the Oversight Committee say there is no evidence that suggests any senior political appointees of the Obama administration or in the Justice Department knew about, or approved, gun walking or Fast and Furious.
Last Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General James Cole denied that Breuer and Melson were talking about Fast and Furious and its tactics. "In light of Assistant Attorney General Breuer's commitment to stemming the flow of guns from the United States into Mexico and his strong ties and collaborative relationships with his counterparts in Mexico, it is inconceivable that his intention was to have guns released into Mexico," Cole wrote.
Seems to me that the Democratic SuperPACS are losing.
Your SuperPAC is better than my SuperPAC. Whaaaaaaaa! That's NOT FAIR! Whaaaaaaa!
Ouch-- This is the Republican primary season, duh! the point being All super-pacs are bad, It gives Corps, to give unlimited amounts of money, therefore undue influence! Colbert started his super-pac, to show how ridiculous, this all is!
HummerBird....
I understand that. I guess you missed the Irony.....
Nowhere in my post did I support the SuperPAC.
Where's the coverage on the hearings on Holder and F&F...We have a crook holding the highest position in law enforcement and he gets a pass.......Typical MSNBC bias...Shame on you for calling yourself a news source. You are nothing more than a propaganda machine for Obama and his Ilk......
Wonder how Chuck feels about George Soros injecting millions into the fray ? Oh, that's right,that's FOR Democrats so its fine !
Where was camera shy Chuck when George Soros propped up Moveon.org ? Silent as a mouse. Hypocrite
Another disappointment, so why do we want this man back in office? I put this to the media on three of the major networks, why do you consistently campaign for Obama? How much does it really cost to win the presidency? What does the president have to do when he/she gets in office for the people who campaign for a specific candidate?