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In just the three days since First Read reported that ad spending had reached $605.7 million this presidential campaign, another $25 million has been booked.
And notably, there’s a new major player on the scene – Americans for Job Security, a shadowy group with no requirement to disclose its donors. It booked $8.7 million – in its first buy this presidential cycle – in six battleground states: FL, OH, VA, IA, CO, and NC.
Its dark-and-gloomy ad (from its website) depicts a baby in a crib looking up at a cracked ceiling as an announcer asks: “What are his hopes, his future? Under the path we were on, it’s darker, weaker, less secure. All because our president has no plan to balance the budget ever. Obama wants to raise the debt ceiling by trillions, so he can pay for his reckless spending. Sign the petition, saying no to a debt-ceiling increase, because at some point, the ceiling will break.”
Americans for Job Security is classified as a 501(c)(6) “business league,” according to its website. “Under the law, this type of organization is designed to promote the ‘common business interests’ of its members,” it says.
The Alexandria, Va.-based group purports to be an “independent, bi-partisan, pro-business issue advocacy organization,” but it’s run by the former head of the New Hampshire Republican Party, and it ran ads supporting Scott Brown (R-MA) and against Bill Halter (D) in Arkansas in 2010. It has also played in GOP Senate primaries, running ads against Pete Hoekstra (R) in the Michigan governor’s race, against Jane Norton (R) for Colorado Senate, and Rep. Gresham Barrett (R) in the South Carolina governor’s race.
FactCheck.org points out that it “does not disclose its donors. It says only that its members are ‘businesses, business leaders and entrepreneurs.’”
It also notes the group's run-in with the Federal Election Commission in 2008:
“In 2008, staff lawyers for the Federal Election Commission saw ‘reason to believe’ that AJS had violated federal election law by, among other things, failing to register as a political committee and failing to disclose its donors. But in 2009 the three Republican commissioners on the FEC blocked any action, voting to dismiss the case while the three Democratic commissioners voted to pursue it. Since a majority is required for the FEC to act, the partisan 3-3 deadlock killed any enforcement action against AJS. When the Supreme Court later struck down longstanding federal laws against campaign spending by corporations and labor unions, AJS President DeMaura told the Wall Street Journal the decision was an ‘unequivocal victory’ for those ‘who believe in free speech and the rights of organizations such as ours to promote our point of view.’
“Since its inception AJS says it has raised nearly $60 million and run more than 90 different TV spots in 46 states and the District of Columbia. [Stephen] DeMaura [its president] told FactCheck.org that as of mid-August [2010], the group had spent $6.3 million in the 2010 election cycle, but he would not say what the group expected to spend during the remainder of the election campaign.”
In all this election, more than $630 million has been spent on TV and radio ads by the presidential campaigns and outside groups.
Team Romney (groups supporting Republican Mitt Romney, including Super PACs, the campaigns and other groups) has outspent Team Obama $338 million to $292 million.
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"Americans for Job Security is classified as a 501(c)(6) “business league,” according to its website. “Under the law, this type of organization is designed to promote the ‘common business interests’ of its members,” it says."
That says everything. Businesses will always act in their best interests, which is profits before everything else. Businesses, more importantly, large businesses, corporations and the wealthy, whom contribute the most to entities like this, will promote their own interests to the point that America fails. They are willing to destroy America to promote their own profits. That is the primary principle of business, America doesn't matter, the government doesn't matter, only profits matter, and increased profits at that, over all else, including the welfare of the nation. That is very short-sighted and is detrimental to the nation and society.
I am not anti business, or anti capitalism, but capitalism, business and the government need to coexist, and they are both currently broken.
More proof that our somewhat less than Supreme Court has made a supreme blunder in approving PAC money for elections , what were they thinking ? they have further corrupted the voting system of a country that has an overdose of corruption already. PAC MONEY WILL DESTROY AMERICA !
They are political whores, that how.
Of course, what they Republicans dont want you to know is that if the last 3 GOP presidents had NOT signed TWENTY TWENTY deficit riddled budget , adding trillions to the debt, AND if Bush had NOT saddled Obama with a $1.3T deficit even BEFORE he took office, we wouldnt HAVE A DEBT CRISIS! Afterall, Obama spending increases are the lowest in 60 years!!
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
Obama spending binge never happened -- http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-05-22/commentary/31802270_1_spending-federal-budget-drunken-sailor
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-which-president-is-the-biggest-spender-of-all/
facts that do not fit rush beck-baughs ideology are ignored as "made-up" liberal, media bias BS. Critical thinking is a skill you learn at university, not church. I have many Republican friends who freely admit that they only watch Fox and have never listened to the President speech, BUT they are experts on our socialist, kenyan, muslim president.... it would be funny if it weren't so sad.
This whole PAC deal is REALLY A BAD POLICY IN OUR NATION. The Courts should have NEVER PASSED THIS BRAINWASHING TECHNIQUE to the PUBLIC.
This is PART of the CAPITAL COMMUNISM IDEOLOGY that is taking HOLD in a LAND that is to have DEMOCRACY NOT INFLUENCE OF BRAINWASHING. Which is the DEVILS WORK !!!!!
Our PEOPLE ARE GOING THREW A THERAPY that is NOT CLEAR and TRANSPARENT. It is WRONG.
The truth is being SHADOWED or but to OBLIVION !!!
Like our tax code, the election laws could really stand to be rewritten from scratch. The only problem, is that no representative would ever vote against his/her self-interest. The "me vs. we" trap of our republic.
Key phrase, a shadowy group. Had this been about a pro-Obama organization, the description would have been totally different.
M.J
LOL!!!!!!!! And so true
You call this a democracy??
No, a Republic.
This is how the GOP does business..Get use to it people!!!..It may be slimy and false, but they don't care what is said as long as they reach their ultimate goal..All I ask is that everyone take some time and educate yourselves on the issues
Make no mistake. Superpacs with their super rich backers have taken over the political process in this country. The middle class has lost its voice thanks thanks to the Supreme Court.
When the Superpacs start to dissuade you or other voters, then complain. You can still choose which set of lies to believe or refute. You, and only you, will cast your vote.
You don't have to like it, but as our President Obama likes to say; "Everybody plays by the same rules."
Your Congressional representative is YOUR rule maker.
MJ...Dont agree. Superpacs along with their backers pick who our choices will be. A politician can not live without these super rich backed superpacs as Obama learned. Do you think that our politicians care about our measly $100.00 dollar checks when people like casino owner Adelsen pledge $100,000,000.00 for this election. Thats 100 million dollars. Soros usually does the same on the other side but usually not that much. I am not stupid enough to think these people are not buying seats at decision making tables. If they want the big bucks next election our politicians will do as they are told by the people that write those big checks.
Guy: You are so right! Not matter how informed on the issues each and every voter is going into the booth to elect their chosen local or national representative, senator, or president those candidates owe their soul to the persons who have donated to their elections. Many have signed their souls over to lobbyists in advance of the elections. Many are trying to keep individual voters from even having a chance to vote! It is a sad day in America! We can no longer hold this country up as the beacon of "freedom" to the world!
Both parties suck. You may have the most well intentioned person get elected and then goes to Washington and gets corrupted by the system. They are told "this is how we do things here". I wish we could flush both houses of congress down the toilet and start over.
We should also amend parts of the 14th amendment. This amendment enabled children of slaves to become citizens. If we changed this, illegal moms to be would not come so their offspring would be citizens.
Americans for Job Security...When the messenger becomes the news the message gets lost.
We may have reached a tipping point after nearly 50 years of negative ad campaigns.
It's like narcotics, the high diminishes so the addict does more, but the ability of the body to withstand the effect does not increase. Overdose then death.
I think these Wildly negative ads have reached their zenith and they will not have much effect..People are a bit wise to these smear tactics now. Most folks have made up their minds already and the 5-6% undecideed will have made their minds after the first debate...Americans are slow to come to the truth usually but the Citizens United decision REPUBLICAN ATTACK ads will be ignored by most...But man these repubs are throwing everything they have at OBAMA...This is a scorched earth frontal attack they are engaging. After he wins the repubs will be completely demoralized and the sensible moderates repubs will want to save whats left of their party and the rightwing extremists in congress will be marginalized. I don't think their party will recover any time very soon.
Tea Party will be history after next mid terms. The few smart members have began to see what they really are, and are leaving in droves. Only birthers, marxists conspiracy tards, and evangelical zealots will remain and they are not smart enough to accomplish anything.
These types of groups are cowards that hide who they are while trying to disgrace real Americans who openly stand up for what they believe. Why the need to be in the shadows? If you truely believe in your cause? One has to wonder what the real motivations are. They do not offer solutions just like Mr. Romney..they just disparage the President. It's shameful. But it won't help Romney...he already has hurt himself so much there is no amount of dirty political money and the ads they can produce that will help him now that half of America has been written off as moochers, which is a vicious lie that Romney I am sure has told many times to his wealthy would be donors who, btw, are really stupid from hearing the questions they were asking him. The knowledge of the people in that room on politics and policy was embarrassing and arrogant, at the same time. And more embarrassing was Romney's inadequate grasp of any type of presidential response. Scary stuff...
Oh, you mean those cowards also spending money on the POSPOTUS?
Romney's last chance to show America he wants to be President.
I think there is only one solution that Romney has left if he wants to become President of the United States.
He has to give up ALL of his possesions and all of his assets either in a bank or otherwise.
This means if will have to sell off everything he owns and give the money that he has raised to those in need in America and other hard hit areas of the world.
By Romney liquidating ALL of his assets and coming before America as a man of truth and means and not just money perhaps Americans would see him fit to be a President.
If Romney cares so much for America then losing what he has will mean nothing to him as his possesions are merely objects with a monetary value.
Once in office he will receive a paycheck just like any other President.
What a test of loyalty and service to America.
Giving up all of wordly possession to be seated by the American people as the President of the U.S.
Romney has to give it ALL up.
He can't keep anything in holding or vaults nor can friends buy up his posessions and then return them to him after his time in office is up.
Do you think that Romney would go to such lengths to be the leader of the U.S.?
Such a leader would never before have been seated in the history of America.
So whats more important Romney?
Your posession and status and wealth or serving.....
America?
We want Romney to prove his worth by becoming poor.
Nope, Americans LOVE success stories, even though inheriting 200 million and 30 years later having 250 million is not much "success", it is not about equal outcomes, it is about equal opportunities.... That is what true Progressives strive for.
A message to the GOP: Just because you continue to tell the American people that Obama is responsible for the massive debt we're in, doesn't make it so. Lying that jobs haven't been created under this President, again doesn't make it so. Telling the American people that if they just give you the chance to give additional tax cuts to the wealthy it will mean an increase in jobs, doesn't make it so (trickle down theory has been with us every GOP administration since Reagan and all the little people get is pissed on). You can continue to throw away your money and continue your lies, but there are still enough people in the USA with enough smarts to see that your arguments and statements are false. The emperor Romney has no clothes.
John B
So adding $5.9 trillion to the national debt in 3.75 years isn't Obama's fault.
So adding $1.8 trillion to the national debt in a year's time, August, 2011 through August, 2012 isn't Obama's fault.
Considering that Bush only added $5.1 trillion to the National debt in 8 years, maybe Obama shouldn't have signed all those spending Bills his democratically controlled Congress put on his desk, but he signed them didn't he.
And what is Obama doing to our coal industry? We must get rid of him before it is too late.
Yes, we absolutely need to rid of coal
I believe very strongly that all political donations should be public information and every dollar should be traceable. Enabling secrecy or timidity serves no honorable purpose in a public process. There seems to be a bit of inane reasoning where grave concern over a single illegal vote results in prohibitive legislation but no concern over the literal attempts to purchase of the ballot box by "shadowy" campaign contributions. This dichotomy borders on hypocrisy to the ninth decimal place. I understand the legalities that allow for this approach, but activities that must operate in darkness is suspect on its face. While there is legal permissibility for such actions, there is no morally legitimate reason that it should happen.
There is absolutely no greater truth than this ad. This President is shameful, sad, pathetic. He is on par with Jimmy Carter and Jimmy Carters grandson. What is sad is the people following him are like the Jim Jones cult and will continue to drink the Kool Aid until the truth hits in 2014 and we are hit with outrageous taxes from the Affordable Care Act. Seniors will realize it when Medicare is trashed because of the Affordable Care Act. Our foreign policies are so sad that a commercial has been appearing in Pakistan with Hillary Clinton and the President apologizing for that film trying to calm the people down. So just wait until the truth hits your family. My brother was going to lose his job and instead the day before he took a chain and padlocked it around his neck and hung himself because his kids could make more from his social security and the insurance than he could make on unemployment. This President could of in his first 2 years could of passed the jobs bill but instead he is using it as a carrot to say that the Republicans are to blame when he could of easily passed it in the first two years.
Scary part is what are these wack jobs going to do when Obama wins?
be tossed onto the ash heap of antiquity...I hope
gpotts I wish they would end up onto the ash heap of history...but they won't they will scheme, lie, steal, gerrymander, rig, or who knows what to get their way. We are not talking rational here.
The give-away words in the ad: "it's darker."
The country remains a racist state.
Get over the race cr@p. How about this - I will concede that Obama's absolute failure as president in everything from jobs, to the economy to foreign policy are due to his white blood. Satisfied?
America is failing period. We no longer make anything we are consumers. Just like the Roman Empire we will fall it is just a matter of time. The people only follow the two parties who put us here and that is going to be our down fall. While the unions bargain for so much all the companies out source the jobs overseas.
Since Romney not only has to run against Obama, but against the incredibly slanted, in the tank Obama media like NBC, I say good. Someone needs to tell the other side of the story because alleged news agencies like NBC sure won't
Since Romney not only has to run against Obama, but against the incredibly slanted, in the tank Obama media like NBC, I say good. Someone needs to tell the other side of the story because alleged news agencies like NBC sure won't
Mominnj: But the right has fox news and all that superpac money already and disenfranchisment! You need more! Yep, if the message is wrong, it costs a lot to sell it!
I heard they consist mostly of Saudi Arabians. Good to know they get a voice in our elections now.
Showing a baby innocently lying in a crib facing possible serious injury? What kind of people put this stuff out?
Maybe they can get the forms overseas for our military to vote with. Obama has not made sure that our men and women overseas can vote.. He has not allowed them to vote because 75% are not gonna vote for him.. Instead, he has made a flag to sell on his site for re election .. It is the Obama flag.. What an egotistical ASS. It has 5 red stripes but where the stars and stripes are he has put a big O for Obama.. He is not an AMERICAN.. Where are the forms for our military to vote.. RAISE HELL PEOPLE.... RAISE HELL... HITLER does not want them to vote.. DOWN WITH HITLER...
It is sad when the election can be determined by the money spent on advertising and not on informed voters! It is especially sad when any person can know one-to-one facts/falsehoods on each issue but continue to repeat the rantings of advertising and persons who get paid a great deal of money to rant! Those paid ranters used to have to stand on street corners to do their ranting and beg for money! What happened to the democratic informed electorate?
We would not have need to raise the debt ceiling if Bush and the Republicans had not already axed our economy with their arrogant and selfish policies. You know that the neo-cons want to demolish the government and all regulations. This as is dispicable and so is Citizens United and the people who promote it. Hopefully, our country can be saved and Obama will prevail. We just need to have a majority again in Congress and kick the Repugs out.