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Lisa Lake / Getty Images
Justin Bieber, seen here on Dec. 5, made $55 million this year. Multiply that 39 times and you've got the money spent on two presidential campaigns in 2012.
Two political party candidates running for the presidency of the United States cost -- give or take -- about $2.142 billion.
That's the newest dollar amount on the campaign, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, showing that Barack Obama's campaign raised a total of $1.123 billion versus the Mitt Romney effort's $1.019 billion.
The 10-digit figure comes after an election season in which both sides issued dire warnings of being outspent by the other. In a December 2011 pronouncement by Obama's campaign manager, the idea that the incumbent's re-election effort would hit a billion dollar fundraising total was roundly dismissed as "bulls****."
For the benefit of campaign-weary voters -- especially those who endured endless e-mail appeals for dollars and wall-to-wall television advertising during the 2012 campaign -- here's a sampling of just what else $2.142 billion can get:
-- 3,570 MINE-RESISTANT AMBUSH PROTECTED (MRAP) VEHICLES at an estimated cost of $600,000 per truck.
-- 577,202 PELL GRANTS at a value of the 2011-2012 average of $3,711
-- THE DALLAS COWBOYS (arguably the most valuable sports team in the world at $2.1 million, per Forbes.)
-- 0.733 PERCENT OF THE DEFICIT ... for the first two months of fiscal year 2013, already at $292 billion.
-- DJIBOUTI (almost twice): The African nation's estimated gross domestic product in 2011 was $1.219 billion.
-- 17 of EDVARD MUNCH'S 1895 PASTEL OF "THE SCREAM," which sold for $119.9 million at auction this May (okay, if there were 17 of them, it would have been cheaper, but you get the point.)
-- ONE YEAR OF U.S. FOREIGN AID TO SUDAN, RWANDA, UGANDA, ETHIOPIA AND SOUTH AFRICA: Based on FY 2011 actual aid assistance funds.
-- 4.3 MILLION iPADs at a value of $499 each.
-- $17.60 FOR EVERY AMERICAN WHO VOTED FOR EITHER CANDIDATE, per The New York Time's most recent popular vote count.
-- 6 MILLION CHILDRENS' SCHOOL LUNCHES FOR ONE YEAR based on FY 2011 costs and recipients from the National School Lunch Program.
-- THE ANNUAL SALARIES OF 73,456 BUS DRIVERS, based on a median pay of $29,160.
-- THE ANNUAL SALARIES OF 11,333 FAMILY PRACTITIONERS OR PEDIATRICIANS, based on an average $189,000 annual base pay.
-- THE ANNUAL SALARIES OF 39 JUSTIN BIEBERS, who earned $55 million this year.
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But Mitt proves that money can't buy elections...the winner is someone who is on the right side of history, who stands with the bottom 47%, who doesn't insult women and other minorities.
Hurry back. LOL
I'd go with the Pell Grants myself...
Mitt also raised less and Obama raised more and won....Hmmmmmmm??????
Now go back and read the article....LOL
sw philly, me, too.
Jody, education is the best investment for all of us..
No other single thing besides maybe food or medicine is good for ALL of us...
The right only cares about selfish issues and hatreds for a minority of voters..
To them my ALL in 1.7 is communism or socialism and is evil but racism and placeism or classism is good
BTW I know classism and placeism are not words but they should be..It involves bigotry,hatred and prejudice towards people in a different class than you....And yes we do have a class system but it is not as the media or even academia explains it..
Half a million Pell grants, 39 Biebers or one Presidential campaign
How about a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
And into whose pockets did most of that $2.142 billion go?
Me thinks the American media are now worth more than a small African nation (or two, or three?)
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that. He Never should have got as far as he did. He Switch sides more than I switch socks. If anything, I'd say this was a pretty good example of exactly that point. Money Can Buy Your Way Into a Presidential Campaign, AND Keep you in the race even when you should have been disqualified.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans worked very hard to get president Obama Elected again. Hundred of Thousands Of People WORKED every Day for MONTHS to help President Obama get elected. Now, He had Infrastructure in place, he had the methodology in place, the 'key players' he could count on in place. People he's worked with before. Now, *if* the Talley is correct, and I'm not saying it's not, but IF it is, for all the folks that were working phone banks and holding ralleys and doing everything they could think of to help Democrats get Elected all over the US - It should never have been that very close. Never. Also, we need to define some criteria, for instance, IF your son is the major stockholder/manufacturer of the voting machines NO YOU CAN"T RUN IT"S NOT ETHICAL. Honestly, we need to vet a candidate in the future a little better.
I think this is also a prime example of why we need to get money out of politics, what's it going to be in another 4 years, over 10 Billion at current inflation rates?
Get money out of politics, make each tV station perform X amount of Advertising in equal shares for both campaigns. And then stick to it like it was LAW rather than law. If we can't find a way to get the money out, they could win next time, or maybe we'll be really very lucky and Hillary will run, but I wouldn't count on it, she's not so young these days, if I were her I'd prefer to retire and read a good book.
IMHO
At least President Obama's donors got an elected official out of their investment. Romney supporters got zilch.
Or as the Council woman in Detroit put it " we got him the votes so now they need to give us the money"
Personally I would have voted for Obama if he had no money. Romney was that bad. All that money. Wow. But to think it is only a fraction of the national debt.
The national debt? I don't think it's even an issue. Borrow all you want...the US government is the most powerful, can always pay back by printing more money at least - don't blame the debt on the govenrment. Blame Norquist and those who agree with Grover
I don't know how the money works....Dumb people who believe TV and commercials ?
Yeah, the 16 trillion that the republicans are suddenly worried about, they didn't worry about it much as they ran it up.
John, you just validated my point.
"I would have voted for Obama if it had no money, Romney was that bad"
that 1.+Billion he spent, in addition to if any of his 'contributors' donated air time, or a commercial etc.
I talk to a few folks who liked him, but mostly they were loyal to their party and I respect that. That does not explain why it wasn't a landslide win.
Money talks....and evidently quite well.
Actually if you take the national debt at 16 trillion, and paid that each month it would take 622 years to pay off not including interest.
This is just more of the entitled washington elite, getting theirs while we watch the country move into the depression of 2015. Democrat and Republican.
We have job loss, 16 trillion in debt, the govt is spending 1.3 trillion over what it makes, and they cant decide what to do about the "fiscal cliff" except what bennies they want to keep for their constituants.
I am amazed at the people in this country that are just fine with all the mess in washington. their side won or lost. We all lost. they have no clue. period. Greece here we come. Maybe we can sell the washington monument.
DJIBOUTI? Do you hear DJIBOUTI call?
Is that DJ Booty call ?
Somehow appropriate seeing as how that's what all of us felt like at some point watching this campaign.
All the eager Biebers, you have to pay more in taxes to pay off the debt. This is a balanced approach after more than a decade of Bush tax cut for the rich.
Decisions, decisions......a football team with a 6 - 6 record, an ugly painting that looks like the kid in "Home Alone", 39 Justin Biebers (speaking of screams), or one Mitt Romney.
Of course, with the first three, you'd at least get SOME return on your investment.....right, Sheldon Adelson?
Sorry but obama aint no better. He wants control over the national debt ceiling and keep borrowing so the govt can keep up its welfare and food stamp payments. cute.
That's 1.071 billion to graduate or not from the Electoral College. With a lousy 50% graduation rate that sucks.
Stop it BCWC, I'm drinking some koolaid here. Now my screen is all red.
Awesome....HAHAHAAHAAHaaaa....So that is only two Pell grants if you are going to Electoral State....
The price of democracy or rather the high cost of trying to become President. At least it was donated money but still, the numbers are staggering. Reminds me of the Rose Parade. While I watch those beautiful, flower covered floats on Jan 1, I always find myself thinking how many hungry Americans those flowers would feed, how many computers they would buy for poor children, how many scholarships that money would provide.
Public funding of elections should do the trick, but -
....but .. the Republicans will cry about all the BS (Bitching about Socialism, that is).
Not if you give them money to home school there little Einsteins...The GOP voters love money for them it is only "Handouts" if they aren't getting them or when they think they deserve it and "Welfare moms" don't....You could make the stipulation that you have to live so X number of miles from the nearest public school and that would hit almost all GOP voters exclusively...
I think there is no greater investment for all of us than tools, buildings and people to educate society as a whole...And in an " Equal opportunity" society that should mean it all comes from the taxpayer and special favors and or extra money should get you nothing extra inside the halls of learning...
Mitt wound up with a bit over $25 million in his campaign war chest. Anyone know what the law is about what he can or must do with it?
Think about this. We provide $2.1 Billion of foreign aid to 5 small countries versus putting the money back into our own economy, while at the same time we have the IRS squeezing us for dollars and pennies. I believe a majority citizens of this country would vote for the government to quit spending our tax dollars and put it back into our own country.
How many Obama's would this work out to be? Of well, forget it, one's too many.
At $400,000 a year not including other bennies, 5,355. Enough for ya? Course it would only be 153 romneys. Figured i might as well put that in there, so i dont get the RACIST! BIGOT! comments from the looney left. So its all equal there guys.
I've thought since the election, and the morning after when the money spent by the losers was divulged, just how much more good the Koch Bros and Norquist and all those SuperPacs could have done by using all that wasted money to support a losing Republican ticket instead of blowing it on negative ads and lying TV appearances and erroneous computer databases!! How many kids would allll that money have put through college to really, really do something worthwhile....remember, they were touting their Republican family values!! How many hospital bills might have been paid off by these "job creators" so people could actually get well and go back to work!! How many homes might have been saved from foreclosure! How many roads might have been repaired and thus created jobs! How many bridges might have been fixed! All the GOOD that could have been DONE and been obvious!! But no....Republicans only know how to cut and eliminate, not actually DO anything. And look at Boehner now, talking about the President wanting to do things his way....well, duh, John...for 3 years the voters listened to the Republicans stonewall, obstruct and ignore all proposals from the President or Dems!! So hope you and your angry old white men are enjoying a taste of your own medicine!! And then there's Mitch McConnell......senile or what!!?
Public funding of elections should do the trick, but -
....but .. the Republicans will cry about all the BS (Bitching about Socialism, that is).
Try again. We have elections bought by companies and it has been that way for a while. Your $25 dont count. If they have any sense in washington they will start to address the issues we have. so far 4 years of nothing. unemployment going up, pay reductions going up, national debt going up. 1.3 trillion deficit spending every year. 50 millioin on welfare and 42 million on food stamps. and all they are talking about are what bennies to keep so the sheep will be quiet. Wait till the real cuts come about 2014. the double dip recession, is actually a depression, they just dont want you to know that yet. So you can jump up and down. So jump up and down while there is still time to live in the haze. Haze lifts in 2015. Good luck.
Just another example of how bad Republicans are with money. When it comes to taxpayers dollars, they are the worst handlers of this nations economy. The word incompetent comes to mind. Worst part is they double down on the losing ideas.
Our method of choosing politicians is incredibly broken. The only way to possibly fix this is to start taking local elections seriously and taking back our democracy. Let your local representatives know that if they don't start fixing campaign finance laws and represent ALL their constituents, we will find someone else. Whether you are conservative or liberal it doesn't matter. THIS IS INSANE!