Mike’s Musings: PAC’s must be limited if our votes are to count

The term “dark money” has become all too familiar to those political watchdogs who assess campaigns at the national level. One could say contributions that come from out-of-state PACs (political action committees) have hijacked our democratic elections.
Just look at the amounts of money being poured into states where senatorial and gubernatorial races are close. It is insane, and 90 percent of the money is utilized for attack ads against opposition candidates, mostly on television.
A 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision made it possible for wealthy contributors, like George Soros, and the dozens of PACs he controls, to pump unlimited amounts of money in support of candidates he prefers. This year alone it is said his contributions will help his preferred candidates to the tune of $125 million.
Before that Supreme Court decision, political campaigns were required to state who paid for advertisements. Only in newspapers does that requirement still exist. PACs can say all kinds of half-truths or make ridiculous claims without having to reveal who made the claims.
Before 2010 elections were mostly based on a candidate’s position on the issues. That’s not the case now. TV ads portray opponents as horrible people, delving deeper in their past to embellish what dirt they can find. Sometimes issues are mentioned, but again, a candidate is portrayed negatively if they have an opposite view.
We do know, however, that the lion’s share of PAC money either originates in California or New York. Those PACs however, aren’t influencing voters in those states. Instead, they are purchasing television time in states where they hope to elevate their candidates to a big win, i.e. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona and of course Michigan, where the gubernatorial race is extremely close according to pollsters.
Back in the day, I would rail about senatorial and congressional campaigns reaching the $1 million plateau in money spent. That wasn’t that long ago. However, since the 2010 ruling we have seen candidates receive up to $50 million in dark money contributions. It’s literally insane, and whether we like it or not, those attack ads, tend to sway some undecided voters.
This has got to stop. We no longer should allow PACs from other states to pour unlimited amounts of money to elect our representatives. Congress should immediately place a limit on this dark money. In addition, information as to who is purchasing political ads should be available as soon as the purchase is made. Contributors should be able to stand behind the wild, half truths they make.
How do we make this happen? We all need to contact our federal and state representatives and demand they do something about allowing special interest groups and dark money to take over the election process.
If we don’t, I’m afraid fewer qualified people will run for political office, and even fewer people will bother to go to the polls to vote. Our elections are being hijacked by billionaire donors who have an axe to grind, and we have got to stop them.