Dems have been angry about so-called “dark money” for ten years, but they got $1.5 billion in “dark money” during the election, as compared to the $900 million raised for GOP members, according to a new NY Times analysis.
“Dark money” is funds spent by organizations outside political parties that don’t have to reveal who their donors are — either because they are “social welfare” groups under section 501(c)4 of the tax code, or as 501(c)3 charities getting contributions from funds that allow their donors to stay anonymous.
Dems have said for years that GOP members are the top beneficiaries of “dark money,” ever since the Supreme Court chose in the Citizens United case back in 2011 that the FEC could not censor a movie that went against Hillary Clinton movie before an election due to corporations, no less than people, having free speech rights.
Clinton and almost every Dem since has run on a promise to revise the First Amendment to stop the ability of corporations to spend money on elections. Meanwhile, they have created a large “dark money” machine.
The NY Times‘ Kenneth Vogel and Shane Goldmacher took note that Dems even funded “GOP” anti-Trump groups:
“The big-money right was broken over whether to support Donald Trump’s re-election. Anti-Trump GOP members started new groups that joined the Democrats’ big-money structure: Defending Democracy Together, co-founded back in 2018 by the conservative news pundit William Kristol, spent almost $40 million in 2020.”
GOP members are trying to catch up, organizing their own “dark money” groups to oppose President Joe Biden and his programs. However, they have a lot of catching up to do. Joe Biden, who struggled early in the election, raised more than $1 billion directly in 2020, compared $800 million for President Trump, who was outspent though he had an advantage of the incumbency.
This news comes at a time when support for Democrats from normal American people is falling fast. The only way for the Democrat party to get the support they need to win is through elite donors.
