redbloodedamerica:

Billionaires Lose Elections

Do
you believe that money buys elections?  That the rich can control the levers of
government for the benefit of their special interests?  

While there’s certainly
truth to the notion that money influences politics, you may be surprised by how
little it does relative to many people’s preconceived notions.  For example, in
every one of the six federal election cycles between 2004 and 2014, the top
spending outside individual donors lost their fights.  

In 2004, left-wing
banking billionaires Herbert and Marion Sandler gave large sums of money towards
the election of John Kerry as well as many Democratic Congressmen and Senators.  That year, Democrats lost the presidency, the House and the Senate.  

In 2006,
conservative Texas home-builder Robert J. Perry donated more than any other
individual donor. He tried to keep the House and Senate for Republicans, but
they went right back to Democratic control. 

In 2008, conservative pharmaceutical
tycoon Fred Eshelman became the top donor while trying to win it all back, plus
propel John McCain to victory.  He came away with nothing:  Barack Obama took the
presidency and both Houses of Congress remained under Democratic control.

In
2010, Robert Perry tried again, spending over seven and a half million dollars.  And
Republicans won the House!… but lost the Senate.  

In 2012, pro-Israel casino
billionaires Sheldon and Miriam Adelson put that number to shame, spending
$93 million.  They wanted Mitt Romney to win the presidency and
Republicans to take control of the Senate.  They lost on both fronts. 

In 2014, another left-winger took the biggest donor title with over $75 million
dollars spent, billionaire hedge fund manager and environmentalist activist Tom
Steyer.  He wanted to keep the Senate and gain the House. Instead, Republicans
took power of both. 

And of course, in 2016 Hillary Clinton’s campaign raised
almost $795,000,000 between candidate committee money and outside
money, while Donald Trump’s campaign raised only a little over half as much.  Trump
was also far outspent in the primaries by Jeb Bush, who spent $130 million
dollars on his campaign.  Yet we all know who won. 

So, for those of you worried
that with all the political spending going on, you no longer have a voice in
your democracy: relax.  Campaign finance reform, another term for depriving
people of their right to spend their money on free political speech, isn’t
going to get you your democracy back. Because, you already have it, and however
much money politicians and donors want to spend on talking to you, ultimately
nothing they do can overpower your vote.