Do you really believe that he made multiple billions from those businesses under both parties and now he suddenly needs to spend all that money to keep one party out of power in order to make "enough" money from one of the most profitable industries there is?

25% of super PAC money coming from just 5 rich donors

By Fredreka Schouten, Gregory Korte and Christopher Schnaars, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Five wealthy people, led by Dallas industrialist Harold Simmons and Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, have donated nearly $1 of every $4 flowing to the super PACs raising unlimited money in this year's presidential race, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

Those donations have helped new Republican-leaning outside groups swamp Democratic-friendly super PACs in fundraising — money that is used largely for attack ads.

"Super PACs have become a vehicle for a very small number of millionaires and billionaires who are willing to spend large sums in pursuit of their political agenda," said Anthony Corrado, a campaign-finance expert at Colby College in Maine.

Simmons, a billionaire who pumped $3 million into "Swift Boat" ads in 2004 challenging Democrat John Kerry's Vietnam War record, is the largest super PAC donor of the 2012 election, the analysis shows.

He and his holding company, Contran, gave $12 million to American Crossroads, a super PAC affiliated with Republican strategist Karl Rove. He donated $2.2 million more to three super PACs supporting Republican presidential candidates. He did not respond to an interview request Tuesday.

In the No. 2 slot: Adelson and his wife, Miriam, who gave $10 million to Winning Our Future.

However, in a Forbes magazine article posted Tuesday, Adelson said he is willing to donate an additional "$10 million or $100 million." "I'm against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections, but as along as it's doable, I'm going to do it," Adelson said.

Adelson, who operates the Venetian, a massive Las Vegas resort, along with casinos in Singapore and Macau, shares hawkish stands on Israel and has said his goal is to defeat President Obama and what he termed a "socialist-style economy."

Other mega-donors to super PACs:

•Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, who donated $2.6 million to Endorse Liberty, a super PAC helping Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Thiel, a libertarian, gave $70,000 to a 2010 ballot initiative in California legalizing marijuana.

Thiel is the single largest donor to Endorse Liberty, which has spent more than $3 million — mostly on Internet ads — to advance Paul's candidacy. "Men and women who want freedom and growth should take action," he said. "A good place to start is voting for Ron Paul."

•Houston home builder Bob Perry has donated $3.6 million to super PACs since Jan. 1, 2011, including $2.5 million to American Crossroads.

He has supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry and state PACs backing former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty in the past, but he shifted last year to a pro-Romney super PAC with a $1 million donation.

Anthony Holm, a spokesman for Bob Perry, released this statement about the contributions: "Bob Perry believes Mitt Romney is the right person to create jobs in America, which stands in stark contrast to our current president."

Simmons, whose vast holdings include chemical plants and an East Texas nuclear-waste facility, and Perry, one of the nation's largest home builders, have different business interests but share common political views, said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and author of Lone Star Tarnished: A Critical Look at Texas Politics and Public Policy.

"They are extremely wealthy people who put their resources behind their vision of the appropriate relationship between the government and the private sector," Jillson said. "That vision is low taxes, small government and personal responsibility."

No Democratic donors rank as high as the top donors to Republican super PACs.

Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC backing Obama's re-election, collected $2 million last year from Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. However, the super PAC raised just shy of $59,000 in January — a fraction of the $27.2 million raised last month alone by five leading GOP super PACs. The biggest donation to Priorities USA Action last month: $50,000 from John Rogers, CEO of Ariel Investments and one of Obama's closest friends.

We're working up a number for how much money the sum of people who lost the election last night spent, but it is most likely in excess of $4 billion dollars. In contrast, winners probably spent under $2 billion all together.





$6B in Campaign Spending

By BLAIRE BRIODY, The Fiscal Times
November 7, 2012

One dubious distinction of the 2012 elections is that it’s the most expensive election season ever in history. According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, total spending on all local, state and national elections could top $6 billion.

Much of that spending has gone to political advertising. Over one million presidential ads aired on local broadcast and national cable between June 1 and Oct. 29, an all-time high, according to the Wesleyan Media Project –39 percent more ads than the 2008 election.

It’s not likely to slow down any time soon. The increased spending is being driven by the controversial ‘Citizens United’ Supreme Court ruling in 2010 that allowed super PACs and advocacy groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. The ruling prevented the money from going directly to a candidate campaign or party, as if that made it all perfectly fine. These outside groups are expected to spend more than $970 million on this year’s election – with $70 million spent during the week starting October 21 alone. Ah, but that’s just chump change.

Imagine what could be done to ACTUALLY, DIRECTLY benefit this nation with 4 Billion dollars.