Election most expensive in history
Runaway campaign spending should depress Democrats and Republicans alike.
The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that the contest between incumbent Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney and the other contests on the ballot will cost $6 billion. (I wrongly wrote earlier that the $6 billion figure was just the presidential election). That's about $700 million more expensive than the second-most costly election and more than a $5.8 billion forecast the non-profit issued earlier this year. Anyone who lives in a battleground state is seeing the havoc this spending boom is having first hand. The deluge of political ads is unbelievable thanks to the Supreme Court's ill-advised Citizens United decision.
There have been 182,000 television spots in Iowa since March, according to the Des Moines Register. In Ohio, it's far worse. One website estimates that more than 58,000 presidential election spots have appeared on Ohio's televisions in one month, averaging 2,000 a day. That's the most of any state. The ad deluge will only get worse as the election draws near.
"For media outlets, it's either feast or famine," according to Ad Week. "Stations in Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin are scrambling to accommodate political advertisers, while other stations wonder if there is an election at all."
The Supreme Court's stance that money equals speech is ludicrous. Sadly, the reason why voters see so many nasty, inaccurate political ads is because they work. This election will set a precedent for spending that will be surpassed in four years.
-Follow Jonathan Berr on Twitter@jdberr. Corrects data from earlier posts.
It's hard for our whole family to kind of understand this very closed race for the presidency. Romney has promised to literally modified Medicare to a Voucher system that smells a bad deal, and he will not explained it fully, for the old and future old! Our Social Security is floating in mid air, as he wants to privatized it, this only means that some gangsters and rich dudes will keep trillion of dollars in their coffers and perhaps if you behave well they will issue you monthly check, this applies to the citizens in SS now, and the future ones, so don't think you will be except from the chaos. But of course! All of it depended on where your money is kept, if in the Stock market, a sudden crash, and you can will kiss good bye to all you money, and years of savings! So, this is pointing to "American citizens you are truly very stupid". We all have the horrible experience of Bush, the years of unnecessary wars, Iraq, and Afghanistan, our many heroes killed in combat, and the thousand of Iraqis killed that did not have anything to do with it! Over thirteen trillion dollars lost! The losses of jobs send overseas by Romney Bain Corporation, and other large Corporations, also the tax cut for the rich, and the American citizens still, kiss the hand of the perpetrators by keeping him (them), in the present presidential race. We Americans, perhaps thousands all of us, all have the Amnesia Romney has, and the final mistake will be the electing Romney, it will bring all of us to the final Avenue of "Perdition". When Romney, that did not want to show us, the American people his many years past Tax filings, not knowing if he paid any taxes or not, and we still want to vote for him! During the Vietnam war he was in a transferred to France from his Mormon Church, and he was in good health, fully enjoying French hospitality, while our heroes died by the thousands. During the Iraq, and Afghanistan wars his sons were in some type of so called Missions by the Mormon church, while our true American heroes, and naturalized citizens died in the fighting field! He does not want FEMA, he is against women right's same pay same work, You are pregnant by rape, by a perverted, and have his baby for life, as you have no decision to make, and if you abort the creature you go to jail for murder! The best of this country, our women will not get equal pay for equal work! The rich will have a juicy tax cut, while we, the middle class will pay for it by taking all our tax deductions away! So it goes stupid American that live in the impregnated atmosphere of Bush, and Romney, and the liar of Ryan. Too bad you will all ignorant ones, all of you morons, force us to breath the same polluted junky presidential air that you will breathe if you put him (them), in the White House! If he gets there you all know you are soon in a fifth World Country!
Earlier this week, the Press Trust of India that the United States will "be spending a whopping $200 million per day on President Barack Obama's visit" to Mumbai.
The story lacked a named source, and the $200 million claim was credited to "a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit."
The claim quickly gained traction on the right, thanks in part to a link on the conservative news aggregator The Drudge Report. Among those citing it is Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who on how she would reduce the deficit by citing the cost of the presidential trip.
"Well I think we know that just within a day or so, the president of the United States will be taking a trip over to India that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day," she said. "He's taking two thousand people with him. He'll be renting out over 870 rooms in India. And these are 5-star hotel rooms at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. This is the kind of over-the-top spending, it's a very small example, Anderson."
CBS News asked the White House about the story yesterday, and the White House said in an email that "The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality."
"Due to security concerns, we are unable to outline details associated with security procedures and costs, but it's safe to say these numbers are wildly inflated," the official said.
At his press briefing today, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that while he would not get into the costs of protecting President Obama, they are "comparable" to what they have been for past presidents in similar circumstances.
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