Just think about how much money is spent on advertising. Most people think they’re not susceptible to their opinions being manipulated by these types of false political campaigns … but the fact of the matter is – these ads really shape and mold public opinion. To put it another way – these groups backed by unlimited donations from corporations, special interest groups and wealthy billionaires aren’t spending millions of dollars because it’s ineffective.
Or you could just watch Fox “News” and practically put your misinformation on an IV directly to your brain.
More HERE; according to the Annenburg Public Policy Center:
An analysis by the Annenberg Public Policy Center conducted for the Center for Responsive Politics found that from December 1, 2011 through June 1, 2012, 85% of the dollars spent on presidential ads by four top-spending third-party groups known as 501(c)(4)s were spent on ads containing at least one claim ruled deceptive by fact-checkers at FactCheck.org, PolitiFact.com, the Fact Checker at the Washington Post or the Associated Press.
From December 1, 2011 through June 1, 2012, the four top presidential campaign-spending 501(c)(4)s spent an estimated $24.9 million1($24,916,690) of their $29.3 million ($29,320,110) presidential ad dollars on ads containing deceptions.
The four top presidential campaign-spending 501(c)(4)s include:
- American Energy Alliance, which champions free market energy policies and spent an estimated $3.3 million ($3,269,000) on deceptive presidential ads.
- Americans for Prosperity, founded by billionaire businessman and conservative activist David Koch to support lower taxes and limited government spending, spent an estimated $5 million ($5,018,000) on presidential ads containing deceptions.
- American Future Fund, a Republican-leaning group founded by longtime Iowa political operative Nick Ryan and headed by state Senator Sandra Greiner, spent an estimated $6.4 million ($6,365,930) on deceptive presidential ads.
- Crossroads GPS, a conservative public policy advocacy group advised by former Bush lieutenant Karl Rove and former RNC director Ed Gillespie, spent an estimated $10.3 million ($10,263,760) on deceptive presidential ads. The group is a companion organization to the super PAC American Crossroads.
Why would the American Energy Alliance which is primarily funded by oil companies be spending millions of dollars on ads depicting solar energy investments as scandalous and bad for America do ya think?
Why would Americans for Prosperity which is funded by the billionaire Koch brothers continue pushing anti-tax legislation? I wonder.
Why would Crossroads GPS which is run by George W. Bush’s political brain Karl Rove and funded by unknown billionaires and the .01% of America’s wealthiest citizens want so desperately to push for the repeal of issues like Obamacare and Wall Street regulations while simultaneously pushing for an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich and limiting voting rights? I wonder.
Another note – during that entire time – there wasn’t even ONE ad from a Dem leaning SuperPAC. Not even one.
