In the three years since Citizens United burst the dam on political spending by corporations, businesses have been flooding elections with cool, influential cash. Much of this money has remained secret, as corporations have eschewed donating through SuperPACs, which are required to disclose donors, in favor of channeling their money through opaque nonprofit entities, known as 501(c)(4)s, which can conceal donors’ identities. But now, thanks to recently released tax returns, we are beginning to learn just who some of the dark-money princes were in 2012 and how much money they spent. As the returns reveal, business interests were very busy during that election, quietly underwriting potent partisan activities that, more often than not, benefited Republicans.
The Invisible Hand of Business in the 2012 Election | The Nation