If you’ve wondered how the Republicans managed to take control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 election, consider what just one pro-Republican organization did on just one day during last year’s campaign. On October 14, 2010, the American Action Network spent 2.3 million dollars on television and internet advertising in opposition to four Democratic congressional candidates.
Where did the American Action Network that money come from? Nobody really knows. To this day, the American Action Network has not disclosed where it got 2.3 million dollars to spend in a one-day attempt to block Democrats from being elected to Congress.
The American Action Network political action committee reports receiving no money and spending no money during the 2010 congressional election. Instead of using its political action committee, the American Action Network spent the 2.3 million dollars directly, making what are called independent expenditures, which are unlimited and do not require disclosure of the original source of the money being spent.
There’s just one legal requirement for independent expenditures made to influence congressional elections: Spending must be reported to the Federal Election Commission within between 24 and 48 hours from when the spending took place, so at least the American people can know what large organizations are trying to influence their votes.
That’s not what the American Action Network did. In a gross violation of election law, the American Action Network told the FEC about the spending of 2.3 million dollars to distort the outcome of congressional elections only this weekend. Instead of taking 48 hours, the American Action Network took over 300 days to admit to its action.
For all we know, the American Action Network might have spent millions more to twist the 2010 congressional elections, and is simply withholding this information from the FEC. Also this weekend, the organization finally admitted to spending $50,000 to kick Russ Feingold out of the Senate, though it spent that money on anti-Feingold Internet advertising on September 28, 2010.
Why is the American Action Network taking so long beyond legal requirements to inform voters of its campaign manipulation spending? It isn’t because the American Action Network is lacking for money and other resources. The American Action Network Board of Directors is made up of wealthy Republican power brokers, and executives from elite finance, corporate law, and lobbying firms.