Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Over Eight In Ten Americans Support Limiting Donations To Groups Seeking To Influence Elections


By Ian Millhiser/Think Progress
As billionaires like Sheldon Adelson or Joe Rickettswrite six, seven or even eight figure checks seeking to buy congressional elections and the White House, the overwhelming majority of the nation believe that such election buying needs to be reigned in. According to a recent poll by the Associated Press and the National Constitution Center, more than 8 in 10 Americans — 85% of Democrats, 81% of Republicans and 78% of independents — believe there should be limits on the amount wealthy individuals and corporations can contribute to groups seeking to buy elections.
This finding closely maps a poll from last April which found that only 15 percent of the country agrees with the Supreme Court’s holding in Citizens United that unlimited corporate donations to super PACS will not lead to corruption. To put that number in perspective, that’s less than the 23 percent who believe that they have been in the presence of a ghost or the 19 percent who believe in “spells or witchcraft,” according to another poll.

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