Political Activity Keep the Economy Moving

Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been off the map for the past three months or so, I was working a very exciting race in Milwaukee County over the summer and had to take a break from the blog.

Now I’m back.

I’ll have more on the race I did in the future, but in the meantime I thought I’d share an interesting story I heard on NPR recently.

We all know that the United States is going through a rough patch economically. But there are some high-growth industries out there, and one of them is politics.

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC, there has been an explosion of growth within the world of political campaign activity. Even Democratic consultants who disagreed with the outcome of the case couldn’t help but look around and say “there is some strong opportunity for business here.”

And just like that, one relatively nominal sector of the economy received the biggest stimulus of all -- an influx of corporate and union cash.

Now, as I pointed out back in January, it’s not likely that many of these organizations would be willing to dole out cash for independent expenditures supporting or opposing candidates. What happened to Target in Minnesota is a good example. But as NPR makes clear, it’s been pretty easy for these corporations and unions to do it without being identified.



It’s been an interesting election year, watching just how much of an impact the Court’s ruling -- and the precedence it’s created -- has had on the political realm. I am certain this will not be the last we hear about campaign finance issues this year.