Huffington Magazine Issue 8 | Page 17

DATA Enter Year of the PAC Attack Biggest Super PACs (Total Spending Thus Far in 2012) 666 Total Number of Super PACs (as of July 11, 2012) HUFFINGTON MM.dd.yy After the Supreme Court lifted limits on political spending by outside groups, an already rising tide became a flood of cash that promises to alter the political landscape. —­John Stephens TAP CIRCLES FOR INFO Total Outside Spending by Year (as of July 11 of each election year) Key = Roughly $1,000,000 Financial data, information and reporting from the Center for Responsive Politics, The New York Times, The Huffington Post and Slate help paint a picture of the rapidly changing campaign funding environment. The impact of the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling in 2010 can be clearly seen in the overall surge in outside spending between the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.