How much $$$$ do you need to become President?

President Obama and Mitt Romney both raised over $1 billion for their respective Presidential campaigns in 2012.  And while most of us have short memories, this fund raising was done in the midst of one of the worst economies in American History. There is no recession in political fund raising!

As noted in my opening blog, the election is still 16 months away, and we have Jeb Bush, the former Governor of Florida, who has not even officially declared his candidancy, yet has already raised north of $100 million.  This, of course, is also a tactic, to potentially scare off other candidates who don't believe they could match that fund raising prowess.  As we know, it has not scared off anyone, as the list of candidates continues to expand (was 11 last week, now up to 14).

These astronomical figures are not (presumably) from You and I cutting checks directly to the candidates.  Most of the fund raising dollars are now raised via PAC's (Political Action Committees).  The limit of how much individuals can contribute is actually $2600.00, so after some quick math, one can determine the limits of individual donations in the race to $1 billion and beyond.

So how are campaigns able to raise so much cash?  The answer lies in a 2010 Supreme Court decision centered around campaign spending.

In essence, The Supreme Court decided (5-4 vote) that corporations and PAC's have the same right of political speech (and donations) as individuals have, thus removing virtually any restriction on corporate money in politics (via PAC's, which we will cover below - please keep reading).

After the Citizens United decision, any outside group can utilize corporate money to make a direct case for who deserves your vote and why.  This has created PAC's (and super PAC's),  a species of political committee that wasn't possible before Citizens United. It can take contributions of any amount.  The heart of Citizens United is the notion that superPACs, and other outside groups, are completely independent of candidates. That underpins the Court's conclusion that unregulated money from big donors wouldn't be corrupting to lawmakers.

Every candidate, from both parties, now must play this game - raising money through PAC's, as its an arms race for cash.  Without money, campaigns would simply stop; fund raising is essential.

Some early estimates predict candidates must raise over $1.5 billion in order to win in 2016.  For some scale, Wendy's restaurants has over 6000 locations, over 30,000 employees and had just over $2 billion in sales last year?  That's a lot of burgers, but it would be just enough to run for President in the United States.