John,
Billionaires didn’t just influence the 2024 election, they dominated it. In 2024, just 100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion on federal campaigns, over sixteen cents of every dollar spent.[1] Elon Musk alone shelled out $278 million. That kind of money doesn’t buy influence, it buys outcomes.
The worst part is that $2.6 billion is just what was reported. It doesn’t include the mountain of dark money flowing through anonymous shell groups. This flood of untraceable cash means billionaires can bankroll campaigns, smear opponents, and rewrite the rules, all without ever showing their face or leaving a paper trail.
The main item billionaires bought with their open and secret campaign cash was a huge tax cut. And in fact the Senate is preparing to vote this week on a budget bill that renews and expands Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the rich. That’s right, billionaires bought the 2024 election and now they’re here to collect. And thanks to the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision, this cycle of corruption will not end until we stop it.
Congress can shut this down. It can end the dark money loopholes. It can pass legislation to make every political dollar traceable and accountable. It can limit how much money each donor can contribute—even billionaires—so that votes finally mean as much as dollars. But only if we force Congress to act.
Take action now and demand Congress overturn Citizens United and ban dark money in our elections now.
Billionaires have built an entire political industry that launders wealth into influence. And dark money is how they move their money quietly and reshape our politics without accountability. These anonymous donations let them shape the courts, suppress votes, and install politicians who will protect their fortunes at all cost.
The same billionaires pouring money into right-wing super PACs are the ones demanding permanent tax cuts, deregulation, and privatization. They are deforming our country behind the scenes, and they are doing it with money that voters never see.
We must force transparency into this corrupt system. Voters deserve to know who is buying their government. And we deserve a democracy that belongs to all of us, not just a ruling class of mega-donors.
Tell Congress to ban dark money and end Citizens United before we lose our democracy for good.
Together, we can shut down the dark money machine.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Billionaires Buying Elections: They’ve Come to Collect
