Numbers that should disturb fans of democracy (with apologies to Churchill)

By Richard K. Barry

Mother Jones published a story recently about a study by the liberal think tank Demos and the non-partisan U.S. Public Interest Research Group detailing just how few deep-pocketed individuals are donating to Super PACs.

Among their findings is this gem, followed by a lovely little pie chart.

Forty-seven individuals have given $1 million or more to super-PACs in the 2012 cycle. That's a group small enough to fit on a Greyhound bus (not that they'd consider coach), and they've ponied up well over half of the $230 million pocketed by super-PACs.

The Supreme Court may have decided that money is speech, but that doesn't change the fact that never in the course of human events have so few given so much to influence so many. Shouldn't that frighten us? 

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)