Eric Lipton and Clifford Krauss of the New York Times wrote an article about fossil fuel advertisements in the run up to the election. Titled “Fossil Fuel Industry Ads Dominate TV Campaign,” the article claims:
The surge in energy-related political spending partly reflects the rise in overall election spending after the Supreme Court lifted limits on corporate contributions in 2010. Mr. Romney, for example, has accepted $3 million in contributions from Oxbow, a coal company controlled by William Koch, a brother of David Koch.
Because Citizens United neither lifted the ban on corporate contributions to campaigns nor did away with contribution limits, Mr. Lipton and Mr. Krauss are, at worst, charging Mr. Romney and William Koch with a very serious crime; at best, simply implying they are corrupt.
It’s troubling that a newspaper as prestigious as the New York Times, which writes about campaign finance on a daily basis, cannot get basic facts correct. There is an enormous difference between a company giving money to an independent expenditure committee and contributing three million dollars to a presidential candidate.
