Two years ago, the floodgates of campaign cash opened -- and the money hasn't stopped pouring in since. With the first billion-dollar election in U.S. history coming up, some -- including Rep. Keith Ellison -- are calling for an end to big money in politics.
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission that corporations and individuals could give unlimited amounts of money to so-called "super PACs" that use those funds for political ads. With over $1 billion pumped into the 2012 elections, many Americans are saying enough is enough.
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are collecting and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to win the White House. Last week, $60 million was poured into the governor's race in Wisconsin and almost half of that was spent by outside groups, most of which were not even based in the state.
What would our Founding Fathers say if they saw where the system is at today? The "people's voice" is slowly getting drowned out by big money and major corporations.
FOX 9 news spoke with Ellison on how the problems with the current paradigm and how he hopes to push back on Capitol Hill.
