The LA Times reports.  “As of Saturday, outside groups — many fueled by seven-figure donations from wealthy contributors — reported having pumped at least $675 million into political ads and other forms of voter outreach in 2012 federal elections. That’s more than double the amount outside groups spent in the 2008 cycle, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. And this cycle’s total doesn’t include tens of millions of dollars worth of ‘issue ads’ that ran early in the campaign, paid for by tax-exempt groups that were not required to report them.”