According to Open Secrets, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have spent more than $866 million campaigning for president as of Oct. 27. That number is expected to top $1 billion by the time it’s all said and done.
No doubt, that’s an insane amount of money, the most ever spent by two candidates for U.S. president in history. To be sure, there’s a lot of mouths that could be fed with that dough. But when it comes to large expenditures, we found 10 things that if redirected to charity could make an even larger dent on extreme hunger in the world than the campaigns of Obama and McCain.
New Yankee Stadium – $1.6 billion projected total cost. Source
Lottery sales in Michigan in 2006 – $2.2 billion. Source
Sales of Hannah Montana and High School Musical-related products – $2.7 billion projected in Fiscal Year 2008. Source
Retailers estimated annual spending on plastic bags – $4 billion. Source
Retail value of Christian products sold by the Association For Christian Retail in 2006 – $4.63 billion. Source
Halloween spending – $5.77 billion projected for 2008. Source
Super Bowl spending in 2008 – $9.5 billion. Source
Dog food sales in 2007 – $10.8 billion. Source
Bottled water sales in 2007 – $11.7 billion. Source
Cigarette company spending on advertising and promotion in 2005 – $13.11 billion. Source
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