Almost $465m of outside money has been spent on the US presidential election campaign so far, including $365m that can be attributed to the supreme court's landmark Citizens United ruling, according to a report released on Monday.

I am glad to see opinions on both side of this issue in the comments (lots of good information in many posts and "food for thought"). Thanks for being respectful in your comments! To continue the discussion, Americans are almost equally divided on gay marriage. Here is the most recent poll data to see how we have changed our opinion since 1996... http://goo.gl/yUIP3

As we discuss how our government balances the needs of society with protecting our civil liberties I would invite your respectful comments on both sides of this article. There is a HUGE comment thread on the CNN site, please add your thoughts to our Diigo.

Interesting article out of Great Britain... especially considering all our laws on "drugs", are we forgetting that alcohol is a drug as well. For many, it is socially acceptable to get "drunk" while getting "high" is bad. Do you think if alcohol were discovered today, would we allow people to use it legally?

" The number of Americans on food stamps hit a record high in June, and economists don't expect much improvement as long as unemployment remains high."

"When President Barack Obama decided to take questions directly over social media he didn't turn to his 28 million Facebook fans, or his 19 million Twitter followers. Instead, he turned to a website called Reddit where popularity is measured, fittingly, in votes."

Sometimes it seems when rules are too rigidly enforced, silly situations like this make me wonder, - maybe re-word the rule rather than asking a person to change their name...

"US Debt Visualized in $100 BillsUnited States owes a lot of money. As of 2012, US debt is larger than the size of the economy. The debt ceiling is currently set at $16.394 Trillion, estimated to be hit around Sep 14, 2012. "

"Romney picks Paul Ryan as running mate"

Second, the law prohibits protests at military funerals in the two hours immediately prior to and following a military funeral -- a measure, the President said, that will ensure that our servicemembers get laid to rest with "the utmost honor and respect."

You only see what others want you to

this issue has come up recently in some cities passing laws against recording police specifically. I thought some of the comments on the original article were thought provoking as well.