Centering Footer to or beyond Main Container

I am trying to center my Footer beyond my Main Container so I can have my my footer run the full width of my web browser (on all platforms.

I have tried setting my Main Container to 1024px and 100%, but neither seem to be doing the trick.

If I increase the width of the Main Container, my footer aligns left with the Main Container and extends however far to the right; it doesn’t seem to want to center to or beyond the main container.

And, if I set my Main Container to 100%, it screws up all the formatting on my website; no good 🙁

Here is the PHP to my footer:

</div><!--//content_cont-->

	<div class="clear"></div>

	<div id="footer">

				<div class="footer_box">		<h3>Recent Posts</h3>		<ul>
					<li>
				<a href="http://www.dessign.net/creativeblogtheme/live-typography/" title="Live Typography">Live Typography</a>
						</li>
					<li>
				<a href="http://www.dessign.net/creativeblogtheme/morning-coffee/" title="Morning Coffee">Morning Coffee</a>
						</li>
					<li>
				<a href="http://www.dessign.net/creativeblogtheme/silent-climate-parade-2011/" title="Silent Climate Parade 2011">Silent Climate Parade 2011</a>
						</li>
					<li>
				<a href="http://www.dessign.net/creativeblogtheme/blog-on-brands-experience/" title="Blog on Brands Experience">Blog on Brands Experience</a>
						</li>
				</ul>
		</div><div class="footer_box"><h3>What We Do</h3>			<div class="textwidget">Your Artwork is important, showcase your imagination with style. Modern, clean & easy to use WordPress themes for creative professionals. </div>
		</div><div class="footer_box"><h3>Who We Are</h3>			<div class="textwidget">We are small group of passionate designers and architects, looking to change and create amazing digital images to inspire others to follow in our innovative steps. </div>
		</div><div class="footer_box"><h3>Creative Blog </h3>			<div class="textwidget">When space is at a premium, such as some types of magazine, newspaper, and yellow pages advertising, white space is limited in order to get as much.</div>
		</div>

		<div class="clear"></div>

		<div class="copyright_text">

			© 2013 All Rights Reserved. Developed by  <a href="http://www.dessign.net">Dessign</a>
		</div><!--//copyright_text-->

	</div><!--//footer-->
</div><!--//main_container-->
<?php wp_footer(); ?>
</body>
</html>

Here is the CSS to my footer:

/*Footer-Creative Blog*/
#footer {
	padding: 25px 0 15px;
	background-color: #0F2547;
	position: absolute;
}

.footer_box {
	float: left;
	width: 200px;
	margin-left: 50px;
	color: #999;
}

#footer .footer_box:first-child {
	margin-left: 0;
}

.footer_box ul {
	list-style-type: none;
	margin: 10px 0;
	padding: 0;
	line-height: 18px;
}

.footer_box ul li {
	margin-bottom: 8px;
}

.footer_box p {
	line-height: 18px;
}

.footer_box h3 {
	margin-top: 0;
	font-weight: normal;
	font-size: 17px;
	color: #ccc;
	margin-bottom: 15px;
}

.footer_box a {
	color: #999999;
}

.footer_box a:hover {
	color: #fff;
}

.copyright_text {
	padding: 15px 15px 0;
	font-size: 11px;
	color: #999;
	text-align: right;
	border-top: 1px solid #444;
	margin-top: 15px;
}

Here is the Main Container div:
#main_container {width: 940px; margin: auto;}