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  • Since 2010, Super PAC groups have contributed to an explosion in political campaign donations.

  • These groups are so controversial that President Barack Obama has spoken out against them.

  • And 2016 presidential hopeful, Bernie Sanders, has refused to accept their money. So what

  • are Super PACs? And what are they doing to the political process?

  • Well, the term PAC is an acronym that stands for Political Action Committee. PACs are a

  • way for businesses, labor unions, and other special interest groups to pool donations

  • for a specific campaign. Regular PACs, which are different from Super PACS, have been donating

  • to campaigns since 1944. But PACs have significant financial restrictions. Corporations aren’t

  • allowed to contribute, and PACs can only give up to $5,000 dollars per candidate and $15,000

  • dollars per national party. Additionally, individuals cannot contribute more than $5,000

  • dollars to a PAC per year.

  • But in 2010, a supreme court ruling known as Citizens United said that restricting corporate

  • political donations was in violation of freedom of speech. Legally, it was argued thatspending

  • IS speech” - even if the speaker is a corporation. This led to the creation of Super PACs. Essentially,

  • Super PACs are allowed to give unlimited funds - from people, corporations, and unions. The

  • only rule is that Super PACs must operate independently of candidates, however this

  • rule is often skirted. The top super PAC during the 2012 presidential campaign raised more

  • than $153 million dollars, and contributed indirectly to Republican campaigns. By comparison,

  • the top regular PAC raised a mere $3.9 million in donations.

  • So why are super PACs controversial? Well, the lack of restriction means that wealthy

  • special interest groups and individuals are able to exert significant influence over political

  • campaigns. Additionally, even though Super PACs are required to be independent organizations,

  • they are regularly operated by people close to the candidate. This practice was famously

  • satirized by comedian Stephen Colbert. In 2012, he ran for President in the South Carolina

  • primaries, and named his affiliated Super PAC, “The Definitely Not Coordinating with

  • Stephen Colbert Super PAC”.

  • Since the rise of Super PACs, many have called for significant campaign finance reform. The

  • 2012 elections set new records in campaign spending. The upcoming 2016 elections will

  • undoubtedly break those records, while lessening the average citizen’s influence in their

  • own political future.

  • If you’d like to get even more frustrated with the American political processmake

  • sure you check out our video about gerrymandering here. Thanks as always for watching TestTube

  • News, please subscribe!

Since 2010, Super PAC groups have contributed to an explosion in political campaign donations.

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B1 中級

什麼是超級PACs? (What Are Super PACs?)

  • 64 7
    周杰 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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