Olivia C. May P.

3 1/15/12

Super PACs Synopsis

By definition, a Political Action Committee or, PAC, is a, U.S. organization formed by a corporation, labor union, or association to raise money for political activity.1 During the more recent elections, these PACs have gained significantly more prominence, in turn causing them to evolve into super PACs. Super PACs have changed politics for the worse by making an election a competition of money, rather than political wisdom. Rick Tyler, Newt Gingrichs former aid states that super PACs are, A horrible abomination for a freedom-loving people in a constitutional republic,2 even though he has donated around a total of $5 million dollars to Gingrichs campaign. Although super PACs seem to have endless amounts of funding, there are many strict rules and regulations on them. One of the first pieces of legislation regarding PACs was the Federal Election Campaign Act passed in 1971. This created a $5,000 donation limit from individuals to PACs and the donations must be reported. Another piece of legislation regarding PACs is the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill. This bill placed a limit of $101,400 of donations per election cycle to PACs of soft money. Even though these laws have been in place for years, candidates are still finding loopholes in the system, allowing them to use as much money as possible without breaking campaign finance laws in place, therefore the Super PAC was created.
1"Political

Action Committee: Definition from Answers.com." Answers.com: Wiki Q&A Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias. Columbia Encyclopedia. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. <http://www.answers.com/topic/political-actioncommittee>. 2Scherer, Michael. "Attack of the Super PACs." Time Magazine 23 Jan. 2012: 28-30. Print.

Olivia C. May P.3 1/15/12

1"Political

Action Committee: Definition from Answers.com." Answers.com: Wiki Q&A Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias. Columbia Encyclopedia. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. <http://www.answers.com/topic/political-actioncommittee>. 2Scherer, Michael. "Attack of the Super PACs." Time Magazine 23 Jan. 2012: 28-30. Print.