Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision nearly two years ago, the campaign finance system has become polluted with ideological groups collecting unlimited donations from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals. Up to now, most of those groups have run attack ads or supported groups of party candidates, a major factor in the 2010 midterms. A PAC created solely for a single candidate had been seen as violating the federal law requiring that the PAC be independent from the candidate’s campaign.
This year, thanks to inaction by the Federal Election Commission, even that legal nicety has been thrown out. There is a tissue-thin separation between the campaigns and the PACs they have set up, but it is not fooling anyone. The fund-raisers and managers who would have been working in the campaign have simply been seconded to the PACs, which this year will do a huge bulk of the money-raising and spending.
The Campaign Jungle -- NYT calls Super PACs "noxious" and "polluted."
via nytimes.com
