In the common media wisdom, super PACs are a result of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling. This is said to have created a "loophole" that the super PACs have exploited to evade campaign-finance restrictions on the money that candidates can raise on their own.
The real loophole is the U.S. Constitution. The High Court merely restored the right of corporations and unions to exercise their First Amendment right to political speech, which includes the right to assemble to support candidates with money. Congress had illegally restricted that right with McCain-Feingold, which was the latest attempt to do the impossible and banish money from politics.
via online.wsj.com
