Political action committee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United States , a Political Action Committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a matter of state and federal law. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, an organization becomes a "political committee" by receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election.
When an interest group, union, or corporation wants to contribute to federal candidates or parties, it must do so through a PAC. These PACs receive and raise money from a "restricted class," generally consisting of managers and shareholders in the case of a corporation, and members in the case of a union or other interest group. The PAC may then make donations to political campaigns. PACs and individuals are the only entities allowed to contribute funds to candidates for federal office. Contributions from corporate or labor union treasuries are illegal, though they may sponsor a PAC and provide financial support for its administration and fundraising. Overall, PACs account for less than thirty percent of total contributions in U.S. Congressional races, and considerably less in presidential races.
- See also List of political action committees.
Contributions by individuals to federal PACs are limited to $5,000 per year. Corporations and unions may not contribute directly to federal PACs, though they may pay for the administrative costs of a PAC affiliated with the specific corporation or union. Corporate-affiliated PACs may only solicit contributions from executives, shareholders, and their families, while union-affiliated PACs may only solicit contributions from members. "Independent" PACs not affiliated with a corporation, union, or trade or membership association may solicit contributions from the general public but must pay their operating costs from these regulated contributions.
Federal multi-candidate PACs are limited in the amount of money they can contribute to candidate campaigns or other organizations:
- at most $5,000 per candidate per election. Elections such as primaries, general elections and special elections are counted separately.
- at most $15,000 per political party per year.
- at most $5,000 per PAC per year.
Under federal law, PACs are not limited in their ability to spend money independently of a candidate campaign. This may include expenditures on activities in support of (or against) a candidate, as long as they are not coordinated with the candidate.
If two or more PACs share the same sponsoring organization, they are considered to be "affiliated" and their total donations are counted under aggregate limits, i.e. the total donations from all may not exceed $5,000 for a specific candidate in a given election.
PACs must report all of the financial activities, including direct donations and other expenses, to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which makes the reports available to the public.
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[edit] Categorization of PACs
[edit] Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, independent, and nonprofit organization that runs www.OpenSecrets.org, uses the following sectors for PACs (The latest PAC totals are available here):
- Agribusiness
- Communications/Electronics
- Construction
- Defense
- Energy & Natural Resources
- Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
- Health
- Lawyers & Lobbyists
- Misc Business
- Transportation
- Labor
- Pornography
- Ideological/Single-Issue
- Other
[edit] Political Money Line
PoliticalMoneyLine uses the following categories for PACs (The latest totals are available here):
- Agriculture
- Business - Retail, Services
- Communication, Technology
- City/County
- Defense
- Energy, Natural Resources
- Finance, Insurance
- Foreign Countries
- Health Care
- Organized Labor
- Law
- Manufacturing
- Public Employees
- Real Estate/Construction
- Transportation
- Miscellaneous
- Undetermined
[edit] Leadership PAC
A leadership PAC in U.S. politics is a political action committee that can be established by a member of Congress to support other candidates. The funds cannot be spent to directly support the owner of the PAC's own campaign (such as mail or ads), but may fund travel and make contributions to other campaigns. During the 2006 election cycle, 256 leadership PACs contributed over $37 million to federal candidates.[1] (The latest leadership PAC totals are available here):
[edit] Controversial use of Leadership PACs
- Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership PAC, Team Majority, was fined $21,000 by federal election officials "for improperly accepting donations over federal limits."[2]
- Rep. John Doolittle's leadership PAC, Superior California Federal Leadership Fund, pays his wife's single-person company, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, 15 percent of all money raised ($68,630 in 2003-2004, $224,000 in 2005-2006). A campaign committee report in February said Doolittle's campaign still owed Julie Doolittle $137,000.[3] The PAC also has purchased $2,139 in gifts for Bose Corporation.[4]
- Rep. Richard Pombo has used his leadership PAC to pay hotel bills ($22,896) and to buy baseball tickets ($320) for donors.[5]
[edit] 2004 Presidential election
In the 2004 elections, the top 10 PACs by money spent by themselves, their affiliates and subsidiaries were as follows:
- EMILY's List $22,767,521
- Service Employees International Union $12,899,352
- American Federation of Teachers $12,789,296
- American Medical Association $11,901,542
- National Rifle Association $11,173,358
- Teamsters Union $11,128,729
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $10,819,724
- National Education Association $10,521,538
- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees $9,882,022
- Laborers' International Union of North America $9,523,837
[edit] Top All-Time Donors
According to OpenSecrets.org,[6] the top contributors since 1988 ranked by their total spending along with the party tilt of their contributions are:
| Rank | Organization | Total | Dem % | Repub % | Tilt |
| 1 | American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees | $39,947,843 | 98% | 1% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 2 | AT&T Inc | $39,772,431 | 43% | 55% | Between 40% and 59% to both parties |
| 3 | National Assn of Realtors | $33,280,206 | 47% | 52% | Between 40% and 59% to both parties |
| 4 | Goldman Sachs | $29,588,362 | 63% | 36% | Leans Dem (60%-69%) |
| 5 | American Assn for Justice | $29,520,389 | 90% | 9% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 6 | Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers | $28,733,734 | 97% | 2% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 7 | National Education Assn | $28,388,334 | 93% | 6% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 8 | Laborers' Union | $26,881,889 | 91% | 7% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 9 | Service Employees International Union | $26,719,663 | 95% | 3% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 10 | Carpenters & Joiners Union | $25,995,149 | 90% | 9% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 11 | Teamsters Union | $25,627,772 | 92% | 6% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 12 | Communications Workers of America | $25,404,269 | 99% | 0% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 13 | American Medical Assn | $25,235,971 | 38% | 61% | Leans Repub (60%-69%) |
| 14 | American Federation of Teachers | $24,969,593 | 98% | 0% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 15 | Citigroup Inc | $24,784,983 | 49% | 50% | Between 40% and 59% to both parties |
| 16 | United Auto Workers | $24,634,120 | 98% | 0% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 17 | Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union | $23,548,086 | 98% | 0% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 18 | Altria Group | $23,264,991 | 27% | 72% | Strongly Repub (60%-69%) |
| 19 | United Food & Commercial Workers Union | $22,926,107 | 98% | 1% | Solidly Dem (over 90%) |
| 20 | National Auto Dealers Assn | $22,733,608 | 31% | 68% | Leans Repub (60%-69%) |
[edit] See also
- Politics of the United States
- Lobbying in the United States
- Soft money
- 527 group
- PAC Management Software
[edit] References
- ^ Opensecrets: Leadership PACs, Retrieved on January 23 2007.
- ^ USATODAY.com - Pelosi PAC fined $21,000 by federal elections officials
- ^ Politics - FBI raids Doolittle house - sacbee.com
- ^ Political Action Committees
- ^ Lawmaker Criticized for PAC Fees Paid to Wife - washingtonpost.com
- ^ "Heavy Hitters:Top All-Time Donors 1989-2008 Summary". http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php.
