So let’s start off with a simple definition of what a Super PAC is. Super PACs started out as plain-jane PACs, or Political Action Committees. All PACsre goal oriented toward helping a political candidate or cause, and were originally?regulated by a strict set of campaign finance laws. Rules were in place to keep these committees from having too much influence over politics. Individuals could not donate more that $2,500, nor were corporations or unions allowed to donate to a PAC.
That was until 2010, and the now infamous “Citizens United” Supreme Court case. With this one case, individuals looking to donate to a PAC could donate unlimited amounts of money. The ruling also lifted the ban on donations from corporations and unions. Two months following the Citizens United ruling, Speechnow.org v. FEC?created “Independent Expenditures-Only” or Super PACs. These Super PACs’ only real rule is that they can not talk campaign strategy?with a candidate or their team, and that they are to use money in the Super PAC for ads or activities. However, that line is very vague with little oversight.
Fast-forward to this past election, we all saw what happened and watched in horror as Republicans took the U.S. House of Representatives. Many speculated that the Democrats themselves were to blame for the overwhelming loss, having distanced themselves from their social policy in?trying to appear more moderate. While that may stand true, this morning’s news about potential Super PAC rule-bending also played a part.
As dawn broke, a hand full of news outlets were reporting of fake Twitter accounts, “secret coding”, and the GOP playing in uncharted territory ?as far as campaign finance laws are concerned.
Under two known, and since deleted, Twitter handles; The GOP shared polling data and election information. The tweets appeared to be in a special code, that only the intended audiences were to decipher. A general tweet would look like this, “CA-40/43-44/49-44/44-50/36-44/49-10/16/14-52–>49/476-10s.” To the untrained eye, it would look like nothing more ominous than a?toddler typing on a keyboard, but these codes are actually information on different House races. Posting polling data online makes it public information, which could be a loophole that needs to be addressed for future races, or it could still be considered a violation of laws governing Super PACs.?Paul S. Ryan, senior counsel for the Campaign Legal Center said:
“It’s a line that has not been defined. This is really on the cutting edge… It might not be legal. It is a cutting edge practice that, to my knowledge, the Federal Election Commission has never before addresses to explicitly determine its legality or permissibility.”
The two Twitter accounts were used to share the information with two third-party groups and a Republican campaign committee. American Action Network, is a nonprofit advocacy group that is “Promoting Center-Right Solutions to Our Nation’s Challenges.” They seek to stop Obamacare and are promoting the Keystone XL pipeline. ?American Crossroads was founded by Karl Rove, and goes on to mirror him perfectly.”We make good decisions based on a careful look at the data and a lot of ground research.” the site states. The National Republican Congressional Committee, is a “political committee devoted to increasing the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.” and I think that they certainly met their goal.
So why does this even matter, we all know politicians are bought and paid for.
The use of public information, whether posted on Twitter or anywhere else, isn’t the problem. What we are seeing is a potential premeditated effort to side-step FEC laws, by using coded information that can only be decoded by those holding the key. Those tweets are gibberish to you or I, but if we had the key like those three Super PACs did, that’s a different ballgame.
This isn’t me, a Democrat, coming out against Republicans doing bad; this is a systemic problem. Democrats have also tried to skirt around the laws, and neither of these instances are okay. Super PACs already live in a world with minimal rules and regulations. Exploiting weaknesses in those laws doesn’t make you better, stronger or faster; it makes you worse than the other guy. Each time a group crosses that line, it digs a deeper hole where, if left unchecked, we might not come out of.
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