In 2010 the supreme court ruled on two decisions, Citizens United v. Federal Electoral Commision, and Citizens United v. Federal Electoral Commision. The cases were to decide various rules on how political action committees would be governed. Political action committees or “super PACs” for short, are groups that are not supposed to be coordinated with a party, and can raise unlimited amounts of money to spend on advertising. The new court rulings decided that since the groups were making “independent expenditures” from the campaign, that they would be allowed to spend and raise as much as they want, provided that they do not coordinate with the campaigns. Although there is no way to enforce this rule without an actual recording of the two
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First off, it helps get people to join the cause. Secondly, it makes people pay more attention to their representatives, and get more involved with politics in general. More people should be aware of how money is changing the way politicians campaign and determine their policies. One way to raise awareness is to donate to a politicians who either raise awareness or have started bills to amend Citizens United. One way would be to call and email your state representatives and tell them what you think about PACs. Another way some people are starting to raise awareness is by starting their own PACs. While this is a little more silly way, and can get you fined by the FEC, it still helps to bring attention. Sunlightfoundation.com says that PACs named “Bears for a Bearable tommorow”, and “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Yesterday” etc. are popping up this election cycle(Yeager). One of if not the most popular examples is Stephen Colberts PAC. Named “Making a better tommorow, tommorow”. On his comedy show he used the PAC to point out absurdities in the system. Another kind of PAC is mayday.us, a PAC made to reform PACs. They are using crowdfunding to raise money so that they can convince congress to according to them, “be the leaders they were elected to be.” Although it seems counterintuitive making a PAC to end PACs, after enough time it could help get anti-PAC senators in office. Social media is also a very useful tool. With so many people using a form of social media, it is very easy to get people thinking about the subject. One final way to raise awareness is with petitions. There are tons and tons of sites that ask you to take a few minutes and fill out a form so you can sign their
First off, it helps get people to join the cause. Secondly, it makes people pay more attention to their representatives, and get more involved with politics in general. More people should be aware of how money is changing the way politicians campaign and determine their policies. One way to raise awareness is to donate to a politicians who either raise awareness or have started bills to amend Citizens United. One way would be to call and email your state representatives and tell them what you think about PACs. Another way some people are starting to raise awareness is by starting their own PACs. While this is a little more silly way, and can get you fined by the FEC, it still helps to bring attention. Sunlightfoundation.com says that PACs named “Bears for a Bearable tommorow”, and “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Yesterday” etc. are popping up this election cycle(Yeager). One of if not the most popular examples is Stephen Colberts PAC. Named “Making a better tommorow, tommorow”. On his comedy show he used the PAC to point out absurdities in the system. Another kind of PAC is mayday.us, a PAC made to reform PACs. They are using crowdfunding to raise money so that they can convince congress to according to them, “be the leaders they were elected to be.” Although it seems counterintuitive making a PAC to end PACs, after enough time it could help get anti-PAC senators in office. Social media is also a very useful tool. With so many people using a form of social media, it is very easy to get people thinking about the subject. One final way to raise awareness is with petitions. There are tons and tons of sites that ask you to take a few minutes and fill out a form so you can sign their