Impact of Citizens United v. FEC

This is a short video detailing the impact of last year's Citizens United v. FEC on this year's midterm elections.

What is a Super PAC

It used to be fairly easy to teach PACs.  They can give $5,000 to a candidate and another $5,000 is the candidate wins the primary/caucus.  Of course after McCain-Feingold, first came 527s and now we have "super PACs" thanks to Citizens United v. FEC.  First off here are all the posts I have done on Citizens' United and here are the ones I have done on 527s.  Here, though, is a super definition of "super PACs" and a graphic to go along with it.  Here is a graphic and definition on 527s.  Essentially they two institutions are almost the same.  The large difference is that a 527 must be limited to issues and is registered with the IRS as a tax exempt organization and deals with individuals.'  Both can accept unlimited contributions.  Secondarily 527s cannot talk to a candidate while super pacs have essentially no limitations and can accept any contributions even from corporations.  Essentially (and please respond if you think otherwise), super pacs have eliminated the need for 527s.  

Citizens United v. FEC

Here is a great article from yesterday's NYTimes on the impact on Citizen United v. FEC.  It gives a good overview on how presidential candidates can raise unlimited amounts of money in addition to the normal FEC funds.  

List of super PACs

Above is the most recent (and biting) advertisement by Gingrich's super PAC.  Here are all of the super PACs. I have written about the definition of super PACs, but they are a direct result of Citizens United v. F.E.C. and essentially are the follow-up to 527s allowing their individuals and corporations  to give unlimited donations to one.  The key is that there cannot be any collaboration between the candidate and the super PACs - even though they seem to mostly be run by former staffers of the presidential candidate.  My question will be will the super PAC people be given key jobs in the next presidential administration, be it Obama, Romney or someone else.  The ad above (here is an article detailing it) is possible because of a $5 million donation to his super PAC by one individual and is a huge help to his South Carolina campaign.  

Super PAC Ads

Just after McCain-Feingold was signed quietly into law by George W. Bush, McCain said that there were those working to undermine it (most from his own party).  Well now that Citizens United v. FEC has allowed super PACs, we have the shame situation where campaigns and super PACs aren't allowed to coordinate.  But there are so many work arounds.  One is that until a candidate announces for an office, s/he can do anything s/he wants with the super PAC.  Well thanks to the AP Government Teachers' Facebook page for this one as the video above shows a collection of raw campaign footage that Ted Cruz put on YouTube.  Apparently campaigns now put up campaign ad takes on YouTube knowing that the super PAC will take it and make it into a law.

If you wanted to see it, here is all the raw footage.

Cruz, by the way has raised more money than any other Republican than Jeb Bush, is using it much more slowly than others and recently was polled first in Iowa.

One wishes that each textbook could have a media chapter online and rewritten each year as the rules keep changing on how candidates reach us.

By the way if you want to have a bit more fun, you could show (it is bleeped in the right parts) the Daily Show's view of the material. 

50% of Funds for Pres. Campaigns Come from 158 People

This is the power of the Supreme Court.  As a result of Citizens United and super PACs (never mind dark money which doesn't need to be reported), 50% of the funds raised so far come from just 158 people.  They are mostly white, rich, males as a NYTimes investigation discovered.  This would make for a very interesting discussion with your classes.  Here is all their names and what they do for a living.

By the way, there are now over 1100 super PACs as you can see here. 

Keeping up With Super PACs (and why you should ditch your textbook)

In my school I am the social studies chair and in that role I have an ongoing dispute with a good friend who is the chair of the math department.  I keep giving him a hard time saying that math teachers should be embracing the Internet since it is written by math majors and he keeps clinging to his old school math textbooks claiming that students retain more by using paper books.

The Vox link here on super PACs is why I argue that we should teach our students to better learning using online resources.  After all even if you have an old school math textbook, you can still be diverted by a smartphone (which no researcher seems to want to add to their research in paper vs e-books!).  

Case in point is the link above which explains, not just super PACs, dark money, McCutcheon v. FEC but all the Citizens United v. FEC - all of which came about AFTER the e-book (we still have to use a six year contract in my county for electronic books, rather than get yearly updates - an old world problem clashing with modern technology) was put online.  Really, think about the technology you were using six years ago (the average length of a textbook) and think how much your teaching has evolved (or not if you are still using paper because of belief systems or lack of funding).  All of which is to say my textbook is going the way of the Dodo bird because of the many resources we can use in class and my students can easily access on the smartphones they walk into my class with each day.  

Here is an article talking about the "first primary" in the presidential race - the one to raise money for individual and super PACs.  

By the way one of my late spring or summer projects is going to be to put all of my assignments, flipped videos, etc. for AP US Government and AP Comparative Government on a Google Drive document so you too can choose to teach your students as they learn best - on the cloud! 

Campaign Spending by Third Parties

Last year's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allowed corporations to give unlimited donations to third parties running ads in a campaign.  If that third party is running only issue ads (as opposed to promoting a candidate) it does not have to tell where the money is coming from (therefore getting around the 30/60 requirements of McCain-Feingold). So here is an article explaining that and from now until the election you can go here and see the top interest groups, where they are spending and which party's members they support.  It will be updated weekly until the election. 

Obergefell v. Hodges & Everything You Need To Teach About it

I guess the first question is whether Jim Obergefell will become a one word name such as Roe, Citizens United (well that's two), Tinker, et al.   If the Supreme Court decides in Obergefell v. Hodges that the 14th amendment's equal protection does indeed extend marriage to gay people, then the answer is probably yes.  The WashPost video above is excellent in its overview of the case.

If you are teaching standard government, then you might want to take some time on the case as it has so much to offer.  If you are an AP teacher, then you could quickly review such items as

• precedent
• amicus curiae (all over this page)
• Rule of four
• majority opinion/minority opinion/concurring opinion
• oral arguments (here some actual ones from today's presentation) or here is the entire argument
• 14th amendment
• full faith and credit clause
• Supreme, circuit and district courts
• plaintiff, defendant, litigants
• writ of certiorari 
• Interest groups
• brief
• am I missing others?

You can also find lots more from Scotus Blog's page and from the page on the US Supreme Court. 

Family & Friends Super PAC

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First off if you want a definition of a Super PAC that your students will enjoy, look no further than Stephen Colbert (wow I will miss him in my government class) for that.

Today the NYTimes has a great article bemoaning the fact that many Super PACs are just cash machines for family members of candidates so they can write checks for their relatives.   All of this is possible because of the Citizens United v. FEC case.

If you want to think of ways how to use this in the classroom here is what my students do with campaigns and interest groups.  It is a very practical assignment where kids have to find candidates and look up spending amounts, PAC donations, editorials, advertisements, etc. 

McCutcheon v FEC

Today the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in McCutcheon v. FEC.  McCutcheon is arguing that there should be no individual limits on campaign donations by individuals to federal campaigns, much as Citizens United v FEC has done for corporations (the summaries come from Oyez which is a great site you might want to use in your classes to find out about cases).

The place to go for coverage is SCOTUS Blog.  Using this page will help you cover all of the major concepts you teach in Supreme Court cases such as: appeal, plaintiffs, amicus curiae,  defendant, plaintiff, oral arguments and so on.

The video above is very nice in that it gives all the current limits and nicely tells about the case. It is biased against McCutcheon. 

Supreme Court Cases, 1973 to Present Online

Not that you'd want to have your kids sit through an entire S Court case, but this is AMAZING.  Here I thought the S. Court was just releasing its audio cases this year and now if you go here, you will see pretty much ALL cases' audio since 1973 from Roe v. Wade to Citizens United v. FEC,

Super PACs Coordination w Campaigns

This and this article argue that super PACs have now become an integral part of presidential campaigns, pointing out, for example, that since Jeb Bush is not yet an official candidate, he can personally raise money for his PAC, Right to Rise.  While a lawsuit is being prepared to challenge the closeness of super PACs and campaigns, the NYTimes claims that the distinctions have been all but lost.  Many are being run by former staffers and handling more and more of the main tasks (ads, for example).  Above is a video from Bush's Right to Rise super PAC.

Citizens United v. FEC allowed the existence of super PACs.  All this is being done so that candidates can get around the $2700 limit on individual donations. 

Roberts Court's Influence on Elections

Here is a nice long explanation WashPost of how the Citizens United v. FEC decision has had on this year's campaign. 

Million Dollar super PAC Donors

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This NYTimes graphic is about as good as it gets in showing how a few wealthy individuals can prop up candidates even though they are polling at less than five percent.   Above is a great video from Colbert (yes I still miss his show) explaining it and here is another definition from Vox (including background such as Citizens United).  

Super PACs and Teaching

The NYTimes has a great article on Super PACs.  One the featured ones is Americans for Prosperity which is a liberal leaning organization.  Super PACs are part of the AP Government exam so showing students some of the current ads (there are more conservative ones) and explaining Citizens United v. FEC.

Hillary Clinton's Super PAC

Here is the top story from Time magazine on Hillary Clinton's newish Super PAC that already has ads out (see above) and is collecting money and volunteers.  With Citizens United v. FEC, super PACs have become a real force in politics.  With the decision in the McCutcheon case due in June, the question is whether individuals will now have the same rights as corporations and be able to give unlimited donations to super PACs.  

Super PAC Update Explanations and Videos

I am still trying to come up with a project that entails, in part, super PACs.  Above is an update I will want to use as it goes into depth over the relationship between candidates and their involvement with super PACs.

Here is a great overview of super PACs from Vox which also looks at Citizens United as well as "dark money and the older campaign finance laws that are still around."

Here is an example of a brand new super PAC advertisement that is supporting John Kasich.

Below is my still favorite Colbert Report definition of super PAC.

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