President Barack Obama was the winner of the recent presidential election. As a Democrat, I’m pleased by this, but America’s problems are not over. We still have to work hard to restore our country, and getting rid of corruption in our elections will be a good way to start.
Super PACs are one of the biggest ways that outside organizations influence elections. A 501(c)(4), or super PAC, is a political action committee that can collect money from individuals and companies. It can use this money in any way it wants, including running ads for political candidates, as long as it “does not coordinate” with the candidate. This means that the candidate is not allowed to tell the super PAC owner what ads to run or how to use its money, but if the candidate tells another person, and the owner happens to hear the conversation, it’s legally not considered coordination. This, to any reasonable person, is a ridiculous law, and it exposes the corruption in our political system.
I’ve recommended that teenagers watch Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart before, and I’m recommending it again. One of Colbert’s best features on The Colbert Report recently was his super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. This super PAC, which was as real as any of the super PACs run by actual candidates, showed how corrupt America’s campaign finance laws are. Colbert gave Stewart control of his super PAC while he was running for President of South Carolina. Because he was a candidate, he was not allowed to control his super PAC, so Stewart ran ads for him. Colbert and Stewart appeared on each other’s shows to demonstrate how far campaign laws can stretch. Stewart placed a cardboard television frame between him and Colbert, and Colbert said (while “not talking” to Stewart) what he wanted the super PAC to use its money on. 
After Colbert ended his campaign, he regained control of his super PAC from Stewart.
In the wake of the 2012 election results, Colbert shut his super PAC down. He filed his termination papers for the super PAC Tuesday, and the amount of money transferred out of the super PAC’s account was $773,705. Through a simple process where Colbert moved the money to a secretive second super PAC, Colbert Super PAC SHH, and moved the money from that super PAC to a third super PAC, none of the money is able to be traced. While this super PAC was purely comedical, and the money from it will almost certainly be going to good causes, real super PACs are also withdrawing their money using the same processes. Thanks to the Federal Election Commission’s laws, super PACs from both sides of the aisle are able to use the money they’ve earned for any purpose, and the public is not able to see where that money will go.
The majority of super PAC contributions were to Republican candidates, and some high-profile super PACs, like the super PAC run by Karl Rove, donated huge amounts of money to campaigns. Rove lost most of the money he put into the election. He spent $100 million in the election, and 99% of that money was spent on campaigning for losing candidates. None of the candidates he supported won. Two of the candidates he was opposing lost, and 1.29% of the super PAC money was spent on campaigns against those candidates.
Hopefully these results mean that the public realizes how super PACs are spreading corruption in our government. If people learn about current campaign finance laws so they can begin to change them, people like Colbert and Stewart may not have any government corruption to expose.
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