David Keating
If one person can spend money independently of a campaign to influence an election, then why can’t two people combine their resources to, say, run the same TV ad with the same message? Why can’t five, 10 or hundreds of people do the same thing? That’s what a Super-PAC is.
Money isn’t speech and neither Citizens United nor SpeechNow says it is. But what money allows people is to communicate to voters. To take one example, how can one run a newspaper ad without paying the newspaper for it? If Congress could limit such spending, then it might well have the power to limit the amount spent to produce a newspaper, blog, or even to promote religious views.
That’s why Super-PACs are a good thing. They allow people with similar views to speak together to promote them by speaking to other Americans. And with more money spent on speech, voters are better informed about the candidates and the added information boosts turnout too.
