11 ms·

> it’s illegal for corporations to donate to candidates. Only directly, I thought? Can't they can give money to PACs which then give to candidates? In theory t

• lmm 8y ago
  The PAC are required not to coordinate and they can be scrupulous about never being in the same room as the candidate. But they don't need to coordinate to e.g. run a TV ad campaign endorsing a candidate who's done something they like.
  • zimpenfish 8y ago
    Although they do appear to "coordinate" quite effectively. e.g. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/super-pac-coordination_us_56463f85e4b045bf3def0273 https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/super-pac-coordinatio...
• rayiner 8y ago
  They can’t contribute to PACs either. PACs just pool individual contributions. They can give to SuperPACs, but SuperPACs can’t contribute to candidates.
• dragonwriter 8y ago
  > Can't they can give money to PACs which then give to candidates? No, but they can sponsor a PAC, which frees up more of the money a PAC raises from individual sources for donations to candidates; this is different only if you ignore the fungibility of money. (They can also spend directly or via a “SuperPAC” on advocacy that is for/against candidates but legally not coordinated with candidates, and SuperPAC activity in practice is often coordinated with campaigns via public signalling and other mechanisms.)