A political action committee (PAC) is any organization in the United States that campaigns for or against a candidate, ballot initiatives or legislation. At the federal level, an organization becomes a PAC when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election, according to the Federal Election Campaign Act. At the state level, an organization becomes a PAC according to the state's election laws.
Read more about Political Action Committee: History of PACs in The United States, Categorization of PACs, Keeping Donor Lists Hidden From Voters, The PAC Backlash, Federal Level Backlash, State Level Advisory Requests Pending, Legal Backlash At State Level, Super PAC Backlash, Congressional Backlash, Defending Super PAC Contributions, James Bopp, International Comparison and Response, 2008 Election, 2012 Election (estimates)
Famous quotes containing the words political, action and/or committee:
“No political party can ever make prohibition effective. A political party implies an adverse, an opposing, political party. To enforce criminal statutes implies substantial unanimity in the community. This is the result of the jury system. Hence the futility of party prohibition.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Insurrection:... insurrection as soon as circumstances allow: insurrection, strenuous, ubiquitous: the insurrection of the masses: the holy war of the oppressed: the republic to make republicans: the people in action to initiate progress. Let the insurrection announce with its awful voice the decrees of God: let it clear and level the ground on which its own immortal structure shall be raised. Let it, like the Nile, flood all the country that it is destined to make fertile.”
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872)
“The cemetery isn’t really a place to make a statement.”
—Mary Elizabeth Baker, U.S. cemetery committee head. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 15 (June 13, 1988)