Political Action Committees

City Council and Mayor Nutter moved quickly Thursday to close a loophole that has allowed the city electricians' union to circumvent Philadelphia's limit on campaign contributions. Council abandoned plans to study the issue for another two weeks and unanimously passed a bill that bars political action committees, known as PACs, from evading the limit by funneling money through other PACs before it gets to candidates. Nutter signed the bill at 3:41 p.m., saying it was important to move "as quickly as possible" because "when you're in the middle of a municipal election cycle we should not have any activity that allows folks to do indirectly what we all know you can't do directly.

Longtime players on the national stage, political action committees have gone local. PACs, as they are known, have been the mechanisms through which industries and interest groups raise money to support state and national candidates. Now, the hometown politician is playing. All it takes to form a PAC in New Jersey is two people with a mailing address and some money to spend. In the last several election seasons, PACs have emerged and flexed their muscle in local races from bucolic Eastampton to bustling Washington Township.

President Obama's failure to fix the broken Federal Election Commission has helped turn the campaign trail into the Wild West, where the biggest guns shoot any which way they want. Government contractors have been prohibited for decades from contributing to federal political campaigns, but that hasn't stopped a super-PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney from actively soliciting about $1 million in donations from them. After the Los Angeles Times broke the story, the super-PAC, called Restore Our Future, began telling potential donors to seek legal counsel before giving, but it didn't turn down their money.

A pair of "super" political action committees supporting top Republican presidential candidates spent nearly $24 million in January, according reports filed Monday. A7

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics announced Friday the once-every-four-years adjustments in the campaign contribution limits for individual and political action committees. The city code calls for the finance director to certify the adjustments, which are based on the Consumer Price Index. The limits are the maximum contributions that can be made to or accepted by candidates for city elective office and their political action committees. The new limits on what a person or organization can give have been increased to $2,900 for an individual and $11,500 for political action committees and other entities, such as partnerships and businesses.

In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln referred to a "government of the people, by the people and for the people. " The United States Constitution provides for the rights of citizens to "petition the government for redress of grievances. " But the framers of that document of western man did not envision the growth of political action committees which, if not checked, could seriously pervert the democratic process. Instead of a government of the people, we may become a government of special interests.

If the federal government's City Hall probe is focused on Philadelphia's pay-to-play political system, the players don't seem to be worried. In the two weeks since electronic bugs were discovered in Mayor Street's office, the mayor's re-election campaign has collected more than $1.6 million in fresh donations. Most of the money came from the same broad circle of developers, law firms, labor unions and political-action committees that have contributed generously to Street in the past.

With a historic vote to change the city's pay-to-play culture, Philadelphia is poised to join the ranks of other top cities that limit campaign contributions. But some key problems loom. Some experts question whether City Council has the authority to enact campaign-finance limits because election law is governed by the state. Detractors, including Mayor Street, warn that the measure's strict limits on direct contributions will lead to a flood of so-called soft money and increase the influence of state political parties and political-action committees in city races.

If the Democratic primary for Philadelphia district attorney were decided on campaign contributions alone, Dan McCaffrey would be running away with the race. McCaffrey, a former assistant district attorney and brother of state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey, reported a campaign treasury of $243,000 at the end of the year - more than double the amount of his next-closest competitor in the May 19 primary. McCaffrey loaned the campaign $50,000. He raised $100,000 from political action committees, much of it from labor unions.

It's a new concept in Philadelphia, but after City Council amended campaign-finance laws last year, fund-raising for inaugurations became subject to contribution limits, a potential buzzkill for the lavish receptions once funded free of troublesome rules. No one spent much time trying to figure out what the rules meant until last month or so, because Monday will bring the first inauguration since the law was passed. Among the people asking the city Board of Ethics how to interpret the law was Richard Hayden, a lawyer for Mayor Nutter's political action committee.

President Obama's failure to fix the broken Federal Election Commission has helped turn the campaign trail into the Wild West, where the biggest guns shoot any which way they want. Government contractors have been prohibited for decades from contributing to federal political campaigns, but that hasn't stopped a super-PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney from actively soliciting about $1 million in donations from them. After the Los Angeles Times broke the story, the super-PAC, called Restore Our Future, began telling potential donors to seek legal counsel before giving, but it didn't turn down their money.

SHELDON ADELSON. Foster Friess. Frank VanderSloot - these days, every presidential candidate has a billionaire (or two), and these are the most prominent of the rich guys currently exercising unprecedented influence over the American electoral system. As predicted, corporate contributions are dominating politics ever since Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010 allowed them to spend unlimited sums of money on Political Action Committees - just so long as the committees don't "coordinate" with individual candidates.

By Doyle McManus Chalk up another win for the law of unintended consequences. When federal courts ruled in 2010 against restricting donations to political action committees, Republican strategists rejoiced. Here, they thought, was a way for the GOP's deep-pocketed donors to gain an advantage over President Obama's fund-raising machine. But look what happened. "Super-PACs," as the newly empowered political action committees are known, have mutated like election-year Godzillas, wreaking havoc in an increasingly bloody Republican primary campaign.

A pair of "super" political action committees supporting top Republican presidential candidates spent nearly $24 million in January, according reports filed Monday. A7

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics announced Friday the once-every-four-years adjustments in the campaign contribution limits for individual and political action committees. The city code calls for the finance director to certify the adjustments, which are based on the Consumer Price Index. The limits are the maximum contributions that can be made to or accepted by candidates for city elective office and their political action committees. The new limits on what a person or organization can give have been increased to $2,900 for an individual and $11,500 for political action committees and other entities, such as partnerships and businesses.

It's a new concept in Philadelphia, but after City Council amended campaign-finance laws last year, fund-raising for inaugurations became subject to contribution limits, a potential buzzkill for the lavish receptions once funded free of troublesome rules. No one spent much time trying to figure out what the rules meant until last month or so, because Monday will bring the first inauguration since the law was passed. Among the people asking the city Board of Ethics how to interpret the law was Richard Hayden, a lawyer for Mayor Nutter's political action committee.

The electricians' union continues to leave the biggest footprints in city political races, reporting donations of at least $10,000 to five different City Council candidates and steering even more to a favored few. Campaign finance reports filed Friday with city election officials showed Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers took advantage of a loophole in the city's contribution limits to send at least $55,000 in support...

Acting swiftly to plug a loophole in Philadelphia's campaign-finance law before the May 17 primary, Mayor Nutter and City Council sent the right message about the city's resolve to keep pressing for reform. The flaw in the 2006 law was repaired by an ordinance approved by Council on Thursday and immediately signed by the mayor. Before Council members and Nutter acted, political action committees - and, notably, one run by the city's most politically active union - were able to make a legal end run around limits on campaign contributions.

City Council and Mayor Nutter moved quickly Thursday to close a loophole that has allowed the city electricians' union to circumvent Philadelphia's limit on campaign contributions. Council abandoned plans to study the issue for another two weeks and unanimously passed a bill that bars political action committees, known as PACs, from evading the limit by funneling money through other PACs before it gets to candidates. Nutter signed the bill at 3:41 p.m., saying it was important to move "as quickly as possible" because "when you're in the middle of a municipal election cycle we should not have any activity that allows folks to do indirectly what we all know you can't do directly.