PAC vs Super PAC: How Money Moves in Politics

How did a 2010 Supreme Court decision and a lesser-known D.C. Circuit case combine to create the Super PAC — a vehicle that spent $2.7 billion on federal elections in 2024 alone? This episode breaks down the legal mechanics: the difference between a traditional PAC's $5,000 handshake and a Super PAC's unlimited megaphone, the three-part coordination test that campaigns routinely sidestep, and the structural reasons why truly bipartisan Super PACs are vanishingly rare. If you want to understand how money actually flows through American elections, start here.