Question

Independent expenditure committees that are legally permitted to raise and spend unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, unions, or other groups to advocate on behalf of their causes, but are not permitted to give to candidates directly, are called:

Answer 1

Independent expenditure committees that can raise and spend unlimited sums without directly contributing to candidates are known as super PACs. They originated from a Supreme Court decision in 2010, which allowed for unrestricted independent political spending from groups as a form of free speech.

Step-by-step explanation:

The independent expenditure committees legally allowed to raise and spend unlimited funds, but not permitted to contribute directly to candidates are called super PACs, or independent expenditure-only committees. Super PACs emerged following the landmark 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This ruling removed limits on independent political spending from corporations and unions, upholding it as a First Amendment right.

Critics of super PACs argue that they enable wealthy individuals and undisclosed donors, sometimes referred as dark money, to wield significant influence over elections and policies, due to their ability to inject vast sums of money into the political process. For example, during the 2020 election cycle, the total expenditure by super PACs alone was over $2 billion dollars.