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Super PACs are dominating the 2012 election cycle. Even though the complete picture for 2012 has not yet been revealed, a report by US PIRG has shown some trends for 2011 that may be surprising to most of the American public.

First, let’s answer some questions most people ask:

What is a super PAC?

PAC stands for "political action committee." These are groups that a corporation can create that technically do not contribute directly to any candidate or campaign, nor do they directly coordinate their efforts with them. However, due to the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court ruling, super PACs can now raise and spend unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, and unions if they comply with certain restrictions regarding direct contributions and coordination.

Why is business spending singled out, instead of union spending?

The most pressing results, as far as contributions to Super PACs go, are related to businesses. Businesses outspent unions.

What exactly did the Citizens United case do?

The case basically allowed corporations to secretly spend unlimited amounts of money in elections. This drowns out the voices of ordinary citizens in the electoral process and completely cancels out the entire point of the voting process in America.

What is the Shareholder Protection Act/Legislation what would require shareholders to vote on political spending?

This act would let shareholders of companies have a say in where their money is being spent. Even though corporations are not people, if we are stuck in the situation presented by Citizens United, shouldn’t the actual people who own the corporations have a say in if and how their money is spent in politics? The answer is yes. I don’t think anyone would want their money being spent to support candidates or issues they oppose.

Do corporations have freedom of speech?

Even though the Supreme Court thinks so, no. Corporations are not people. They do not have freedom of speech or the right to try to influence political elections. The Bill of Rights was written to protect human beings, and unfortunately the voices of those human beings are being drowned out by the corporate and elite money allowed by the Citizens United case.

Okay, so now that we’ve gone through all that boring stuff, let’s get to the real deal here. Business spending is way out of hand in elections. Corporations are not people. They shouldn’t be able to spend money to influence elections. But these Super PACs make it really easy for them to do it, sometimes even secretly.

Why should you care, right? Because as an American citizen, you are entitled to political equality. But this out of control spending by businesses is undermining your political equality. It allows economically successful people to directly translate this success into politics.

Let’s get to some numbers, now. I know, I know, numbers are boring. But this stuff is pretty important to show the scale of this problem.

17% of all Super PAC money in 2010 and 2011 came from for-profit business treasuries.

For-profit. Take that in for a minute. This means these corporations are investing money that is helping them churn a profit.

6.4% of the itemized funds raised by Super PACs since 2010 was "secret money."

And based on month-to-month analysis, the trend in secret money is going to skyrocket in the months leading up to the 2012 election.

Of all itemized contributions from individuals to Super PACs, 93% came in contributions of at least $10,000. Only 726 individuals, or 23 out of every 10 million people in the U.S. made a contribution of this size to a Super PAC.

More than half of itemized Super PAC money came from 37 people giving at least $500,000.

See what I mean about those numbers? This is a huge problem, my friends. And the craziest part is all this secret money. In the Citizens United case, the justices relied heavily on the importance of transparency for citizens to "react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way." But if they’re being secretive about it, how are we supposed to react?

Research has confirmed that the majority of Super PAC fundraising actually comes from a small number of rich people and institutions. Super PACs are, in essence, the catalyst for the "1%" to put their influence unfairly into elections.

All of this completely violates one of the basic spirits of this country: one person, one vote; the amount of money you have should not determine the amplitude of your voice in this democracy.

The entire system is bad for democracy: rich individuals and institutions are picking the candidates for us, and then even picking who will win the elections. We are no longer voting for candidates; we’re voting for corporations that use puppets to get their agenda across.

The Supreme Court doesn’t think that just because a corporation gives a ton of money to a candidate that this candidate will feel accountable to those donors. This reasoning represents an extremely idealistic and unrealistic view of the world. When a donor helps a candidate to win an election, that candidate is likely to keep on the donor’s good side (in order to win more elections in the future).

All of this may seem a bit daunting, but it’s not, I promise! There are solutions:

- Congress and state governments could require publicly traded corporations to receive shareholder approval of all political spending (which is the norm in European countries that allow business spending in elections).
- The Securities and Exchange Commission could require publicly traded corporations to disclose their political spending to shareholders.
- The Federal Election Commission could (and should) tighten coordination rules between Super PACs and candidates.
- The President could (and again, should) issue an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their political spending, whether it be direct or indirect.
- Congress and the States could enact proactive solutions to encourage small donors to contribute to campaign financing, such as vouchers or tax credits.

The ultimate responsibility is ours, though. We, the people, need to work together with Congress and the state legislatures to amend the Constitution. It is our job as American citizens to make it absolutely clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the First Amendment is not and never was intended to be used by large corporations and elite donors as a free pass to dominate the political process.

Work with your local, municipal, and even state governments. Work to pass resolutions to send to Congress, calling on them to write an amendment to protect democracy. Remember, it’s your job.