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onehandle

(51,122 posts)
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 05:09 PM Jun 2014

Stephen Colbert forms a "dark money" group

Leading up to the last presidential election, the faux conservative host of The Colbert Report created a super PAC and a secretive “dark money” group on his show.

Viewers who saw those satirical Colbert segments were significantly better informed about the role of money in politics than viewers of any other news show or news channels, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Its study, called "Stephen Colbert's Civics Lesson," was published online today in the journal Mass Communication and Society.

The parody bits were prompted by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which equated spending money with free speech. The ruling allows corporations and unions to spend as much as they want to influence the results of elections.

Colbert’s super PAC, the ridiculously named “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow,” was created on air with the help of the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, Trevor Potter, who provided extensive on-air legal advice with a broad smile.

http://mobile.philly.com/news/breaking/?wss=/philly/news/breaking&id=261562621&

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Stephen Colbert forms a "dark money" group (Original Post) onehandle Jun 2014 OP
I didn't understand super PACs until Suich Jun 2014 #1
It was hugely informative, too arcane1 Jun 2014 #2
 

arcane1

(38,613 posts)
2. It was hugely informative, too
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 05:58 PM
Jun 2014

I remember how they had to give Jon Stewart control of it for some legal reason, and they were there barely containing their laughter at how audacious it was.

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