money for example or sarah palin as sarah pac which is a pac that she uses and and but but you can only give so much money and people can only give it so much when it's a certain limits the amount of money that we're talking about sort of limits the opportunity for things to you know for them to spend really big in a direction that people might not like so what happens is you know if a pat goes into that i mean who's responsible for that again it's sort of whoever started with her put it together but i think the. i mean we because it's those who practice. new we're kind of like it's a sort of a new thing we really haven't seen a lot of it but with a traditional sort of campaign committee the committees have to stay open until they get rid of all their debt and there are. committees that are open for years and years and years hillary clinton is still paying off that from her two thousand and eight race and still fundraising and that's why it's so interesting that candidates like ron paul i know he had so much campaign cash left over he put on this rally we went to it in tampa so it is in

teach team will propose the plans for the pac's work and then reviewed by the entire pac group. some of these projects as i mentioned before will be a continuation of our work from last year and prior years. in deciding what issues we would work on, and how to work on them, one of the most important questions for us as a pac was how we could be effective in supporting positive change for the district especially in our efforts to close the ongoing gaps in opportunity and achievement between different pop populations of children across sfusd. we'll meet with district staff and other advocates to look at ways we can work together to engage families and community members in pursuit of these initiatives and look forward to working with you, the board of education commissioners to discussion these issues in-depth and help shape our work and present parent perspectives how we can help students to succeed. >> okay thank you. any comments? questions? commissioner maufas. >> thank you very much for presenting today. i just wanted to say i know that the parent advisory council has been ins

teach team will propose the plans for the pac's work and then reviewed by the entire pac group.ome of these projects as i mentioned before will be a continuation of our work from last year and prior years. in deciding what issues we would work on, and how to work on them, one of the most important questions for us as a pac was how we could be effective in supporting positive change for the district especially in our efforts to close the ongoing gaps in opportunity and achievement between different pop populations of children across sfusd. we'll meet with district staff and

>> if he gives to the super pac, we'll know it. if he gives to the (c) (4), which is the other pocket of the super pac run by the same people in some cases, we won't know it. >> well, that's what gets me. how do they get away with that, calling themselves social welfare groups when in fact he's given the $25 million to a political organization? >> well, the legal answer to that, is that their principle purpose has to be something other than running political ads. at the end of the day, they're, in order to qualify as a social welfare group, they're going to have to say that "most of what we did was to educate the public, to lobby, and was not focused on electing a specific candidate." they're allowed to be an issues group. so again, the sierra club has a (c) (4), the n.r.a. has a (c) (4), and they focus on gun control or the environment. but they're not supposed to be out the majority of the time, running ads about candidates. so they have to be very careful not to cross that line. here's the problem, the line is this incredible, g

and radio the president was slow at first to sign on to the idea of super pac funneling super pacs funneling money into his reelection campaign but now he has set his own super pac and is actually asking money for our for it grudgingly but super pacs aren't the only ones lending leading the pack when it comes to political funding you see super pacs must eventually disclose where the money is coming from trade associations actually do not and they're donating much much more than the stigmatise super pacs as one reporter describes it all of the benefits of a super pac without any of the filings disclosures and that's what a trade association has so how is it happening in a country that touts election transparency. as a communications and outreach coordinator for united and public and joins me now for more. so can you explain the difference with me is that about trade associations versus super pacs i mean we all know that everybody from from stephen colbert air to jon huntsman is attacking super pacs but i but the traits session seem like they're much worse yes so you know i think there's been

for for money for the super pac albeit begrudgingly but super pacs aren't the only ones leading the pack when it comes to political spending you see well super pacs must eventually disclose where all that money came from trade associations do not and they are donating much much more than the stigmatised super pacs as one reporter describes that all of the benefits of a super pac without any of the filings disclosures or fuss that's what a trade association is so how is this happening in a country that tells election transparency to talk more about this i was joined earlier by a july any communications an outreach coordinator for united republic he first explain how trade associations differ from super pacs. you know i think there's been a lot of focus sort of on the super pacs i think that's appropriate because they're really a powerful vehicle for people to sort of move their agenda and impact elections especially in a really wealthy individuals like child needles and you may pledge of two hundred million dollars but i think one of the biggest problems is that super pacs the donors

are the biggest gop super pacs holding onto their cash? fascinating to watch. >>> vote early and often. ballots are being cast in a key swing state and it's looking good for the president. we'll tell you where that is. first, a look ahead at the schedules of president obama and mitt romney. as you say, they are all over virginia and they're going to not swing areas of virginia per se but where they can work on their base. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. we'll be right back. my name is adam frucci and i'm the editor of splitsider.com. i love new technology, so when i heard that american express and twitter were teaming up, i was pretty interested. turns out you just sync your american express card securely to your twitter account, tweet specific hashtags, and you'll get offers on things you love. this totally changes the way i think about membership. saving money on the things you want. to me, that's the membership effect. nice boots! starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended

and if you think super pacs are influencing the outcome of federal elections wait until we tell you about the major funding and power behind trade associations and their international connections. and it's no secret that the democratic party has some strong ties with hollywood coming up next we'll take you behind the scenes of one of the star studded events with mega superstar power. it's thursday september sixth eight pm in washington d.c. i'm maggie lopez and you're watching r.t. . topping the news this hour it's been two years three months and seventeen days since the deepwater horizon rig started spewing oil into the gulf of mexico and still the story skips seeping into the news this week the news was twofold first that hurricane isaac has uncovered oil that was previously covered up after the spill this has left tar balls washing up on the shores alabama and louisiana is just another sign that there's still work to be done in the region and that the gulf is still years away from returning to normal also new this week the u.s. justice department is ramping up its rhetoric against b.p.

huge democratic donor. 3 million to democratic super pacs.ter angelos has a lot to yut tse. $1.2 million and john eddie williams, $750,000. >> none of these guys had given monein the first six months. >> hadn't given money before. they are turning it on. here's an interesting question. not a big iue thate' edutnra. what do they care about? >> what do these trial lawyers care about? >> anything that aects mass tort legislation. what they really care about is judges. we're all talking about next president may have three supreme court jundges. 14 and 62 is the number of vacancies on the court of appeals and in federal distric court judges. liberals haved disappointed that obama has not namondhe t through. i think this is to buck obama up to get moving on this issue. they want liberal judges and they want plaintiff friendly judges for those mass tort litigation cases. and that's something they care about a lo the fact that we'reinhis money is an indication you're going to see more push on obama to start doing that. >> interesting. one quick thing

. >> stephen: i had a super pac, you realize that?knew you were going to take offense to that, stephen. >> stephen: a better tomorrow. join. >> super pacs are destroying this democracy and everybody knows it. >> stephen: you had a super pac that supported you. >> we did a clinical trial. i can tell you -- >> stephen: a clinical trial? how did the, -- how can you understand -- look i come from both sides of this debate. i ran for governor and people thought, well, gee, nobody is going to raise money are the grass roots if we raise enough we will win. if we don't raise enough we will kind of move on. we won twice and then i look at the presidential campaign and we had a super pac and i have to tell you i have seen it from both sides and super pacs are destroying democracy. >> stephen: how so? because money equals speech. the supreme court has ruled that money equals speech. okay? therefore, corporations, unions and individuals can spend unlimited money in political speech or do you not believe some people should be able to speak? >> >>

you either think all pacs are pathetic or you don't, or they are all peachy or they are not. don't think it is evil or bad, it is free country, it is their cash, have it it. here is what i won't have, when new york times comments democrats for finally gets into the pac game. up to now mainstream made why has all but called a republican-rigged evil campaign it is weird. you are either all in or all out, all pacs good or bad, save the picking and choosing for the voters and not your editors trying to influence who is more varityuous for those voters. and with me now, a big backer of mitt romney, andy -- that headline struck me, then story i red struck me because, i'm reading in the same papeer that blasted pacs when it helped the republicans. >> good to see you, the coverage in this campaign, by traditional media has been horrific. neil: this proves it right here. >> yeah. well, whether it is the economy or look at middle east, is blowing up, on fire, our ambassador was killed, our embassies under attack, fox news breaks a story that within 24 hours of first attack, that admini

with one of the largest democratic super pacs.f the main runners is bill burton, who used to the obama's press secretary. they hardly have announced in a press release i received yesterday, they raised $10 million last month. compared to the romney super pac of restore our future -- restore our future has raised $89 million overall. party usa action has only raised about $25 million overall -- priority usa action has only raised about $25 million overall. >> talk about what else you have here. >> you get passes, swag, amid us to take away. sometimes it is maybe an invite so that this is the access card you need to get into the democratic governors' association late night event on monday night. it was disco-themed. >> who sponsored it? >> there were a number of sponsors. about 15 overall including a live comcast was one of them, aflac was one of them, a totally different light of sponsors the first night, on sunday night, more of a young people's dj dance party. sometimes you have more issue- based swag. this is from the planned pa

the last filing was the one where the obama super pac beat the romney super pac. so we're seeing the emergence who are giving a half of million, quarter of a million dollars. republican super pacs remain far better funded but we are seeing some important signals, and one big one came on thursday when george soros said he would pledge a million dollars to priority usa. he was a huge player in the outside spending efforts in 2008. he sat out 2009 and 2010 and he said this year i'm not going to play with super pacs i don't like them. but now we see a huge push. >> eliot: yes. it's almost george sorerus and jim simon on one hand versus sheldoned a elson on the other. does it ever cross your mind that maybe it doesn't matter as much as we think it might in the sense that the arc of the obama campaign was not thrown off track by all of the money coming in from adelson and the others. >> you could say that. we're not infallible i think the candidate is ultimately the most important thing in politics, and i think there are some problems that mitt romney doesn't seem to be

why do we need a super pac app? >> sure. so i was studying at business school at mit, and sort of a political junky on the side and i was reading about how much money is coming into this election, and the estimate i read was $11 billion will be spent across the races in 2012. and a whole lot of that is pouring into television ads so i just decided there has got to be a way to cut through the noise more easily, than signing up for a couple of hours of homework every night. that's a very time-consuming task, and it's not fun, and therefore most people don't do it, and so we wanted to build a way that we could connect people with that information that's oftentimes consuming to find but do it in a fun and easy way. >> jennifer: and it really -- obviously it helps with transparency. everybody has been wondering who is behind these. this is a quick way for somebody to find that out right? >> exactly. it's quick that easy to use -- >> jennifer: but wait a second so you hold up your phone and something tells me because we have all o

commissioner: what is the pac website? >> www.pacsf.org. president yee: commissioner murase? commissioner murase: how long will this before, or is there an impending deadline? >> there is no deadline. i imagine it will be open for the next few months. president yee: you might have mentioned this, but is the survey in different languages? >> yes, including cantonese. president yee: thank you very much. i'm going to ask superintendent's -- superintendent carranza to make a slight introduction here. superintendent carranza: we have had the pleasure of having susan b. our board liaison, and she was recently chief of staff, and being the talented person she is, she is going to be an executive director in our early education department, where she will really work with strengthening our after-school program and servicing many of our students, so we are very proud of this evening to introduce to you, and she is here doing this transition work, the doctor who will be taking over the board liaison duties, so if she can wave to our audience -- [applause] she will be a critical part for

commissioner: what is the pac website? >> www.pacsf.org. president yee: commissioner murase? commissioner murase: how long will this before, or is there an impending deadline? >> there is no deadline. i imagine it will be open for the next few months. president yee: you might have mentioned this, but is the survey in different languages? >> yes, including cantonese. president yee:

canter's pac -- canter is not alone.c set up websites for three republicans, including congresswoman michele bachmann, house speaker john boehner whose campaign spokesperson says the website is confusion and sort of a concern. the chairman of k pack, jeff lloyd, says he is not trying to fund raise on behalf of the candidates but the efforts are geared toward online education and turning out the vote for conservatives at the federal level. the money we raised is largely reinvested almost immediately back into our web campaigns. loyd also insists the pac funds donations to anyone that request it is and they are following the letter and intent of the lawyer. i'm missing the word spirit there according to the investigation by the national journey, nearly 3,000 people have donated to-to-these kinds of sites giving more than half a million goal hearts and that may only be the tip of the iceberg. joining me now the man who worked on this story, shane oldmacer, it was interesting, you got a chance response on the record from the

ads and and that's where you know the facts really need to be checked because the super pacs on both sides aren't necessarily constrained by the by the by the fact that you know it's going to be barack obama's voice or mitt romney's voice there it says i approve this ad those super pacs can say whatever they want and you know i have a rating scale here where you know four point zero chios is the worst rating you can get for me and many of the four put nokia ratings have given have gone to the super pac ads when you think about back cliff i mean if it is that money. yeah oh i think look there's a lot of money flowing through super pacs are slowing through excuse me flowing through non-profits five a one c. fours as they're known in the tax code so they don't even disclose who their donors are and you know and again look i want to get to glenn's point before i never said that the democrats are pure in this and there are no politicians that appear in this and there's no doubt the obama campaign's been a lot more aggressive and yeah they've exaggerated some things i just think though if

john avalon continuing his series on the super pac economy. >> yeah. >> it's not a game, the super pachis is real life. and you're focusing tonight on dark money. >> dark money. so these are the 501 c 4s, a tax name but social welfare organization. and so very different from super pacs. it's able -- donors are able to give money without disclosure. and we have seen a dramatic increase in the political spending they're making. take a look at this. before citizens united, just around $3 million was spent by these 501 c 4 organizations. at this cycle, $67 million. that is over 200% increase in the amount of money the political ads that these 501 c 4s are putting forward. direct evidence of dark money making an impact on our election and the tip of the iceberg. >> and nobody has to disclose. so when you give money to a super pac, we all see it. i can see, john avalon gave $2 million to whomever. but 501 c-4 i can give money to at no disclosure. and can't the 501 c 4 give money to the super pac? >> they can move money around. the 501 c 4 is the biggest untold story for that very reason. the

the pac representative? good evening, commissioners. superintendent richard a. carranza and student delegates my name is john odonell, i have daughter who started middle school and i have advocated for her and joined. my first action was to represent our group with several other pac members and ruth gabrowski in a workship in early august. now to break the school to prison pipeline. we took this opportunity to inform the parents about the group and to select information through an ongoing survey that we have about communicating. pac at its first meeting of the year two weeks ago and various school districts. >> continue to work on is the practices. and to continue strengthens the information of our story of practices and the number of members have joined the pac because of this and so we are very excited to have more members involved in the project. and as we are seeing the bill for the approach across the district. we have already been contacted by several schools to continue working with the communities and the first event will be at visitation valley elementa