Marketplace

PAC Leadership Database

Companies and unions have used political action committees to raise money for congressional candidates for years. Thirty years ago a couple of congressmen copied the idea with a view to raising money for their parties and political allies in tough election fights — and the Leadership PAC was born.

Today, Leadership PACs are booming. Those who run them can accept bigger donations than they can to their election campaign funds. The donations typically are from lobbyists and other special interests.

Marketplace identified almost 350 political action committees run by current and former members of congress, governors and unelected candidates. These PACs raised more than $400 million since 2000, but they gave away just $150 million to federal candidates' campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

That made us wonder where the rest of the money was going. So, we sifted through more than 200,000 separate purchases made by these Leadership PACs over a three-year period. We found millions were donated to other lawmakers' campaigns, spent on consultants, staff and other overhead. But money was also spent on everything from babysitting bills to bar tabs, from parties in Palm Springs to ski trips in Idaho. In just three years politicians used these PAC accounts to pay for more than $25 million in fundraising trips, parties, limos and other luxuries.

With this database, you can find out if your elected representative runs a political action committee. Then you can follow the money trail — wherever it leads. [ About the title ]

Why "PAC Men"? Yes, we know, some of the biggest Leadership PACs in the country are run by women — Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Dole and Kay Bailey Hutchinson, just to name a few — but we couldn't resist the reference to the early 80's video game.

Steve Henn's stories on Leadership PACs »