Staging the Compelling Question- Does money matter in politcal campaigns?
Source A: Democratic National Committee, finance Call Sheet to Glaxo Inc., Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1995 http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Source B: Haley Barbour, letter from Haley Barbour to Republican Tom DeLay, Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1996 http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Source C: Democratic National Committee, fundraiser List, Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1996 http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Source D: Mitch McConnell, letter from Mitch McConnell on the Committee for Economic Development, Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1996: http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Supporting Question 1- How much does it cost to become a member of Congress?
Source A: Staff, current members of the 114th Congress, Congress.gov, 2015 https://www.congress.gov/members
Source A: Democratic National Committee, finance Call Sheet to Glaxo Inc., Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1995 http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Source B: Haley Barbour, letter from Haley Barbour to Republican Tom DeLay, Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1996 http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Source C: Democratic National Committee, fundraiser List, Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1996 http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Source D: Mitch McConnell, letter from Mitch McConnell on the Committee for Economic Development, Politics and Economy: What Money Buys, Campaign Finance Files, 1996: http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cfmemos.html
Supporting Question 1- How much does it cost to become a member of Congress?
Source A: Staff, current members of the 114th Congress, Congress.gov, 2015 https://www.congress.gov/members
Source B: Federal Election Commission, interactive campaign finance map, fec.gov, 2015
http://www.fec.gov/disclosurehs/hsnational.do
http://www.fec.gov/disclosurehs/hsnational.do
Supporting Question 2- How do super PACs play a role in political campaigns?
- Source A: Alicia Parlapiano, Kevin Quealy, Lisa Waananen, Sergio Pecanha, Derek Willis, Archie Tse, and Alan McLean, Interactive guide to political donations, “From $25 to $10,000,000: A Guide to Political Donations,” New York Times, October 17, 2011 NOTE: This is a screen shot from an interactive article best viewed online at: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/10/17/us/politics/a-guide-to-political-donations.html?_r=0
- Source B: Center for Responsive Politics, interactive website on congressional races, opensecrets.org, no date http://www.opensecrets.org/states/cands.php?cycle=2014&state
- Source C: Stephen Colbert and Trevor Potter, video explaining the creation of PACs, The Colbert Report, 2011
NOTE: To view this video segment from The Colbert Report, teachers and their students can click on this link: http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/dtl1ew/colbert-pac---trevor-potter. Teachers should note that an advertisement appears at the beginning of the video
Supporting Question 3- How do super PACs play a role in political campaigns?
- Source A: Staff, video explaining Super PACs, “‘Civics in a Minute’: What is a Super PAC?” TakePart, 2012.
- Source B: C-SPAN, video clip detailing the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court ruling, “Supreme Court Ruling Campaign Finance,” 2012 Teachers and their students can access this page and the information on the site, by clicking on this link: http://www.c-span.org/video/?c3817900/supreme-court-ruling-campaign-finance
- Source C: Robert Barnes, article describing the influence of Super PACs, “Super PAC Mania” (excerpts), Columbia Law School Magazine, 2012 Columbia Law School Magazine. Used with permission. http://www.law.columbia.edu/magazine/621141
Supporting Question 4- Should the government limit contributions to political campaigns?
- Source A: New York Times, video describing the evolution of campaign contributions, “The Cost of Campaigns,” Retro Report, 2014 Teachers and students can view the video by clicking on this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/us/the-cost-of-campaigns.html
- Source B: Stephen Colbert and Trevor Potter, video explaining shell corporations, The Colbert Report, 2011 To view this video segment from The Colbert Report, teachers and their students can click on this link: http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/3yzu4u/colbert-super-pac---trevor-potter---stephen-s-shell-corporation. Teachers should note that an advertisement appears at the beginning of the video.
- Source C: Stephen J. Dubner, collection of essays on campaign finance featuring Robert Shrum and Jeff Milyo, “How Much Does Campaign Spending Influence the Election? A Freakonomics Quorum,” Freakonomics, 2012 These essays are available at: http://freakonomics.com/2012/01/17/how-much-does-campaign-spending-influence-the-election-a-freakonomics-quorum/.