Jacob Sullum on Why Super PACs Are Good for Democracy

In the two weeks before March's Super Tuesday primaries, The Wall Street Journal reports, "outside political action committees supporting the Republican presidential hopefuls spent three times as much as the candidates themselves." Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) says the "undue influence" of these so-called super PACs, which can collect and spend as much as they want as long as they do not coordinate with candidates, "strikes at the heart of our democracy." If so, argues Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, super PACs are more like a jolt from a defibrillator than a dagger in the chest.