We mentioned a couple different types of PACs - Super PACs and Leadership PACs - and I suggested that our junior Senator Ted Cruz very likely has one set up. I was right - its called the Jobs, Growth & Freedom Fund. Its an indication that the senator intends to build influence over others in Congress. The more he has in his PAC, the more money he raise, the more he can distribute to his allies in Congress. Or potential allies.
As a reminder, here is a definition of a Leadership PAC:
Politicians collect money for their own campaigns — we all know that. But many of them also raise a separate pot of money, commonly called a leadership political action committee, to help other politicians. By making donations to members of their party, ambitious lawmakers can use their leadership PACs to gain clout among their colleagues and boost their bids for leadership posts or committee chairmanships. Politicians also use leadership PACs to lay the groundwork for their own campaigns for higher office. And some use their PACs to hire additional staff—sometimes even their family members—and to travel around the country or eat in some of Washington's finest restaurants. The limits on how a politician can spend leadership PAC money are not especially strict.
The Center for Responsive Politics has detail about the money the PAC has on hand and what it has spent:
| Total Receipts | $313,323 |
| Total Spent | $129,786 |
| Begin Cash on Hand | $0 |
| End Cash on Hand | $183,537 |
| Debts | $0 |
| Date of last report | June 30, 2013 |
Click here for info on Ted Cruz.
For more on the PAC, click on these:
- Cruz gears up fundraising machine
- Ted Cruz raises $1.19 million in third quarter.
- A late invitation to a fundraiser - we missed it, sorry.
- Ted Cruz Joins Freshmen Forming Leadership PACs
- The Ted Cruz Filibuster Paid Off — for Ted Cruz!
