Campaign Fund-raising, Super Pac | featured news

Leaders of some of the new groups are taking advantage of the mammoth donations and the lack of oversight to write themselves big paychecks or hire their own companies. The Red White and Blue Fund, a "super PAC" backing the presidential bid of Republican Rick Santorum, paid more than half a million dollars last month to a newly formed direct mail firm.

Super PACs, outside groups that can raise and spend unlimited corporate money to help elect or defeat candidates, have spent heavily to influence the presidential race. This chart shows the amounts raised in 2011 by some of the most active candidate-aligned super PACs and the cash they had remaining in the bank at the end of the year.