Why President Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes the wealthiest Americans is so controversial.
Super PACs are raising and spending tens of millions of dollars to influence this year's presidential election. So what are super PACs? Where do they get their money, and who are they supporting? What rules govern super PACs? How do super PACs, or "independent expenditure-only committees," differ from traditional political-action committees?
We have the answers:
Three of the four Republican presidential hopefuls sharply criticized the federal appeals court ruling declaring unconstitutional California's Proposition 8, which forbid gay couples to wed by defining marriage as being between only a man and woman.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich described this week's ruling as a "radical overreach of federal judges," while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges "cast aside the will of the people" who voted to approve the controversial ballot measure in 2008.
And former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum took to Twitter, claiming "7M Californians had their rights stripped away today by activist 9th Circuit judges."
But where do President Barack Obama and Ron Paul stand?
[Getty Images News Photo: Opponents of California's Proposition 8 celebrate a court ruling declaring it unconstitutional this week.]
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney picked up 10 more delegates in an easy win in Nevada over the weekend, giving him about 7 percent of the total number he needs to win the nomination. Yes, you read that correctly: He's only 7 percent of the way there.
You can find results from that and every other caucus and primary here.
But as Romney heads into today's caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota, the national media are already reporting that he has already begun to "claim the mantle of presumptive nominee." But with so many primaries remaining - including those on Super Tuesday - can he really make that claim?
Or is he, as one blogger says, the "presumptuous presumptive nominee?"
More than 300 super PACs have raked in nearly $100 million so far in their efforts to pick a winner in the 2012 presidential contest, according to new Federal Election Commission data analyzed by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The super PACs range from the serious to the satirical.
The "independent expenditure-only committee" supporting Mitt Romney, for example, has reported raising about $30.2 million, making it the most well funded group of its kind. On the other hand, political satirist Stephen Colbert's super PAC is no spoof. It has raked in more than $1 million - no laughing matter.
But most of super PACs are innocuously named and, at first glance, their motivation isn't clear. Who is super PAC Winning Our Future supporting? What about American Crossroads? Who gives to these big super PACs, and how are the millions being spent?
[Photo: Political satirist Stephen Colbert / Credit: Getty Images Entertainment]
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