When a Leadership PAC and a Super PAC join forces, the influx of cash can help swing an election, concentrating power and weakening our democratic principles. A high profile example of the impact of such a PACkage (sorry) came to light after Roll Call reported that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s Leadership PAC, ERIC PAC, contributed $25,000 to the Campaign for Primary Accountability, a Super PAC dedicated to defeating incumbents. The contribution was to be used, in the words of a Cantor political consultant, “only in the effort to support Congressman Kinzinger, in a primary race against Congressman Manzullo.” (The two Republican Members of Congress were pitted against one another as a result of redistricting in Illinois. Kinzinger, a freshman, is a favorite of Cantor’s “young guns.”) Kinzinger’s race benefitted from another $25,000 contribution from Rep. Aaron Schock’s Leadership PAC, the Generation Y fund. The Generation Y fund contribution was also funneled through the Campaign for Primary Accountability.

Although Leadership PACs have long been used to by Members of Congress to curry favor with their colleagues, prior to the invention of Super PACS, there were limits on the amounts Leadership PACs could contribute to candidates’ campaigns. Now, those limits can be easily ignored.

The press around Cantor’s contributions revolves around the damage control he is doing to convince old guard in the House that he is still in their corner. But the inside baseball is not what should concern the public. Instead, the spectacle of Eric Cantor using the confluence of Leadership PACs and Super PACs to become kingmaker should be what is making the papers. In the last weeks of the campaign—a campaign in which early polling had Manzullo in the lead—the Campaign for Primary Accountability spent at least $75,000 on television ads to defeat Manzullo. Two-thirds of that amount came from two people: Cantor and Schock. Assuming Kinzinger is elected in the fall, voters in his district would be right to wonder whether in a tough vote, he will represent their interests, or the interests of Eric Cantor.

Seven key Democrats seen as potential vote-flippers on the health care reform bill are heavily reliant on campaign funds from party leadership and online progressive activists.

According to campaign finance data at the Center for Responsive Politics, all seven Democrats--Reps. Jason Altmire, Suzanne Kosmas, Frank Kratovil, Scott Murphy, Glenn Nye, Michael McMahon and Betsy Markey--list Leadership PACs (political action committees) in the top three career industry donors. Three of the seven members are also heavily reliant on money from Democratic campaign committees or outside progressive fundraising through the web site Actblue.

The seven Democrats were identified in an Associated Press survey of members who previously voted "No" on the House health care reform bill. With pressure mounting to pass the Senate's health care reform bill and the resignation of key members along with the death of Rep. John Murtha, Speaker Nancy Pelosi must round-up lawmakers like these seven to vote "Yes" after a previous "No" vote.

The upper Democratic leadership is particularly active in contributing to these lawmakers. Five of the seven lawmakers--Kosmas, Kratovil, Murphy, Nye and Markey--count the PACs of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip James Clyburn in their top twenty career individual donors. Rep. McMahon counts two of the three Democratic leadership PACs (Hoyer and Clyburn) in his top twenty.

All of these seven lawmakers are either freshmen or, in Rep. Altmire's case, a sophomore. Freshmen and sophomore lawmakers are often in greater danger of losing their next election and, therefore, more reliant on party and leadership funds to finance their victories. This puts them in a situation where the leadership has significantly more sway over their floor votes than other members.

Similarly, outside activists can push a lawmaker towards a certain vote by contributing or withholding funds. Rep. Scott Murphy, who won a special election in New York to replace appointed-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, is the top recipient among the seven lawmakers of money from ActBlue, the online progressive clearinghouse for campaign contributions. Murphy received $315,807 in individual contributions through the ActBlue site making ActBlue his number one career individual donor. Rep. Betsy Markey also received a significant amount of campaign money through ActBlue with $124,090 coming in from the site.

See below for totals: