UT Student starts Colbert super PAC
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
University of Texas engineering student Paul Benefiel was never really politically active.
However, that changed when he took a government class that studied a Citizens United Supreme Court ruling which allows unlimited contributions to political action committees.
"Whenever money gets involved in politics like that, it can't end any other way besides corruption," Benefiel said.
Sherri Greenberg with the UT LBJ School of Public Affairs says there are several misconceptions about political action committees.
"People were thinking more of corporations and unions, not a few wealthy individuals dominating politics in this fashion,” she said. "In fact, what we have seen more of is about five wealthy individuals who are funding these super PACs."
Benefiel decided to put his passion into action, and wrote TV’s Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report, and his efforts paid off. He is now heading Colbert’s satiric super PAC, “Texans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.”
"I watched what he was about and the satire he was using to affect political discourse and I knew it was something I wanted to be involved with," he said. "He had a clear message, he had organization, he has a national television program. It only made sense to do it through him, through his organization."
Benefiel hopes his "Texans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" super PAC can organize a rally and other political activities to inspire Stephen Colbert to visit the UT campus.