Facts About PACs Podcast

National Association of Business Political Action Committees

The Facts About PACs Podcast is the #1 PAC podcast in America. The show is produced especially for the members of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees (NABPAC). Each weekly episode includes a recap of the association's latest activities, actionable intelligence for the employee-funded and business trade association PAC community, and an interview with a featured guest. Show host Micaela Isler is the President and CEO of NAPBAC.

  1. 1d ago

    Trust Recession

    Congress sits at 9% trust and gets reelected at 90%+ anyway. Americans trust big business at 17%, but the shop down the street gets 67%. What's going on? This week, Michaela, David, and Adam dig into Bruce Mehlman's "trust recession" data with Lauren Colicelli (AVP, Strategic Political Engagement, American Council of Life Insurers; NABPAC Vice Chair) to figure out what it means for employee-funded and business trade association PAC programs. The throughline: trust collapses at a distance and holds up close, so the winning move isn't fixing Washington's numbers — it's closing the distance between your program and your people.

  2. Jul 16

    From Cutting Chicken to Capitol Hill

    It's our annual rite of summer: a conversation with NABPAC's intern from The Fund for American Studies. This year that's Brandon New, a rising junior studying finance at the University of Florida who came to Washington by way of the Florida House of Representatives — and who very nearly missed the whole thing when his reply to Micaela's interview offer landed in a spam folder. Micaela Isler, David Schild, and Adam Belmar talk with Brandon about what a summer inside the PAC community actually teaches you. He spent it in FEC data, in meetings with PAC directors and government relations professionals, and in a TFAS debate where he found himself correcting his classmates on contribution limits and disclosure. He also talks about coming back to a city he first saw at eleven years old on a Capitol tour — this time with a badge — and what that means to a family built by a Vietnamese immigrant mother, a veteran father, and a grandfather who served in World War II. His advice to the next student thinking about it: take the leap. Every opportunity, every coffee chat, every application you don't think you'll get. This is NABPAC's fifth TFAS intern, and every one of them has been on this show. For PAC directors listening: it's a reminder of what an intern brings to your organization — and what you give back to the next generation.

  3. Jul 9

    Uncapped: What the Coordination Ruling Means for Your PAC

    The wait for NRSC v. FEC is over — and it landed with a bang. On June 30th, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to strike down federal limits on party coordinated expenditures, overruling a 25-year-old precedent and clearing the way for national party committees to spend unlimited amounts coordinating directly with their own federal candidates' campaigns. Hosts Micaela Isler, Adam Belmar, and David Schild bring back NABPAC general counsel Mark Renaud of Wiley to break down what actually changed and what didn't. Mark walks through why this ruling only touches the six national party committees — NRSC, DSCC, NRCC, DCCC, RNC, and DNC, plus the federal accounts of state parties — and doesn't touch contribution limits, disclosure rules, or coordination bans anywhere else in the system. He also flags the specific dollar limits multi-candidate PACs now need on their radar for giving to national and state party committees, and draws a bright line on earmarking: covering a member's party dues is fine, directing money toward a specific race is not. The conversation also covers why state-level coordination limits in roughly two dozen states could be the next domino to fall, and what PACs with genuinely novel questions should do while the FEC still lacks a quorum to issue advisory opinions. A clip from LexPolitica's Steve Roberts rounds things out with practical budget advice for PAC directors weighing bigger party contributions this cycle.

  4. Jul 2

    America 250

    America turns 250, and Micaela Isler, David Schild, and Adam Belmar are marking the semiquincentennial with fireworks, C-SPAN recommendations, and a Supreme Court ruling PAC managers can't afford to miss. Bonus James Madison Episode from Adam: Consider The Constitution: Becoming Madison https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/becoming-madison/id1703405569?i=1000774991344

  5. Jun 26

    Who Is Watching The Money?

    When Brody Mullins published "The Long History of People Stealing Money from Political Action Committees," we didn't just read it — we put it to the test. In this episode, Micaela Isler, David Schild, and Adam Belmar dig into the actual case data, separate employee-funded and business trade association PACs from those driving the headlines, and argue that a scary headline is best answered not with defensiveness but with discipline. Plus: the FEC's enforcement gap, why "the courts are closed" is never a defense, and what stewardship of other people's money really demands.

  6. Jun 18

    Hill Day 2026: NABPAC Takes the Hill

    NABPAC's second Hill Day is in the books — and by all accounts, it delivered. In this debrief episode, Micaela Isler is joined by co-host Adam Belmar and two NABPAC board members who were right in the mix: Trey Hawkins of America's Credit Unions and Joe Manion of the American Waterway Operators. Together, they break down what made this year's Hill visit stand out — from the growing familiarity congressional offices have with NABPAC's priority issues like indexing and prior approval, to the power of PAC professionals who can walk into any meeting and tell their story without a script. Plus, a look back at the summer soirée that capped off the week, including the goat cheese bites that caused some serious FOMO. Whether you were in the room or following along from afar, this episode captures what happens when the Business PAC community shows up — and keeps showing up.

  7. Jun 4

    Primary Notes with Jim Ellis

    Six states. One night. And Jim Ellis has the congressional breakdown. Election analyst Jim Ellis returns to Facts About PACs with his Ellis Insight on the June 2nd primaries across California, Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, New Jersey, and New Mexico. From a Sacramento race that could unseat a 20-year incumbent to a New Jersey congressman whose unexplained two-month absence may have cost his party the seat, Jim walks PAC professionals through every competitive House race on the board — and what each one means for the battle over the majority.

  8. May 29

    Who's Running Your PAC?

    PAC jobs are moving. The market is hot, and NABPAC has the data to prove it. This week, Amie Adams — who runs the NABPAC Help Hotline and is on the front lines of member engagement every day — joins Micaela, David, and Adam to walk through the NABPAC Insights Survey and what it tells us about who today's PAC director really is. We'll look at the profile the data reveals, what the strongest candidates have in common, and what organizations say they can't find when they're hiring. If you're looking to hire or looking to move up, this one's for you.

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About

The Facts About PACs Podcast is the #1 PAC podcast in America. The show is produced especially for the members of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees (NABPAC). Each weekly episode includes a recap of the association's latest activities, actionable intelligence for the employee-funded and business trade association PAC community, and an interview with a featured guest. Show host Micaela Isler is the President and CEO of NAPBAC.

Information

  • Creator
    National Association of Business Political Action Committees
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    237
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Facts About PACs Podcast
  • Show Website
    Facts About PACs Podcast

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