Colbert’s SuperPAC, FEC permission and the story so far

American TV host and political satirist Stephen Colbert is thrilled about receiving the note of approval from the FEC on Thursday for the creation of the nation's 114th SuperPAC.

A 5-1 vote passed by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) gave Colbert the right to form a political action committee or PAC to raise unlimited money from corporations, unions and any other groups, as well as wealthy individuals.

Paid for by Americans for a better tomorrow, tomorrow reads the official Colbert SuperPAC site. A by-product of the 2010 Supreme Court Ruling, Super Pacs can be used to oppose or promote candidates during an election.

However, the approval does not allow for Colbert seeking unlimited sources from government contractors and foreign nationals. Colbert's staff can also produce ad campaigns to vote for certain candidates without giving the money directly to these candidates.

The new approval also does not allow Colbert to air the campaign ads on any other shows or programs other than his own comedy program on Comedy Central.

If Colbert's political group is found to run ads on other networks, he will have to reimburse either Comedy Central or the parent company, Viacom Inc.

It was in May 2011 that the satirist made a request with eth FEC for media-exemption to allow him to use his own show at Comedy Central and its resources for coverage of his political action committee without having to publicly disclose them as in-kind contributions from Comedy Central's parent company, Viacom Inc.