Breaking scandal: Chamber of Commerce

[phkrause]

Got this in my email the other day. Not sure how accurate it is but thought all would benefit from checking it out. Has anyone heard about this? or did Fox just not report this?

This week, news broke that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—one of the biggest sources of corporate cash backing Republicans this year—has been using money from foreign corporations in India, Bahrain, and elsewhere to fund its attack ads, in apparent violation of the law.1

This explosive news could shift the course of the election if the Chamber is forced to scale back and all the right-wing candidates they're helping have to answer for this.

The Chamber knows that. Their strategy is to give no quarter and hope this blows over. In the last 48 hours they've actually spent millions more on ads targeted against progressive heroes including Russ Feingold.2

So we've been up working overnight on a new emergency ad campaign aimed at those Republicans who've been benefiting from the Chamber's help and evidently from its foreign funding—and aimed at forcing the Chamber to reveal its secret contributors. We can launch these ads immediately to keep this story from dying.

The Chamber claims that it has internal systems to keep the money separate, but the new report shows that the foreign corporations donate directly to the Chamber's general fund, which is where the funding for their political attacks comes from. This would represent a shocking disregard for longstanding American campaign finance laws, all to advance a corporate, right-wing agenda of outsourcing jobs and giving huge tax breaks to multi-national corporations.3

According to the report, the Chamber is allegedly raising money from firms in "China, India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia, and many other places." Even Russian banks and state-owned oil companies in Abu Dhabi may have contributed.

Sources:

1. "Exclusive: Foreign-Funded 'U.S.' Chamber Of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads," ThinkProgress, October 5, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=91772&id=23977-18066687-s.QRp1x&t=5

2. "US Chamber spends more than $10 million on ads," Associated Press, October 7, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=91872&id=23977-18066687-s.QRp1x&t=6

3. "U.S. Chamber comes out against Senate outsourcing bill," The Hill, September 23, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=91786&id=23977-18066687-s.QRp1x&t=7

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Just FYI, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is not a governmental agency at all.

The opposing party, represented by an a$$, is upset that their big donors of campaign money haven't ponied up for the coming elections...

Democrats find many Big Donors cutting support

I'm getting emails from moveon.org for campaign block parties for the Demoncrats. I don't take much stock in what they say.

[Neil D]

Just FYI, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is not a governmental agency at all

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Do you like the idea that the money that funds the campaign of your favorite crazy republican tea partier could be coming from criminal elements or from foreign countries?

ROFL How ironic.

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: NeilD

Do you like the idea that the money that funds the campaign of your favorite crazy republican tea partier could be coming from criminal elements or from foreign countries?

ROFL How ironic.

With election just a few weeks away they have to come up with something.

[Neil D]

Originally Posted By: NeilD

Do you like the idea that the money that funds the campaign of your favorite crazy republican tea partier could be coming from criminal elements or from foreign countries?

ROFL How ironic.

[Dr. Shane]

These news flashes from the ideological don't mean much until they start getting reported by mainstream news outlets. Limbaugh pounded the table forever about all the Chinese money that Clinton supposedly accepted for his re-election campaign but nothing ever came of it. I am very slow about jumping on these ideological band wagons.

[bonnie]

Quote:

Did you know that we don't know where the money is coming from the US Chambers of Commerce? Did you also know that the US Supreme Court will allow secret donors...large secret donors...

Do you like the idea that the money that funds the campaign of your favorite crazy republican tea partier could be coming from criminal elements or from foreign countries?

How much $$$$ do you think that a newly elected tea party canadate is going for from a foreign government these days?

Did you say that you were going to vote for that crazy republican tea party canadate ?

Isn't that like ...subverting the democratic process?

When it comes to foreign money flowing into campaigns, Obama has a short memory

Rick Moran

Based on a single, poorly sourced article in Think Progress - a rabidly partisan blog that is an offshoot of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress - President Obama laid into Republicans for allowing "foreign money" to be used to fund campaigns against him, specifically, dues money from foreign countries paid to the Chamber of Commerce.

The problem? The story by Think Progress is (not surprisingly) almost certainly untrue.

But a closer examination shows that there is little evidence that what the chamber does in collecting overseas dues is improper or even unusual, according to both liberal and conservative election-law lawyers and campaign finance documents.

In fact, the controversy over the Chamber of Commerce financing may say more about the Washington spin cycle - where an Internet blog posting can be quickly picked up by like-minded groups and become political fodder for the president himself - than it does about the vagaries of campaign finance.

And, as Glenn Reynolds points out in this extensive blog post , it is Obama's 2008 campaign where untold millions in foreign money flowed into his coffers:

Obama’s “foreign money” claims are bogus. They’re also pretty rich, considering how his 2008 campaign handled foreign credit cards. From that National Journal story: “The lack of a computerized address-verification system would allow the Obama campaign’s computers to accept online donations from U.S. citizens above legal limits, and to accept donations from foreigners who are barred by law from contributing at all.” Perhaps its time to remind people of that issue again. Oh, wait, I just did!

Here’s more on that from 2008: “A breakdown of controls has enabled foreign and other unaccountable funds to pour into the Obama campaign — and it’s not an accident.”

Plus, from the Washington Post: Obama Accepting Untraceable Donations. “Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor’s identity, campaign officials confirmed. Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged.”

More here. “Then there’s the question of whether foreign nationals are contributing to the Obama campaign. There is more than enough evidence to warrant a full-scale investigation by the Federal Election Commission, including the $32,332.19 that appears to have come from two brothers living in a Hamas-controlled Palestinian refugee camp in Rafah, GA (that’s Gaza, not Georgia). The brothers’ cash is part of a flood of illegal foreign contributions accepted by the Obama campaign.”

Those who live in glass houses...

[Neil D]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's $75 million campaign effort for the 2010 elections is being threatened by allegations that the business lobby receives funds from foreign entities to use on electioneering....

As questions of legality surfaced, a far more compelling political narrative was taking place. Democrats, whose opponents are being aided by the Chamber, have begun the process of turning that support (often perceived in positive terms by local voters) into something potentially more toxic. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn., for one, demanded that the FEC investigate the sources of the Chamber's cash. Rep. Tom Perriello -- in a tight re-election battle in Virginia's fifth district -- advanced the ball by charging the Chamber with using foreign government donations to, essentially, buy his seat. And Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) embroiled in his own tight re-election contest, called on his opponent Ken Buck to reject the Chamber's support, both political and financial....

A more comprehensive effort, meanwhile, is being orchestrated behind the scenes with Democratic operatives quickly resurrecting old statements from the Chamber expressing support for outsourcing. The effort is part of a broader attempt to make the loss of jobs overseas a potent political issue as the election closes. And to the extent that Republican candidates have received the Chamber's financial support, the argument will be made that those candidates may be influenced by the very same international entities benefiting from outsourcing and donating to the Chamber.

The Chamber fought tooth and nail against legislation this session that would have ended tax breaks for U.S. multinational corporations that ship job overseas, and has a long history of supporting the process. Stein writes about a 2004 report in which Chamber CEO Tom Donohue wrote "The bottom line, outsourcing has made the manufacturing process more efficient and productive, which has helped consumers and our overall economy. Outsourcing allows manufacturers to buy components from a vast array of suppliers, lowering costs for the manufacturer who is able to pass on the savings to consumers."

Hurray for outsourcing, huh? It's an effective theme to campaign against. You need look no further than Barbara Boxer, who is rising steadily in the poll and has been focused like a laser on the tens of thousands of jobs Fiorina shipped overseas when she was at the helm of HP.

It's also smart because it's a message that cuts across party lines. That was demonstrated in the NBC/WSJ poll conducted last week.

A whopping 68% say they strongly agree with the statement that the U.S. economy is struggling because companies are outsourcing their work and manufacturing to other countries. That's a higher percentage than those strongly agreeing that corporations are too focused on profits and not on hiring (53%), that health-care costs are too high (46%), that the country's education system is producing fewer skilled and educated workers (40%), and that the nation has lost its technological edge in manufacturing

In the following story, more assurtions....and nobody will answer this charge....If no republican will answer the charge, then we can assume that it is true, correct? If true, there are countrys that charge people with treason for accepting foreign money....

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Is foreign money influencing the Senate race in Missouri?

by John Aravosis (DC) on 10/06/2010 03:54:00 PM

How do you say "my fellow Missourians" in Arabic?

The GOP Senate candidate from Missouri, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), won't say a word about concerns that foreign money may be helping his race for the Senate in Missouri. When asked about it, he quite literally ran (to the best of his ability).

It's one hell of a story. In a nutshell, the US Chamber of Commerce, a GOP leaning organization (to put it lightly) has been accepting foreign donations and putting them in the same account is uses to finance US congressional races. The problem? Do you really want Bahrain and India picking your next Senator, Missouri? And it's not just Missouri. Any race in which the US Chamber of Commerce is spending money is at risk.

Let me walk you through it:

1. Roy Blunt is being supported by the Chamber, including financially via ads against his opponent Robin Carnahan.

In August, Blunt announced that he received the Chamber’s endorsement. Currently, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is running hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ads trashing Blunt’s Democratic opponent, Robin Carnahan. The ads are run out of the same 501©(6) account used to fund raise from foreign sources.2. The US chamber is allegedly co-mingling foreign donations in the same fund it uses to influence US elections.:

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), it is illegal for "foreign nationals" to "directly or indirectly" contribute, donate, or spend funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the U.S. It is also illegal to "solicit, receive or accept contributions or donations from them." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a trade association that qualifies as a 501©(6) organization which can engage in limited political activity, lobbying, and accept dues from foreign members. While regular dues from American companies like Aetna or News Corp. can be used for any purpose deemed necessary by the Chamber leadership, 501©(6) organizations, like any organization, cannot use foreign funds to advocate for a political candidate or cause. What the ThinkProgress investigation found is that the Chamber has spearheaded efforts "to raise money from foreign corporations, including ones controlled by foreign governments" and funneled that money into its general 501©(6) account. Foreign members send money either directly to the U.S. Chamber or to their country's local American Chamber (AmCham), which then transfers dues payments back to the Chamber's H Street office in Washington, D.C. While the Chamber may claim to have internal controls, foreign funds are fungible and all dues go to the same general account, which is then used to fund the Chamber's political attack campaign. Essentially, as Shakir pointed out , "they're acting as a [Political Action Committee]" which "run ads against political candidates. But the difference here is PACs disclose where they get the money from." The Chamber refuses to disclose its donors.

3. This includes money from Bahrain and India.

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported an exclusive story on how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — the big business lobbying juggernaut running an unprecedented $75 million dollar attack campaign against Democrats in midterms this year — is actively fundraising from foreign corporations and foreign nationals, and depositing the money in the same 501©(6) account used to run its campaign advertisements. Dues from foreign corporations have flowed into the Chamber’s coffers, including from government-run companies like the State Bank of India and the Bahrain Petroleum Company. ThinkProgress has reported at least $300,000 in foreign money to the Chamber from Bahrain and India alone.

4. Why won't Roy Blunt answer a simple question about whether foreign money is being used to help his race?

Following ThinkProgress’ report, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) wrote to the FEC — a federal agency that has ironically “been rendered toothless by its Republican members” — asking it to launch an investigation and to insist that foreign companies prove whether their funds had been used in campaign activities. Today, outside of a fundraiser for Nevada’s GOP U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle at the National Republican Campaign Committee, ThinkProgress asked Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), a candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri, if he would comment on the story. After hearing the question, Blunt quickly turned and began walking away briskly towards the Union Station building. He initially simply ignored the question, then took out his phone and pressed it against his face. Eventually, Blunt replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about” and told ThinkProgress to “talk to the Chamber”.

Ok, I've documented my assurtions...Where are yours???

[bonnie]

Anything Al Franken puts his fingers on is suspect immediately by anyone living in MN. He stole the election,even those voting for him acknowledge that. The dead came back to life long enough to vote. Convicted felons also voted for the jerk.

The most popular bumper sticker during the election was

"Vote for Franken,He is Crook But He is Our Crook"

That was for a democrat by democrats

As for the rest of it,time will tell.Where was your righteous indignation over ver similar claims concerning Obama.I always view with suspicion this kind of garbage that does not come out till just before a election.

Put this in the same trash heap the garbage being spewed about Meg Whitman.

You can bet if true it will come out,much more so because it is against republican

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I'm waiting for the canadate to speak from the North.

In what way are you refering to? Canadates have to reveal where thier sources of funding are coming from.....US Chamber of Commerice doesn't have to...and dem are being outspent 8 to 1 in campaign dollars...where is that amount of money coming from???

The democrat party would have equal or more amounts of money if their usual contributors would pony up. But they are not doing it now. I gave you the source for that info in post #199867.

**salute**

[bonnie]

Quote:

Ok, I've documented my assurtions...Where are yours???

Hate to break it to you but what you posted is not your assertions.

It is a attempt by democrats to stop the bleeding.Not to many people are going to throw good money after bad in a losing situation.

Before you yell Gotcha,wait and see what comes out.One thing you can absolutely count on if true, the media will go after it like it was pure gold.

More will be accused right up to election.I suspect if the dems lose badly there will be many challenges. They have silly Franken to show how to get the dead folks riled up.

If the governors race goes to the dems and it could it is another complete embarrassment or shoud be to those that voted for him.He will make a good companion to Dirty Tricks Franken.