Veterans Group Files FEC Complaint Against The Chamber: Foreign Funds Pose 'Clear And Present Danger

[kpete]

Source: Huffington Post

Veterans Group Files FEC Complaint Against The Chamber: Foreign Funds Pose 'Clear And Present Danger' To U.S. Democracy

Nonprofits, now emboldened to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on with no disclosure this election cycle, are beginning to face complaints at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC). While most of these complaints have come from campaign finance reform groups, a veterans organization is jumping into the fray.

On Monday, the Veterans' Alliance for Security and Democracy (VetPAC) filed an FEC complaint against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the FEC, alleging that the organization's potential use of foreign funds for political purposes represents a "clear and present danger to our democracy." From the letter to the FEC, obtained by The Huffington Post:

***** We understand that organizations may have "a reasonable accounting method" to separate funds into their general operations budget. However, the prohibition on foreign nationals indirectly contributing to U.S. elections should require additional scrutiny in the case of organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where even segregated funds within their general operating budget could be said to indirectly finance their campaign work, given the volume of such activity as a percentage of their overall expenditures. <...>


***** Given the unseemly amounts of funds being poured into campaigns, we ask that you move expeditiously to require full disclosure of the funding sources of the U.S. Chamer of Commerce. Their actions present a clear and present danger to our democracy by shielding the electorate from the identities of foreign influences that are lurking behind the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's massive campaign spending.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/18/veterans-pac-fec-complaint-chamber-commerce-danger_n_766892.html

[Iliyah]

1. Damn straight

the GOP is trying to buy America thru foreign means, yuckie pooie, how un-American! These assholes want a one party rule which sounds commie to me.

[dballance]

2. Of Course The Foreign $$ are Indirectly Contributing to the Election

Any foreign funds the Chamber uses to do things like run its day-to-day operations and even do more fund raising frees up more US donations to go to the election and the nasty ads. Either way, the foreign dollars are influencing our elections.

[TomCADem]

3. Nice!

[applegrove]

4. This story has traction.

[felix_numinous]

5. Yes!!!

Foreign funds are a clear and present danger to our democracy. Take that.

:patriot: