Think Progress: Foreign-Funded 'U.S.' Chamber of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads

[flpoljunkie]

Exclusive: Foreign-Funded ‘U.S.’ Chamber Of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads



The largest attack campaign against Democrats this fall is being waged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a trade association organized as a 501(c)(6) that can raise and spend unlimited funds without ever disclosing any of its donors. The Chamber has promised to spend an unprecedented $75 million to defeat candidates like Jack Conway, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jerry Brown, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), and Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA). As of Sept. 15th, the Chamber had aired more than 8,000 ads on behalf of GOP Senate candidates alone, according to a study from the Wesleyan Media Project. The Chamber’s spending has dwarfed every other issue group and most political party candidate committee spending. A ThinkProgress investigation has found that the Chamber funds its political attack campaign out of its general account, which solicits foreign funding. And while the Chamber will likely assert it has internal controls, foreign money is fungible, permitting the Chamber to run its unprecedented attack campaign. According to legal experts consulted by ThinkProgress, the Chamber is likely skirting longstanding campaign finance law that bans the involvement of foreign corporations in American elections.

In recent years, the Chamber has become very aggressive with its fundraising, opening offices abroad and helping to found foreign chapters (known as Business Councils or “AmChams”). While many of these foreign operations include American businesses with interests overseas, the Chamber has also spearheaded an effort to raise money from foreign corporations, including ones controlled by foreign governments. These foreign members of the Chamber send money either directly to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, or the foreign members fund their local Chamber, which in turn, transfers dues payments back to the Chamber’s H Street office in Washington DC. These funds are commingled to the Chamber’s 501(c)(6) account which is the vehicle for the attack ads:

– The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has created a large presence in the small, oil-rich country of Bahrain. In 2006, the Chamber created a local affiliate called the “U.S.-Bahrain Business Council” (USBBC), an organization to help businesses in Bahrain take advantage of the Chamber’s “network of government and business relationships in the US and worldwide.” As the USBBC’s bylaws state, it is not an actual separate entity, rather it is simply an office of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 501(c)(6) trade association. Many of the USBBC’s board members are Bahrainian, including Aluminum Bahrain, Gulf Air, Midal Cables, the Nass Group, Bahrain Maritime & Mercantile International, the Bahrain Petroleum Company (state-owned), Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, and First Leasing Bank. With each of these foreign board members to the USBBC contributing at least $10,000 annually, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce raises well over $100,000 a year in money from foreign businesses through its operation in Bahrain. Notably, the membership form provided by the USBBC directs applicants to send or wire their money directly to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The membership form also explicitly states that the foreign-owned firms are welcomed.

more...

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/05/foreign-chamber-commerce/

[Kdillard]

1. K and R. Disgusting but good to know.

[Parker CA]

2. Kick and Rec for disturbing info!

[Bitwit1234]

3. Isn't it illegal for foreign companies to contribute to US elections.

[Qutzupalotl]

4. Directly, yes.

But they've found this sneaky way to funnel money through the Chamber. Republicans have about as much respect for the spirit of the law as I have for Republicans.

On edit: found this on another thread on this topic:
According to federal election law, "foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing, donating or spending funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the United States, either directly or indirectly." It is also illegal to "solicit, receive or accept contributions or donations from them."

[bigdarryl]

5. NOPE not since the Supreme Court ruling that Corporations are people

the Senate and Congress is FOR SELL to the highest bidder.

[bigdarryl]

6. Why isn't the Huffington Post on this story

maybe there funded by foreign money.They talk about everything else but there silent on this

[starroute]

7. The Chamber has a lot of overseas connections

It's been very active in lobbying for free trade agreements -- both in this country and abroad, in countries like Costa Rica, through the AmChams.

There's also the role of CIPE -- the Center for International Private Enterprise -- which is one of those groups funded by the National Endowment for Democracy that have become notorious for their meddling in other countries' politics.

There is amazingly little information out there about CIPE aside from its own websites and press releases -- the Wikipedia entry runs to all of two sentences! -- but it's been promoting the free market all over the world since the 1980's and is very close the the Chamber's core leadership.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. Well at least they're not trying to institute "Sharia Law" in this country or anything like that

:sarcasm:

Of course, we have our own well-funded religious extremists in our country that benefit from Republican rule.

[emulatorloo]

9. Kick and Rec n/t

[AtomicKitten]

10. Turns out SC Alito is a lying sack 'o shit.

"Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections," Obama said. "Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong."

http://blackpoliticalthought.blogspot.com/2010/01/supreme-court-justice-samuel-alito.html

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XNFYQogSKE

[COLGATE4]

11. And this comes as a surprise how? I don't think any rational

person thought Alito was going to be anything other than a Scalia mini-me. And so he is.