Original Link: http://www.thinkprogress.org/2010/10/13/chamber-foreign-funded-media/
By Lee Fang
Last week, ThinkProgress published an exclusive story about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s foreign fundraising operation. We noted the Chamber raises money from foreign-owned businesses for its 501(c)(6) entity, the same account that finances its unprecedented $75 million dollar partisan attack ad campaign. While the Chamber is notoriously secretive, the thrust of our story involved the disclosure of fundraising documents U.S. Chamber staffers had been distributing to solicit foreign (even state-owned) companies to donate directly to the Chamber’s 501(c)(6).
We documented three different ways the Chamber fundraises from foreign corporations: (1) An internal fundraising program called “Business Councils” used to solicit direct, largely foreign contributions to the Chamber, (2) Direct contributions from foreign multinationals like BP, Siemens, and Shell Oil, and (3) From the Chamber’s network of AmCham affiliates, which are foreign chambers of the Chamber composed of American and foreign companies. The Chamber quickly acknowledged that it receives direct, foreign money, but simply replied, “We are not obligated to discuss our internal procedures.” Instead of providing any documentation or proof to demonstrate foreign money is not being used for electioneering purposes, the Chamber launched an aggressive media strategy to first, attack ThinkProgress with petty name-calling and second, to confuse the media by highlighting the Chamber’s relatively minor AmCham fundraising, which the Chamber says (also without documentation) totals “approximately $100,000” from all 115 international AmCham chapters. The Chamber and the media largely ignored ThinkProgress’ revelation about the Chamber’s direct foreign fundraising to its 501(c)(6) used for attack ads.
Yesterday, the Chamber’s chief lobbyist Bruce Josten, who has been spoon-feeding much of the media distortions about our report, went on Fox News (whose parent company donated $1 million to the Chamber recently for its ad campaign) to again try to dilute the issue by dissembling about the Chamber’s fundraising and membership. “We have probably 60 or so foreign multi-national companies in our membership that we have had for decades, many of which have been in the United States for half a century or a century,” said Josten.
The Chamber is being deceptive. In addition to multinational members of the Chamber headquartered abroad (like BP, Shell Oil, and Siemens), a new ThinkProgress investigation has identified at least 84 other foreign companies that actively donate to the Chamber’s 501(c)(6). Below is a chart detailing the annual dues foreign corporations have indicated that they give directly to the Chamber (using information that is publicly available from the Business Council applications and the Chamber’s own websites)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Veterans Group Files FEC Complaint Against The Chamber: Foreign Funds Pose 'Clear And Present Danger' To U.S. Democracy
Original Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/18/veterans-pac-fec-complaint-chamber-commerce-danger_n_766892.html
By Amanda Terkel
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.
"Our military veterans, who served to protect the Constitution of the United States, are concerned that foreign money could be used to influence our policies and buy seats in the House and Senate," said Lorin Walker, VetPAC vice president and treasurer. "The Chamber's actions compromise the very rights for which our military men and women put their lives on the line.
The letter is in response to a report by ThinkProgress, which raised questions about whether the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is using foreign money to fund its political activities.
"As we've said before, the U.S. Chamber fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations," said Bruce Josten, executive vice president of Government Affairs for the Chamber, in a statement to The Huffington Post. "These baseless attacks on a pro-business group like the Chamber is an attempt to distract Americans from a failed economic agenda just two weeks before Election Day. It's time to return to the discussion that Americans care most about: creating jobs. We're going to stay focused on representing and advocating for an agenda of economic growth and speaking out against policies that are counter to those objectives."
As The Huffington Post reported earlier, just because a group files a complaint with the FEC doesn't mean it will necessarily go anywhere. It faces a complicated process that could take years to complete -- if it even gets past the first-round vote by a group of commissioners who often deadlock on major decisions.
By Amanda Terkel
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.
"Our military veterans, who served to protect the Constitution of the United States, are concerned that foreign money could be used to influence our policies and buy seats in the House and Senate," said Lorin Walker, VetPAC vice president and treasurer. "The Chamber's actions compromise the very rights for which our military men and women put their lives on the line.
The letter is in response to a report by ThinkProgress, which raised questions about whether the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is using foreign money to fund its political activities.
"As we've said before, the U.S. Chamber fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations," said Bruce Josten, executive vice president of Government Affairs for the Chamber, in a statement to The Huffington Post. "These baseless attacks on a pro-business group like the Chamber is an attempt to distract Americans from a failed economic agenda just two weeks before Election Day. It's time to return to the discussion that Americans care most about: creating jobs. We're going to stay focused on representing and advocating for an agenda of economic growth and speaking out against policies that are counter to those objectives."
As The Huffington Post reported earlier, just because a group files a complaint with the FEC doesn't mean it will necessarily go anywhere. It faces a complicated process that could take years to complete -- if it even gets past the first-round vote by a group of commissioners who often deadlock on major decisions.
Worse Than Watergate?
Original Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/worse-than-watergate_b_763232.html
By Mike Lux
A couple of weeks back I suggested that the strong possibility that the Chamber and Rove's American Crossroads group were taking and using money from foreign companies for their scores of millions of dollars in attack ads was the biggest story of this election cycle. This money comes from undisclosed sources, and the secretive nature of these millions in contributions raises huge doubts about who these sources are, what their motives are, and what industries and countries they come from. We know the Chamber is taking a minimum of over $800,000 from foreign companies, and the total is likely many millions more -- the 800 is what researchers have been able to find from a smattering of public materials, but we know there is more the Chamber isn't telling us. The Chamber and Rove deny they are using foreign money for their ad campaign, but since they vehemently, adamantly refuse to disclose their donors, we can't know the truth. If it is not foreign money, fine: just tell us how much Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America, BP, Massey Mining, Prudential and all the rest of your corporate special interest friends are giving.
The White House and other Democrats have been right to jump all over this: this is as fundamental issue to our democracy as there is. Tim Kaine raised the stakes again today, suggesting that the potential scandal involved was as big a deal as Watergate. My only disagreement is that in many ways, this is worse. The slush fund money Dick Nixon's operation raised and spent was penny ante compared to the money being raised today.
Corporate special interests are trying to buy this election. Whenever another nasty attack ad comes on the tube paid for the Chamber, American Crossroads, or some groups with a mysterious name you have never heard, ask yourself:
•Where did they get the money for that ad?
•Why did the companies giving millions of dollars to run this ad want to help the Republican candidate they are helping?
•What sweetheart deals will the candidates they are helping be doing for those big contributors?
•Why should we believe anything we are seeing on this ad, given the people paying for it don't want you to know who is behind it?
If this sleazy, secretive strategy works for Rove and the Chamber, and if nothing is done to require disclosure of these fat cat donors, our democracy truly is in trouble for a long time to come. Let's hope the voters ask themselves those questions.
By Mike Lux
A couple of weeks back I suggested that the strong possibility that the Chamber and Rove's American Crossroads group were taking and using money from foreign companies for their scores of millions of dollars in attack ads was the biggest story of this election cycle. This money comes from undisclosed sources, and the secretive nature of these millions in contributions raises huge doubts about who these sources are, what their motives are, and what industries and countries they come from. We know the Chamber is taking a minimum of over $800,000 from foreign companies, and the total is likely many millions more -- the 800 is what researchers have been able to find from a smattering of public materials, but we know there is more the Chamber isn't telling us. The Chamber and Rove deny they are using foreign money for their ad campaign, but since they vehemently, adamantly refuse to disclose their donors, we can't know the truth. If it is not foreign money, fine: just tell us how much Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America, BP, Massey Mining, Prudential and all the rest of your corporate special interest friends are giving.
The White House and other Democrats have been right to jump all over this: this is as fundamental issue to our democracy as there is. Tim Kaine raised the stakes again today, suggesting that the potential scandal involved was as big a deal as Watergate. My only disagreement is that in many ways, this is worse. The slush fund money Dick Nixon's operation raised and spent was penny ante compared to the money being raised today.
Corporate special interests are trying to buy this election. Whenever another nasty attack ad comes on the tube paid for the Chamber, American Crossroads, or some groups with a mysterious name you have never heard, ask yourself:
•Where did they get the money for that ad?
•Why did the companies giving millions of dollars to run this ad want to help the Republican candidate they are helping?
•What sweetheart deals will the candidates they are helping be doing for those big contributors?
•Why should we believe anything we are seeing on this ad, given the people paying for it don't want you to know who is behind it?
If this sleazy, secretive strategy works for Rove and the Chamber, and if nothing is done to require disclosure of these fat cat donors, our democracy truly is in trouble for a long time to come. Let's hope the voters ask themselves those questions.
Chamber Of Commerce Funded By Top Offshoring Companies
Original Link: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/14/u-s-chamber-of-commerce-funded-by-top-offshoring-companies/
By Brad Johnson
While it tells the American public it cares about American jobs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce actually works to send jobs overseas on behalf of its corporate members, which include some of Asia’s top offshoring companies. Its secretly-funded $75 million political ad campaign attacks the “anti-jobs record” of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jerry Brown (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alexi Giannoulias (D-IL), Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), and others.
As ThinkProgress previously noted, the Chamber has repeatedly sent out issue alerts attacking Democratic efforts to encourage businesses to hire locally rather than outsource to foreign counties. The Chamber has also bitterly fought Democrats for opposing unfettered free trade deals. The Chamber’s anti-American jobs agenda serves not only the profit-seeking of right-wing corporate executives in the United States, but also works to send jobs overseas to the following outsourcing companies, who are some of the dozens of foreign corporations that pay member dues to the Chamber of Commerce’s 501c(6) account, which is used to fund its political ads:
– InfoSys, Bangalore, India (at least $15,000 in annual member dues): “Infosys is the ‘Best Outsourcing Partner’ according to the Waters Rankings for the third consecutive year.”
– KPIT Cummins, Pune, India ($7,500): “Strategic global networking, together with industry-proven practices & processes, give KPIT Cummins a cutting edge in the realm of outsourcing.”
– Patni Americas, Mumbai, India ($15,000): “Patni, the world leader in IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing provides offshore software development, global sourcing, custom software development, and a vast array of product engineering and IT services to companies worldwide.”
– NIIT Technologies, Delhi, India ($15,000): “[L]eadership in the area of outsourcing.”
– QuEST Global, Singapore ($7,500): “QuEST is a leader in the engineering services outsourcing (ESO) space.”
– Rolta, Mumbai, India ($7,500): “Rolta’s global footprint and track record along with its capable off-shoring model gives it a unique positioning in this large market.”
– SKP Crossborder Consulting, Mumbai, India ($7,500): “SKP’s core outsourcing practice is managed out of a fully equipped, spacious premises based in Pune with access to facilities in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bangalore.”
– Tata Group, Mumbai, India ($15,000): “[W]orld-class solutions in outsourcing – business process outsourcing, application outsourcing, infrastructure outsourcing.”
– Wipro, Bangalore, India ($15,000): “India’s biggest destination for U.S. offshoring.”
In its “American Free Enterprise” campaign, the Chamber says that there is no “greater or more important” policy challenge “than creating the 20 million jobs needed in the next decade to replace the jobs lost in the current recession and to meet the needs of America’s growing workforce.” Perhaps the Chamber should actually start working toward that goal of creating jobs in America, instead of promoting the offshoring agenda of its foreign sponsors.
By Brad Johnson
While it tells the American public it cares about American jobs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce actually works to send jobs overseas on behalf of its corporate members, which include some of Asia’s top offshoring companies. Its secretly-funded $75 million political ad campaign attacks the “anti-jobs record” of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jerry Brown (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alexi Giannoulias (D-IL), Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), and others.
As ThinkProgress previously noted, the Chamber has repeatedly sent out issue alerts attacking Democratic efforts to encourage businesses to hire locally rather than outsource to foreign counties. The Chamber has also bitterly fought Democrats for opposing unfettered free trade deals. The Chamber’s anti-American jobs agenda serves not only the profit-seeking of right-wing corporate executives in the United States, but also works to send jobs overseas to the following outsourcing companies, who are some of the dozens of foreign corporations that pay member dues to the Chamber of Commerce’s 501c(6) account, which is used to fund its political ads:
– InfoSys, Bangalore, India (at least $15,000 in annual member dues): “Infosys is the ‘Best Outsourcing Partner’ according to the Waters Rankings for the third consecutive year.”
– KPIT Cummins, Pune, India ($7,500): “Strategic global networking, together with industry-proven practices & processes, give KPIT Cummins a cutting edge in the realm of outsourcing.”
– Patni Americas, Mumbai, India ($15,000): “Patni, the world leader in IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing provides offshore software development, global sourcing, custom software development, and a vast array of product engineering and IT services to companies worldwide.”
– NIIT Technologies, Delhi, India ($15,000): “[L]eadership in the area of outsourcing.”
– QuEST Global, Singapore ($7,500): “QuEST is a leader in the engineering services outsourcing (ESO) space.”
– Rolta, Mumbai, India ($7,500): “Rolta’s global footprint and track record along with its capable off-shoring model gives it a unique positioning in this large market.”
– SKP Crossborder Consulting, Mumbai, India ($7,500): “SKP’s core outsourcing practice is managed out of a fully equipped, spacious premises based in Pune with access to facilities in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bangalore.”
– Tata Group, Mumbai, India ($15,000): “[W]orld-class solutions in outsourcing – business process outsourcing, application outsourcing, infrastructure outsourcing.”
– Wipro, Bangalore, India ($15,000): “India’s biggest destination for U.S. offshoring.”
In its “American Free Enterprise” campaign, the Chamber says that there is no “greater or more important” policy challenge “than creating the 20 million jobs needed in the next decade to replace the jobs lost in the current recession and to meet the needs of America’s growing workforce.” Perhaps the Chamber should actually start working toward that goal of creating jobs in America, instead of promoting the offshoring agenda of its foreign sponsors.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Fear and Favor
Original Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/opinion/04krugman.html
By PAUL KRUGMAN
A note to Tea Party activists: This is not the movie you think it is. You probably imagine that you’re starring in “The Birth of a Nation,” but you’re actually just extras in a remake of “Citizen Kane.”
True, there have been some changes in the plot. In the original, Kane tried to buy high political office for himself. In the new version, he just puts politicians on his payroll.
I mean that literally. As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News. Now, media moguls have often promoted the careers and campaigns of politicians they believe will serve their interests. But directly cutting checks to political favorites takes it to a whole new level of blatancy.
Arguably, this shouldn’t be surprising. Modern American conservatism is, in large part, a movement shaped by billionaires and their bank accounts, and assured paychecks for the ideologically loyal are an important part of the system. Scientists willing to deny the existence of man-made climate change, economists willing to declare that tax cuts for the rich are essential to growth, strategic thinkers willing to provide rationales for wars of choice, lawyers willing to provide defenses of torture, all can count on support from a network of organizations that may seem independent on the surface but are largely financed by a handful of ultrawealthy families.
And these organizations have long provided havens for conservative political figures not currently in office. Thus when Senator Rick Santorum was defeated in 2006, he got a new job as head of the America’s Enemies program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a think tank that has received funding from the usual sources: the Koch brothers, the Coors family, and so on.
Now Mr. Santorum is one of those paid Fox contributors contemplating a presidential run. What’s the difference?
Well, for one thing, Fox News seems to have decided that it no longer needs to maintain even the pretense of being nonpartisan.
Nobody who was paying attention has ever doubted that Fox is, in reality, a part of the Republican political machine; but the network — with its Orwellian slogan, “fair and balanced” — has always denied the obvious. Officially, it still does. But by hiring those G.O.P. candidates, while at the same time making million-dollar contributions to the Republican Governors Association and the rabidly anti-Obama United States Chamber of Commerce, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which owns Fox, is signaling that it no longer feels the need to make any effort to keep up appearances.
Something else has changed, too: increasingly, Fox News has gone from merely supporting Republican candidates to anointing them. Christine O’Donnell, the upset winner of the G.O.P. Senate primary in Delaware, is often described as the Tea Party candidate, but given the publicity the network gave her, she could equally well be described as the Fox News candidate. Anyway, there’s not much difference: the Tea Party movement owes much of its rise to enthusiastic Fox coverage.
As the Republican political analyst David Frum put it, “Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us, and now we are discovering we work for Fox” — literally, in the case of all those non-Mitt-Romney presidential hopefuls. It was days later, by the way, that Mr. Frum was fired by the American Enterprise Institute. Conservatives criticize Fox at their peril.
So the Ministry of Propaganda has, in effect, seized control of the Politburo. What are the implications?
Perhaps the most important thing to realize is that when billionaires put their might behind “grass roots” right-wing action, it’s not just about ideology: it’s also about business. What the Koch brothers have bought with their huge political outlays is, above all, freedom to pollute. What Mr. Murdoch is acquiring with his expanded political role is the kind of influence that lets his media empire make its own rules.
Thus in Britain, a reporter at one of Mr. Murdoch’s papers, News of the World, was caught hacking into the voice mail of prominent citizens, including members of the royal family. But Scotland Yard showed little interest in getting to the bottom of the story. Now the editor who ran the paper when the hacking was taking place is chief of communications for the Conservative government — and that government is talking about slashing the budget of the BBC, which competes with the News Corporation.
So think of those paychecks to Sarah Palin and others as smart investments. After all, if you’re a media mogul, it’s always good to have friends in high places. And the most reliable friends are the ones who know they owe it all to you.
By PAUL KRUGMAN
A note to Tea Party activists: This is not the movie you think it is. You probably imagine that you’re starring in “The Birth of a Nation,” but you’re actually just extras in a remake of “Citizen Kane.”
True, there have been some changes in the plot. In the original, Kane tried to buy high political office for himself. In the new version, he just puts politicians on his payroll.
I mean that literally. As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News. Now, media moguls have often promoted the careers and campaigns of politicians they believe will serve their interests. But directly cutting checks to political favorites takes it to a whole new level of blatancy.
Arguably, this shouldn’t be surprising. Modern American conservatism is, in large part, a movement shaped by billionaires and their bank accounts, and assured paychecks for the ideologically loyal are an important part of the system. Scientists willing to deny the existence of man-made climate change, economists willing to declare that tax cuts for the rich are essential to growth, strategic thinkers willing to provide rationales for wars of choice, lawyers willing to provide defenses of torture, all can count on support from a network of organizations that may seem independent on the surface but are largely financed by a handful of ultrawealthy families.
And these organizations have long provided havens for conservative political figures not currently in office. Thus when Senator Rick Santorum was defeated in 2006, he got a new job as head of the America’s Enemies program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a think tank that has received funding from the usual sources: the Koch brothers, the Coors family, and so on.
Now Mr. Santorum is one of those paid Fox contributors contemplating a presidential run. What’s the difference?
Well, for one thing, Fox News seems to have decided that it no longer needs to maintain even the pretense of being nonpartisan.
Nobody who was paying attention has ever doubted that Fox is, in reality, a part of the Republican political machine; but the network — with its Orwellian slogan, “fair and balanced” — has always denied the obvious. Officially, it still does. But by hiring those G.O.P. candidates, while at the same time making million-dollar contributions to the Republican Governors Association and the rabidly anti-Obama United States Chamber of Commerce, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which owns Fox, is signaling that it no longer feels the need to make any effort to keep up appearances.
Something else has changed, too: increasingly, Fox News has gone from merely supporting Republican candidates to anointing them. Christine O’Donnell, the upset winner of the G.O.P. Senate primary in Delaware, is often described as the Tea Party candidate, but given the publicity the network gave her, she could equally well be described as the Fox News candidate. Anyway, there’s not much difference: the Tea Party movement owes much of its rise to enthusiastic Fox coverage.
As the Republican political analyst David Frum put it, “Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us, and now we are discovering we work for Fox” — literally, in the case of all those non-Mitt-Romney presidential hopefuls. It was days later, by the way, that Mr. Frum was fired by the American Enterprise Institute. Conservatives criticize Fox at their peril.
So the Ministry of Propaganda has, in effect, seized control of the Politburo. What are the implications?
Perhaps the most important thing to realize is that when billionaires put their might behind “grass roots” right-wing action, it’s not just about ideology: it’s also about business. What the Koch brothers have bought with their huge political outlays is, above all, freedom to pollute. What Mr. Murdoch is acquiring with his expanded political role is the kind of influence that lets his media empire make its own rules.
Thus in Britain, a reporter at one of Mr. Murdoch’s papers, News of the World, was caught hacking into the voice mail of prominent citizens, including members of the royal family. But Scotland Yard showed little interest in getting to the bottom of the story. Now the editor who ran the paper when the hacking was taking place is chief of communications for the Conservative government — and that government is talking about slashing the budget of the BBC, which competes with the News Corporation.
So think of those paychecks to Sarah Palin and others as smart investments. After all, if you’re a media mogul, it’s always good to have friends in high places. And the most reliable friends are the ones who know they owe it all to you.
China Makes Its Big Move Into U.S. Politics Through The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce
Original Link: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2010/10/china-makes-its-big-move-into-us.html
By DownWithTyranny
The nefarious U.S. Chamber of Commerce has turned itself into a funnel for cash from the worst international actors on the planet, actors willing to ante up millions of dollars to get easily manipulatable Republicans into office. As we pointed out, before, China is willing to spend whatever it takes to make John Boehner Speaker and to insert stooges like Ron Johnson and Roy Blunt into the Senate. Yesterday CQPolitics reported that the Chamber has more than doubled its spending on political attack ads since Tuesday. Their foreign-financed attack ads are aimed primarily against Paul Hodes (D-NH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Joe Sestak (D-PA), Robin Carnahan (D-MO), Alexi Giannoulias (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Charlie Crist (I-FL) and in support of Republicans who enthusiastically support trade policies which ship good-paying American jobs to low wage hellholes like China.
This week President Obama warned that the Chamber's use of foreign money in their election strategy is undermining American democracy. "Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ad regularly takes in money from foreign corporations. So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections. And they won’t tell you where the money for the ads come from.
"So this isn’t just a threat to Democrats. All Republicans should be concerned. Independents should be concerned. This is a threat to our democracy. The American people deserve to know who’s trying to influence their elections. And if we just stand by and allow the special interests to silence anybody who’s got the guts to stand up to them, our country’s going to be a very different place."
More than a few Democratic candidates, though, obviously not the reactionary Blue Dogs who the U.S. Chamber is also showering with yuans and rubles-- Frank Kratovil (MD), Glenn Nye (VA), Travis Childers (MS), Jim Marshall (GA) &, obviously, Bobby Bright (AL)-- are shouting "foul." And yesterday Joe Sestak went on the attack on one of the worst of the GOP candidates who is aiding and abetting China's economic aggression towards America, Pat Toomey who "admitted that he would side with China at the expense of American workers on a bill aimed at preventing China from manipulating its currency." Sestak pointed to an Associated Press report showing that Toomey "opposes the bipartisan legislation, placing him in radical opposition to every U.S. House member from Pennsylvania." Toomey has long opposed "Buy American" campaigns and in his book, Road To Prosperity, a crazed right-wing screed written for him by a Club For Growth staffer, he calls "buy America language" an "unfortunate tendency."
“Congressman Toomey finally broke his silence but only to let Pennsylvanians know that he continues to favor China over American workers. More and more jobs are being sent overseas every day. Rather than force China to play by the rules, Congressman Toomey wants to take away all safeguards that protect American jobs,” said Sestak spokesman Jonathon Dworkin.
China has been able to flood the market with cheaper goods as a result of its currency manipulation which place American companies and workers at an unfair disadvantage. The bill, which Joe co-sponsored, would allow the U.S. to seek sanctions against China and other countries that manipulate their currency. The measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner, 348-79.
Joe Sestak is one of only six candidates for the Senate that Blue America is recommending progressives contribute to.
By DownWithTyranny
The nefarious U.S. Chamber of Commerce has turned itself into a funnel for cash from the worst international actors on the planet, actors willing to ante up millions of dollars to get easily manipulatable Republicans into office. As we pointed out, before, China is willing to spend whatever it takes to make John Boehner Speaker and to insert stooges like Ron Johnson and Roy Blunt into the Senate. Yesterday CQPolitics reported that the Chamber has more than doubled its spending on political attack ads since Tuesday. Their foreign-financed attack ads are aimed primarily against Paul Hodes (D-NH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Joe Sestak (D-PA), Robin Carnahan (D-MO), Alexi Giannoulias (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Charlie Crist (I-FL) and in support of Republicans who enthusiastically support trade policies which ship good-paying American jobs to low wage hellholes like China.
This week President Obama warned that the Chamber's use of foreign money in their election strategy is undermining American democracy. "Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ad regularly takes in money from foreign corporations. So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections. And they won’t tell you where the money for the ads come from.
"So this isn’t just a threat to Democrats. All Republicans should be concerned. Independents should be concerned. This is a threat to our democracy. The American people deserve to know who’s trying to influence their elections. And if we just stand by and allow the special interests to silence anybody who’s got the guts to stand up to them, our country’s going to be a very different place."
More than a few Democratic candidates, though, obviously not the reactionary Blue Dogs who the U.S. Chamber is also showering with yuans and rubles-- Frank Kratovil (MD), Glenn Nye (VA), Travis Childers (MS), Jim Marshall (GA) &, obviously, Bobby Bright (AL)-- are shouting "foul." And yesterday Joe Sestak went on the attack on one of the worst of the GOP candidates who is aiding and abetting China's economic aggression towards America, Pat Toomey who "admitted that he would side with China at the expense of American workers on a bill aimed at preventing China from manipulating its currency." Sestak pointed to an Associated Press report showing that Toomey "opposes the bipartisan legislation, placing him in radical opposition to every U.S. House member from Pennsylvania." Toomey has long opposed "Buy American" campaigns and in his book, Road To Prosperity, a crazed right-wing screed written for him by a Club For Growth staffer, he calls "buy America language" an "unfortunate tendency."
“Congressman Toomey finally broke his silence but only to let Pennsylvanians know that he continues to favor China over American workers. More and more jobs are being sent overseas every day. Rather than force China to play by the rules, Congressman Toomey wants to take away all safeguards that protect American jobs,” said Sestak spokesman Jonathon Dworkin.
China has been able to flood the market with cheaper goods as a result of its currency manipulation which place American companies and workers at an unfair disadvantage. The bill, which Joe co-sponsored, would allow the U.S. to seek sanctions against China and other countries that manipulate their currency. The measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner, 348-79.
Joe Sestak is one of only six candidates for the Senate that Blue America is recommending progressives contribute to.
Foreign-Funded ‘U.S.’ Chamber Of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads
Original Link: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/05/foreign-chamber-commerce/
By Lee Fang
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.
– Like the Chamber’s involvement in Bahrain, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce operates in India through a group called “U.S.-India Business Council” (USIBC), which has offices around the world but is headquartered in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Dozens of Indian businesses, including some of India’s largest corporations like the State Bank of India (state-run) and ICICI Bank, are members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce through the USIBC. Annual membership dues range from $7,500 to $15,000 or more, and the money is given directly into the Chamber’s 501(c)(6) bank account. Like the USBBC, the USIBC generates well over $200,000 a year in dues for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from foreign businesses. On the USIBC website, many of the groups lobbying goals advocate changing American policy to help businesses in India. Under the manufacturing policy goal, USIBC boasts that it “can play a helpful role in guiding U.S. companies to India, while supporting various policy initiatives that will enhance India’s reputation as a major manufacturing and investment hub.”
– Many foreign “AmChams” or Business Councils operate outside the direct sphere of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce but nonetheless send dues money back to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For instance, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt is a separate entity based in Cairo that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars from both Egyptian firms and American businesses. However, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt calls itself “the most active affiliates of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the” Middle East. Another foreign chamber, like the Abu Dhabi AmCham, which includes American firms and Esnaad, a subsidiary of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, claims that it is a a “dues paying member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and part of the global network of American Chambers of Commerce.” In Russia, the relationship between the American Chamber of Commerce there and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce here is opaque. This might be because many of the dues-paying members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia are Russian state-run companies, like VTB Bank, and controlled by the Russian government. Asked by ThinkProgress if the Russian Chambers pay dues back to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Ksenia Forsheneva, the membership development manager at the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, replied, “Unfortunately the information that you require is closed for the public.”
Previously, it has been reported that foreign firms like BP, Shell Oil, and Siemens are active members of the Chamber. But on a larger scale, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce appears to rely heavily on fundraising from firms all over the world, including China, India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia, and many other places. Of course, because the Chamber successfully lobbied to kill campaign finance reforms aimed at establishing transparency, the Chamber does not have to reveal any of the funding for its ad campaigns. Dues-paying members of the Chamber could potentially be sending additional funds this year to help air more attack ads against Democrats.
Here’s how it works. Regular dues from American firms to the Chamber can range from $500 to $300,000 or more, depending on their size and industry, and can be used for any purpose deemed necessary by the Chamber leadership. For example, the health insurance giant Aetna has reported that it paid $100,000 in annual dues to the Chamber in the past. But for specific advocacy or advertising campaigns, corporations can hide behind the label of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and give additional money. Last year, alongside their regular dues, health insurance companies like Aetna secretly funneled up to $20 million to the Chamber for attack ads aimed at killing health reform (publicly, health insurance executives claimed they supported reform). Last week, Politico reported that News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, gave an extra $1 million to the Chamber for its election season attack campaign.
There are many reasons foreign corporations are seeking to defeat Democratic candidates this November. The Chamber has repeatedly sent out issue alerts attacking Democratic efforts to encourage businesses to hire locally rather than outsource to foreign counties. The Chamber has also bitterly fought Democrats for opposing unfettered free trade deals. To galvanize foreign businesses, the Chamber has commissioned former Ambassador Frank Lavin — who served as the McCain-Palin Asia campaign director and has appeared on television multiple times recently saying a Democratic Congress is bad for business — to speak before various foreign Chamber affiliates to talk about the stakes for the 2010 midterm elections.
Because campaign finance laws prohibit foreign entities from contributing to political races here in America, we asked the Chamber to defend the legality of its fundraising operation. We have yet to receive a response. But as word of our investigation began to leak out yesterday, the Chamber informed Politico’s Mike Allen that it is now “preparing a response.”
By Lee Fang
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.
– Like the Chamber’s involvement in Bahrain, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce operates in India through a group called “U.S.-India Business Council” (USIBC), which has offices around the world but is headquartered in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Dozens of Indian businesses, including some of India’s largest corporations like the State Bank of India (state-run) and ICICI Bank, are members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce through the USIBC. Annual membership dues range from $7,500 to $15,000 or more, and the money is given directly into the Chamber’s 501(c)(6) bank account. Like the USBBC, the USIBC generates well over $200,000 a year in dues for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from foreign businesses. On the USIBC website, many of the groups lobbying goals advocate changing American policy to help businesses in India. Under the manufacturing policy goal, USIBC boasts that it “can play a helpful role in guiding U.S. companies to India, while supporting various policy initiatives that will enhance India’s reputation as a major manufacturing and investment hub.”
– Many foreign “AmChams” or Business Councils operate outside the direct sphere of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce but nonetheless send dues money back to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For instance, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt is a separate entity based in Cairo that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars from both Egyptian firms and American businesses. However, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt calls itself “the most active affiliates of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the” Middle East. Another foreign chamber, like the Abu Dhabi AmCham, which includes American firms and Esnaad, a subsidiary of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, claims that it is a a “dues paying member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and part of the global network of American Chambers of Commerce.” In Russia, the relationship between the American Chamber of Commerce there and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce here is opaque. This might be because many of the dues-paying members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia are Russian state-run companies, like VTB Bank, and controlled by the Russian government. Asked by ThinkProgress if the Russian Chambers pay dues back to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Ksenia Forsheneva, the membership development manager at the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, replied, “Unfortunately the information that you require is closed for the public.”
Previously, it has been reported that foreign firms like BP, Shell Oil, and Siemens are active members of the Chamber. But on a larger scale, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce appears to rely heavily on fundraising from firms all over the world, including China, India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia, and many other places. Of course, because the Chamber successfully lobbied to kill campaign finance reforms aimed at establishing transparency, the Chamber does not have to reveal any of the funding for its ad campaigns. Dues-paying members of the Chamber could potentially be sending additional funds this year to help air more attack ads against Democrats.
Here’s how it works. Regular dues from American firms to the Chamber can range from $500 to $300,000 or more, depending on their size and industry, and can be used for any purpose deemed necessary by the Chamber leadership. For example, the health insurance giant Aetna has reported that it paid $100,000 in annual dues to the Chamber in the past. But for specific advocacy or advertising campaigns, corporations can hide behind the label of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and give additional money. Last year, alongside their regular dues, health insurance companies like Aetna secretly funneled up to $20 million to the Chamber for attack ads aimed at killing health reform (publicly, health insurance executives claimed they supported reform). Last week, Politico reported that News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, gave an extra $1 million to the Chamber for its election season attack campaign.
There are many reasons foreign corporations are seeking to defeat Democratic candidates this November. The Chamber has repeatedly sent out issue alerts attacking Democratic efforts to encourage businesses to hire locally rather than outsource to foreign counties. The Chamber has also bitterly fought Democrats for opposing unfettered free trade deals. To galvanize foreign businesses, the Chamber has commissioned former Ambassador Frank Lavin — who served as the McCain-Palin Asia campaign director and has appeared on television multiple times recently saying a Democratic Congress is bad for business — to speak before various foreign Chamber affiliates to talk about the stakes for the 2010 midterm elections.
Because campaign finance laws prohibit foreign entities from contributing to political races here in America, we asked the Chamber to defend the legality of its fundraising operation. We have yet to receive a response. But as word of our investigation began to leak out yesterday, the Chamber informed Politico’s Mike Allen that it is now “preparing a response.”
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