$885,000 worth of proof of the Chamber’s foreign funding

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has tried to downplay the revelation that it may be funneling money from foreign corporations into its electoral activities (while offering no proof to the contrary). Meanwhile, Think Progress has been digging up some more evidence.

Researchers from Think Progress have found proof of $885,000 worth of dues from foreign corporations that go directly into the Chamber’s general fund—the same fund it draws on for its substantial independent expenditures. And that’s just what they could find from publicly available sources.

$885,000 is admittedly small potatoes compared to the $75 million the Chamber has promised to spend to elect pro-corporate candidates to Congress this year. But the news of this foreign funding sheds light on the basic problem behind the Chamber’s unlimited spending in elections—the Chamber and its members are out for themselves and their own profits, not for the needs of all American citizens, and they’ll spend however much it takes to make sure our elected officials are on their side.

As we reported in After Citizens United, the Chamber of Commerce has long been an expert in finding hidden channels to funnel corporate money into politics. It should come as no surprise that it still doesn’t want to say where—or even what country—its ad funding comes from.

 

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Congress, Elections, Media, Politics