FEC U.S. Chamber of Commerce Election Spending Investigation

[Guest human]

Now that we know that it is the Unions behind this topic. Lets get back to getting our country

back as the country of honey.

[Guest Fix The Chamber]

Amid Ongoing Scandal over Foreign Contributions, U.S. Chamber Watch Files Amended IRS Complaint Highlighting New Violations

 

Chamber May Have Misused More than $18 Million in Charitable Funds, Violated Compensation Laws with Donohue's Multi-million Dollar Salary

 

Amid the mounting scandal concerning the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's foreign fundraising practices, four non-profit advocacy organizations have filed an amended complaint alleging that the U.S. Chamber may have intentionally attempted to conceal a series of transactions funneling over $18 million meant for charitable purposes from the AIG-affiliated Starr Foundation to the U.S. Chamber for use in its political advocacy.

 

Amending a complaint filed with the I.R.S. in September by U.S. Chamber Watch, the 23-page amended complaint raised the seriousness of the allegations based on recent research and statements from U.S. Chamber staff indicating that the U.S. Chamber and its affiliated charity, the National Chamber Foundation, may have intentionally – even willfully – misreported the transactions on its tax forms. U.S. Chamber Watch was joined in the filing of the amended complaint by Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, the Main Street Alliance, and Corporate Ethics International.

 

"The US Chamber fights disclosure with every penny of their $200 million warchest — and every time we get a little sunlight into their activities, we understand why. The Chamber's response to these latest allegations shows a seemingly pathological need to stonewall, deflect and obscure from the fact that they're engaging in likely illegal activity under the good name of American small business," said Christy Setzer, spokeswoman for U.S. Chamber Watch.

 

The Amended Complaint also raised concerns regarding the egregious levels of compensation and extravagant perks paid to U.S. Chamber president and CEO Thomas Donohue, a potential violation of tax laws prohibiting use of non-profit funds for the private benefit of insiders. Mr. Donohue was paid over $3.75 million in 2008, the last year for which tax returns are available, on top of lavish retirement benefits and other perks – some of which apparently not disclosed to the IRS – including use of a personal jet valued at over $1 million per year and a chauffeured limousine.

 

A copy of the complaint can be found here: http://www.fixtheuschamber.org/what-chamber/breaking-new-revelations-us-chamber-and-aig-foundations-multimillion-dollar-tax-fraud.

 

For more information on U.S. Chamber Watch, please visit www.fixtheuschamber.com.

[Guest Jesse]

Finally we all know that the Chamber using foreign money to try an buy the election. Thanks to the SCOTUS.

[Guest Fix The Chamber]

The real power in Washington has been revealed to us. Labor vs. Business.

 

You decide.

[Guest Dennis Smith]

The Chamber of Commerce is running issue ads on behalf of Democratic Congressional candidates Frank Kratovil in Maryland, Glenn Nye in Virginia, Travis Childers in Mississippi, Bobby Bright in Alabama, Walt Minnick in Idaho, Mike Ross in Arkansas, Jim Matheson in Utah, John Barrow in Georgia and Dan Boren in Oklahoma.

[Guest D. Cooper]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce should not be supporting commies. Many U.S. servicemen lost their lives fighting for them. Now I find out they support outsourcing to them gets my goat. Here is a list I found. Do with it what you want.

 

Randy Altschuler

Travis Childers

Rick Crawford

Charlie Bass

Diane Black

Carly Fiorina

Trey Grayson

Dr. Joe Heck

Paul Hodes

Randy Hultgren

Robert Hurt

Jim Marshall

Bill McCollum

Joe Manchin

Harry Michell

Jane Norton

Ben Quayle

Rand Paul

Marco Rubio

Kurt Schrader

Meg Whitman

[Guest Nate]

The Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and other Big Business groups are lobbying hard for changes that would protect that exorbitant CEO pay by gutting the new law’s “say on pay” provisions, before they even begin.

 

The Business Roundtable has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to give corporations more control over the proxy voting system, which is how most shareholders would cast votes on CEO pay. The Chamber wants to give Big Banks and Wall Street brokers power to vote on behalf of shareholders—knowing they’ll almost always vote to rubber-stamp excessive CEO pay.

 

Take action now to help stop their proposals in their tracks by sending a public comment to the SEC. Don’t let these groups representing Big Business sneak through these seemingly “technical” changes while nobody’s paying attention. Submit a public comment to:

 

The Hon. Mary Schapiro

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, N.E.

Washington, DC 20549–1090

[Guest IAdmitIAmCrazy]

I am aware that knowledge about the source of finance for a political ad does not eliminate the enormous advantage the sheer repetition of an ad has regardless of the truth of its content. Yet there is some mitigating effect when the financial backers of the ad are known. I agree with people who say that to research the truthfulness of a 30-second blurp on television is probably beyond many people's time constraints. Of course, knowledge of the financial backer doesn't tell us if there is truth in the ad but an ad singing the virtues of job out-sourcing financed by a union would certainly have more clout than one financed by a big off-shore corporation.

 

There is enough of empirical evidedence to state - without disdain for the "average" voter or any elitism - that the truth of an often enough repeated message has little impact, while sheer repetition has. Or why would campaigners invest so much money in them if they didn't work?

[Guest buffalochips]

Let's face it people,politics and big business are all so corrupt and it's only going to get worse. There is not a single group of rep's or dem's or any group of church leaders that can stop this horror, so hold on to your hat's. We have not seen anything yet to speak of.

[Guest Tea Party Patriot]

There are members in the Tea Party that realize the truth. Once again, we are a confederation. Each area is autonomous. What the Progressive Democrats don't realize is they have an opportunity just like the Fox News Tea Party Express. Glen Beck and Sarah Palin may not be the brightest lightbulbs in the bunch. But, they sure have a way of moving people in a direction.

 

Our mission is clear. Remove the elites orchestrating these events. We want to go back to the Constitution.

 

Republicans may not be the best choice. But, they are taking less from us than the Democrats. The only way Democrats have a chance is on foreign outsourcing. But, Republican leaders are making concessions by looking at Tea Party telephone and online polls.

[Luke_Wilbur]

I think the power is with the People. Consumers are the ones who make the final purchases.

 

But, I also think it in our national security for consumers to have a choice.

 

I am making a conscious decision to to purchase and sell American made goods.

 

American business sectors cannot compete with $20 per month wages.

 

We need fair trade tariffs on all manufactured goods.

 

We also need to the government to crack down on businesses that misuse the made in USA or made in America label.

[Guest Derek]

I cannot believe that the Chamber is spending $4.2 million in advertisements supporting Republican challenger Carly Fiorina. I wonder why?

[Guest American4Progress]

http://images2.americanprogressaction.org/ThinkProgress/secretkochmeeting.pdf

 

In 2006, Koch Industries owner Charles Koch revealed to the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore that he coordinates the funding of the conservative infrastructure of front groups, political campaigns, think tanks, media outlets and other anti-government efforts through a twice annual meeting of wealthy right-wing donors. He also confided to Moore, who is funded through several of Koch’s ventures, that his true goal is to strengthen the “culture of prosperity” by eliminating “90%” of all laws and government regulations. Although it is difficult to quantify the exact amount Koch alone has funneled to right-wing fronts, some studies have pointed toward $50 million he has given alone to anti-environmental groups. Recently, fronts funded by Charles and his brother David have received scrutiny because they have played a pivotal role in the organizing of the anti-Obama Tea Parties and the promotion of virulent far right lawmakers like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). (David Koch praised DeMint and gave him a “Washington Award” shortly after the senator promised to “break” Obama by making health reform his “Waterloo.”)

 

While the Koch brothers — each worth over $21.5 billion — have certainly underwritten much of the right, their hidden coordination with other big business money has gone largely unnoticed. ThinkProgress has obtained a memo outlining the details of the last Koch gathering held in June of this year. The memo, along with an attendee list of about 210 people, shows the titans of industry — from health insurance companies, oil executives, Wall Street investors, and real estate tycoons — working together with conservative journalists and Republican operatives to plan the 2010 election, as well as ongoing conservative efforts through 2012. According to the memo, David Chavern, the number two at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Fox News hate-talker Glenn Beck also met with these representatives of the corporate elite. In an election season with the most undisclosed secret corporate giving since the Watergate-era, the memo sheds light on the symbiotic relationship between extremely profitable, multi-billion dollar corporations and much of the conservative infrastructure. The memo describes the prospective corporate donors as “investors,” and it makes clear that many of the Republican operatives managing shadowy, undisclosed fronts running attack ads against Democrats were involved in the Koch’s election-planning event:

 

– Corporate “investors” at the Koch meeting included businesses with a strong profit motive in rolling back President Obama’s enacted reforms. Several companies impacted by health reform, including Allan Hubbard of A & E Industries, a manufacturer of medical devices and Judson Green, a board member of health insurance conglomerate Aon, were present at the meeting. Other businessmen at the meeting, like Omaha Burger King franchiser Mike Simmonds, are owners of fast food stores which have fought efforts to provide health insurance to their employees. Many corporate attendees of the meeting represent the financial industry impacted by Wall Street reform. For instance, attendee Bill Cooper is the CEO of TCF Financial, a corporation involved in the mortgage banking industry. Cooper recently filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Wall Street reform. Other financial industry players in the meeting hail from firms ranging from Bank of America, JLM Investment, Allied Capital Corp, AMG National Trust, the Blackstone Group and Citadel Investment. Annie Dickerson, a representative of Paul Singer, a powerful hedge fund manager who also gives tens of millions to Republican causes, was present. In addition, Koch Industries itself has a hedge fund and other financial derivative products in its portfolio of interests, which include oil pipelines, coal shipping, asphalt, refineries, consumer goods, timber, ranching, and chemicals.

 

– Corporate “investors” at the Koch meeting included businesses with a strong profit motive in preventing progressive reforms promised by President Obama. Several executives at the meeting have an incentive to stop Democrats and President Obama from addressing climate change and enacting clean energy reform. The meeting included oil executives from Aspect Energy, Murfin Drilling, Anschutz Company, GeoPark Holdings, Smoky Oil, and several members of Koch’s various subsidiaries. The meeting documents explicitly state that funding efforts to curb “climate change alarmism” were discussed.

 

– Fred Malek, Karl Rove’s top fundraiser for his $56 million attack ad campaign against Democrats, attended the meeting, along with leaders of other secret attack groups. Heather Higgins, who leads the Independent Women’s Forum, a shadowy group that has spent millions of dollars in attack ads on health reform, attended the meeting. So did Gretchen Hamel, a former Bush flak who now runs an attack ad group called “Public Notice,” which denounces spending programs.

 

– Participants collaborated with infamous consultants who specialize in generating fake grassroots movements, as well as experts on how corporations should take advantage of Citizens United. One session, about how to “mobilize citizens for November,” involved a discussion with Republican strategists Tim Phillips and Sean Noble, anti-union leader Mark Mix, and longtime Koch operative Karl Crow. Phillips — a veteran astroturf lobbyist who previously managed a deceptive grassroots lobbying campaign to help the Hong Kong-based Tan family maintain their forced abortion sweatshops in the Mariana Islands — now leads the day-to-day operations of Americans for Prosperity, the group ThinkProgress first reported to have helped organize many of the initial Tea Party rallies against Obama. Americans for Prosperity, founded and financed by David Koch, has a field team of over 80 campaign staffers spread out around the country, and additionally plans to spend $45 million dollars worth of attack ads against Democrats. Shortly before the planning meeting, Crow authored a campaign finance memo explaining that because of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, he advised specifically that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 501©(6) and Americans for Prosperity’s 501( c )(4) can “now use general treasury funds to produce communications materials opposing or supporting specific candidates” and corporations can aggressively pressure their employees to vote a certain way.

[Guest Derek]

I read the Times article.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20koch.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2

 

The participants in Aspen dined under the stars at the top of the gondola run on Aspen Mountain, and listened to Glenn Beck of Fox News in a session titled, “Is America on the Road to Serfdom?” (The title refers to a classic of Austrian economic thought that informs libertarian ideology, popularized by Mr. Beck on his show.)The participants included some of the nation’s wealthiest families and biggest names in finance: private equity and hedge fund executives like John Childs, Cliff Asness, Steve Schwarzman and Ken Griffin; Phil Anschutz, the entertainment and media mogul ranked by Forbes as the 34th-richest person in the country; Rich DeVos, the co-founder of Amway; Steve Bechtel of the giant construction firm; and Kenneth Langone of Home Depot.

[Guest American4Progress]

This issue is slowly gaining traction. Rep. Perriello Confronts Hurt On Foreign Money, Secret Corporate Money In Election.

[Guest LAW]

The United States and Israel: Partnering for Prosperity

Prepared Remarks of Rep. Henry A. Waxman

October 19, 2010

 

...Two weeks from now, this country will hold an election in which the Chamber has poured an unprecedented amount of money - tens of millions of dollars - into negative ads attacking candidates. I feel strongly about this issue. I think these practices raise important issues for our democracy and how election campaigns are run.

 

In particular, the Chamber has been unwilling to show accountability for the funds it has solicited for these ads. The donors have not been disclosed. Moreover, despite the Chamber's strong assertions, it has been unwilling to show conclusive evidence that money collected from foreign corporations isn't being used for political activities.

 

An event like this conference today is an appropriate use of contributions from Chamber members overseas. Spending such money on an election in any country would be inappropriate in this country it would also be illegal.

 

I urge the Chamber to be transparent, to provide full disclosure on the contributions it is making in this election cycle.

 

Without proper transparency and disclosure it is hard for the Chamber to be a role model for corporate citizenship in America and around the world.

[Guest Friend of Dusty]

While these TRAITORS are Selling our Country to the Highest Bidders, the Ignorant TEABAGGERS are Cheering them on, and Screaming "they want their Country Back".

[Guest Seth]

It is quite amazing to watch Rove, the Koch brothers, and the corporate cabal manipulate the teabaggers.

[Guest Dixie Blood]

I would like to see dozens of stock holder lawsuits brought against these companies for using profits for political activities instead of paying out to the investors. Whose money is it?

 

If the money is not from profits then the boards of directors are guilty of misappropriation of money from the activities of the business and instead are pursuing a political agenda with corporate funds.

[Guest DanC]

VIDEO: Papantonio: China and the US Chamber Buy American Elections