Fern
Elite Member
- Sep 30, 2003
- 26,907
- 173
- 106
The Chamber elicits donations through their foreign offices and just has to promise that they'll use that cash on things other than political activities. Since cash is fungible, well......
Teabag tag brought you by spidey's leash holders in Bahrain.
You might want to read this, an article quoted above your post:
Mr. Josten said the Chamber of Commerce had 115 foreign member affiliates in 108 countries, who pay a total of less than $100,000 in membership dues that go into its general fund.
The group’s total budget is more than $200 million, and Mr. Josten said the group had safeguards to segregate the small fraction generated overseas from other accounts to comply with federal law and avoid bleeding into political spending.
The group has already spent more than $25 million on an aggressive political ad campaign in attacking policies it considers anti-business and the candidates, overwhelmingly Democrats, who have supported those policies. The chamber expects to spend at least $50 million by the November elections.
Even if the Chamber failed to seggregate the foriegn source funds, how could this be a problem of any significance? ($100k/$50M = .002 - that's far less than 1%
The US corporations, and that's what all most all are, that are members of a foreign US Chamber pay dues to it. In turn, the foreign based US chamber pays a 'membership fee' back to the US based Chamber HQ here in the US. The vast majority of any foreign based US Chamber membership dues are used for it's purposes in that country. Only a very small amount is paid out to the US Chamber HQ as that foreign based Chamber's dues.
I.e., so far no one has even remotely identified how significant foreign money could find it's way through to US elections. There's no significant foreign money to begin with.
Obama et al are really guilty of smear tactics, of making allegations which they haven't substaniated or even tried to.
I don't see how this improves his very poor reputation with the business community.
Fern
