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发帖数: 8175 | 1 WASHINGTON – The Obama administration and its allies are going all out
against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and GOP-leaning groups, accusing them
of using foreign money to help finance political ads. Trouble is, they're
providing no evidence.
The mere idea, lack of proof aside, is part of a Democratic message that
tries to tie Republicans to foreign interests and to jobs shifted overseas.
On Monday, the liberal group MoveOn.org began airing an ad in Illinois
against Senate candidate Mark Kirk using his support from the chamber to
link him to foreign corporations that, in the ad's words, "threaten American
jobs."
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EDITOR'S NOTE — An occasional look behind the rhetoric of political
campaigns.
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And in Pennsylvania, Vice President Joe Biden kept up the attack on the
chamber and other groups that are spending millions of dollars in political
ads against Democrats without having to reveal their contributors.
"I challenge the Chamber of Commerce to tell us how much of the money they'
re investing is from foreign sources," Biden said during a fundraiser for
Democratic Rep. Chris Carney in Scranton. "I challenge them, if I'm wrong I
will stand corrected. But show me, show me."
Republicans suggest it's more about digging up votes than digging up answers
, a sign of desperation by Democrats worried that they're about to lose
control of the House.
"We are seeing an attempt to demonize specific groups and distract Americans
from a failed economic agenda," Bruce Josten, the chamber's top lobbyist,
said after Biden's remarks. "With three weeks until Election Day, it's time
to return to the discussion that Americans care most about: job creation."
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Map snapshot
Using foreign money to pay for political activity is illegal, and the
Chamber of Commerce says the minimal amount of money it receives from
overseas is carefully segregated from political spending. The chamber says
its 115 foreign business councils, known as "AmChams," pay a total of about
$100,000.
"There is no evidence at all that the chamber has done anything illegally,"
said Richard L. Hasen, an expert on election law at Loyola Law School in Los
Angeles. But he also noted that the potential for impropriety exists with
any organization that accepts funds that would be illegal if spent on
politics.
To be sure, money that is segregated for other purposes can free legal funds
for political uses.
But the chamber is hardly alone. A number of labor unions and advocacy
groups that participate in politics have foreign affiliates and overseas
donors. By law, these groups must make sure no foreign funds are used to
advocate for or against political candidates. What's more, foreign companies
with United States divisions can create political action committees that
accept donations from their U.S. employees.
Those foreign-connected PACs have contributed more than $12 million to
political candidates this election cycle, with more than half going to
Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan
group that tracks political money. PACs must itemize and identify the source
of all contributions more than $200.
Nonprofit tax exempt groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are not
required to reveal their contributors. Neither are outside groups such as
Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, an organization created this year
with the help of Republican strategist Karl Rove that has also become a
target of Democrats for its extensive spending in Senate campaigns.
The lack of disclosure makes it easier to mount an attack that suggests
either illegality or outsize influence by corporations and millionaires.
"The problem is not that the allegation is not a big deal," said Hasen, of
Loyola Law School. "The problem is that the allegation is not backed by any
facts."
James Bopp, an election lawyer who has argued for fewer restrictions in
campaign finance laws, said the administration's attacks show "the irony of
a president who promised to bring us to higher standard who now has gone to
the lowest possible standard."
Hasen proposes that to ensure that organizations involved in politics do not
misuse money, the government could undertake random audits that would serve
as a deterrent for improper activity. Hasen says such audits would not be
made public unless they discovered evidence of illegal activity.
Bopp argues that even the threat of audits for political activity would
chill free speech.
The merits of the Democrats case aside, the claims of foreign influence are
part of a broader message that attempts to answer Republican attacks that
Democrats are not doing enough to fix the economy and improve employment.
"What you have is an effort to buy a Congress that will serve an agenda of
big Wall Street banks, the big insurance companies and other special
interests that benefit from the offshoring of American jobs," said Rep.
Chris Van Hollen, the head of the Democratic congre |
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