275 Investors Demand U.S. Chamber Disclose Funds And Stop ‘Punitive Campaign’ Against Health Care Law
275 Investors Demand U.S. Chamber Disclose Funds And Stop ‘Punitive Campaign’ Against Health Care Law
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has become a behemoth of political influence, making high-powered and well-funded attempts to reshape policies to fit its agenda. Thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision and its trade association designation, the Chamber can leverage significant funds from its 501(c)(6) account — which includes donations solicited from foreign corporations — in campaign attacks against Democrats without ever having to disclose its donors. Despite significant scrutiny and criticism, the Chamber refuses to disclose how dues and other contributions are being spent.
But not all of the Chamber’s members are happy about its opaque political activities. Last week, a coalition of 275 institutional shareholders with $100 billion in assets under management from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) sent a letter to company directors who are members of the Chamber to express deep concern over the Chamber’s “extremely antagonistic position” on the Affordable Care Act. Concerned that the Chamber’s pursuit of an anti-health care agenda — especially with the possible use of “foreign monies” — may damage their reputation, these investors are demanding the Chamber reveal whether company dues are being used in this “ill-conceived strategy,” and that company directors withhold all dues or withdraw membership “until the Chamber refrains from further investment in negative advertising”:
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and its members…are writing to express our profound concerns about our company’s potential role in furthering the highly politicized agenda of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the 2010 mid-term election and the Chamber’s continued hostile opposition to health care reform. [...]
The Chamber’s punitive campaign, a veritable “hit list” of health care supporters, is counter-productive and explicitly partisan. … As [our company]‘s board representative to the Chamber, it is vitally important to ensure that the company is not seen to be the unwitting supporter of this initiative. We strongly believe that the media attention this issue has generated, particularly surrounding allegations of the co-mingling of foreign monies, poses significant risk to our company’s reputation. Further, we fully expect that you will use your influence to encourage other Chamber members to abandon this ill-conceived strategy.
As concerned shareholders, many of us working in the health care industry, we ask that you take steps to eliminate any risks associated with this issue, and make available all information regarding the use of our membership dues to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for review no later than October 30th. Further, as we believe that dues to the Chamber support the infrastructure which coordinates this campaign, we request that you publicly declare your opposition by either withholding your dues until the Chamber refrains from further investment in negative advertising, or if necessary, withdraw your membership in protest.
This is the ICCR’s second appeal to Chamber members on health care reform. In November 2009, ICCR members “called on Chamber members with stated positions similar to ICCR’s Health Care Reform principles to challenge the Chamber’s lobbying efforts against the passage of health care legislation.”
While the ICCR issues final warnings, Chamber members like Nike and Apple have left the Chamber altogether. In a newly-released comprehensive investigative series, Harry Hanbury and GRITtv reveal the ubiquitous role the Chamber plays in American politics and why companies may blanche at its secretive activities.
Watch it:
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GOP Candidate’s Claims That Mexicans Are Being Bused In To Vote Dismissed By AZ Attorney General
GOP Candidate’s Claims That Mexicans Are Being Bused In To Vote Dismissed By AZ Attorney General
This past Wednesday, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett released a statement indicating that right-wing allegations that the SEIU-affiliated Mi Familia Vota had committed voter fraud in Arizona’s Yuma County “are without merit.” However, that same day congressional candidate Jesse Kelly (R-AZ) told right-wing radio host Mark Levin that there were “rumors” that Mexicans were being brought into his own precinct to vote:
LEVIN: You’re gonna have to squeeze out every single vote there plus some because they’re gonna pull their dirty tricks like they always do, Jess.
KELLY: They already are down here. We’re already getting reports of voter fraud. Especially in one of the counties in my district there is actually rumors — people have video of them bussing people across from our southern border. We’re a border district. They literally bus people across from Mexico to have them vote at the polls on election day, give them a meal, and then bus them back. So we’re really fighting against that down here.
Listen:
Matthew Benson, communications director for the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office responded directly to Kelly’s allegations, saying, “We’ve seen no evidence of that allegation.” Benson called it an “urban legend” and pointed out that “in terms of specific instances, we haven’t seen it.”
Though right-wing claims of voter fraud in Arizona have been dismissed, a message issued by Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to his supporters has others worried about voter intimidation. Arpaio wrote: “”STOP ILLEGALS FROM STEALING THE ELECTION! Our grassroots army of VOTER FRAUD PREVENTION VOLUNTEERS will stand vigilant across the nation. We will be the first and strongest line of defense to ensure that only legal citizens vote on November 2nd.”
For more on the right-wing allegations of voter fraud, see today’s Progress Report.
Woman Receives Death Threats Days After Beck Targets Her On His Show
The League of Women Voters has filed complaints with police in Evanston, IL and the FBI saying that one of their officials has been targeted by death threats relating to a candidatess debate she moderated last week. Kathy Tate-Bradish was a volunteer moderator at the October 21 debate in the state’s 8th District and sparked conservative outrage when she expressed what was perceived as “lukewarm” support for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Just as the debate was about to begin, an audience member asked Tate-Bradish whether the pledge would be recited. When she “explained the pledge was not scheduled to begin the event, almost all in the crowd of more than 300 stood and enthusiastically recited it anyway.” Tate-Bradish recited the pledge as well, but told the crowd afterwards that the Pledge is not typically recited at candidate debates moderated by the League.
Within a few days, Tate-Bradish went from an unknown local League official to a right-wing villain, thanks to Fox News host Glenn Beck, who devoted a significant portion of his October 25 show to attacking her personally:
BECK: We wanted to look at the moderator, Kathy Tate-Bradish, from the League of Women Voters. Oh, she sounds so neutral and everything. I mean, she’s even neutral on the Pledge, apparently — just a typical woman voter trying to get the truth out. No, not so much — not so much.
She is on fire for Obama. She is a big-time Obama supporter. In fact, so much so, she’s part of his Organizing for America arm. Hmm. She’s even hosted campaign event in her home in 2007, part of her post on OFA’s, Organizing for America Web site, “Hope Action Change.”
Watch it:
The FBI told the Arlington Heights Daily Herald that Tate-Bradish’ complaint has been received and “is receiving due consideration.” League of Women Voters Illinois Executive Director Jan Czarnik, who filed the complaint, told the FBI that Tate-Bradish had been “turned into a cause celebre by Glenn Beck and Fox News.” Czarnik provided the FBI death threats posted on the Internet against Tate-Bradish, and “reported menacing posts on Fox News Channel’s Facebook page and Beck’s website, The Blaze.”
Joel Cheatwood, an executive who oversees Beck’s show, issued a statement yesterday saying, “We’re not going to comment on something that’s hypothetical as we have not heard about this complaint.”
For more on right-wing violence, see yesterday’s Progress Report.
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Compares DADT Judge To Al-Qaeda
Justice Tom Parker (center) poses with the leaders of two hate groups
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker, a disciple of disgraced former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, released a campaign ad comparing the judge who recently struck down the unconstitutional Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy to Al-Qaeda:
Recently, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ordered a worldwide injunction to overturn the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy on homosexuals serving in the military. With a stroke of a pen, this Clinton appointed judge—who got her law degree at Berkeley—unilaterally made the biggest single change in military policy in American history. . . . Most people believe that Al-Qaeda is one of America’s biggest security threats, I think it’s time to add liberal activist judges like Judge Phillips to that list.
Listen:
Parker’s hyperbolic claim about American history would come as a big surprise to the actual framers of the Constitution, who generally shared the view that the mere existance of a permanent standing army invites tyranny, but this kind of absurd and bigoted rhetoric is nothing new for Justice Parker. The picture above depicts Parker with two local hate group leaders. One is Leonard Wilson, a segregationist and national board member of a group called the Council of Conservative Citizens that has described African-Americans as “a retrograde species of humanity.” The other is Mike Whorton, Alabama state leader of the neo-Confederate League of the South.
(As the Wonk Room recently explained, Parker is not the only candidate with ties to the League. Martha Dean, the GOP nominee for Connecticut Attorney General, is apparently taking cues from one of the League’s co-founders, right-wing pseudo-historian Tom Woods.)
Nor is Parker’s radicalism limited to hatred towards gay men, lesbians or other minority groups. In a op-ed published during his tenure as a justice, Parker attacked his colleagues for “passively accommodat[ing] — rather than actively resist[ing] — the unconstitutional opinion of five liberal justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.” The same op-ed elaborated that he objects to the U.S. Supreme Court because they look down on “pro-family policies” and “Southern heritage.”
Tancredo: It’s ‘Elitist’ For ‘People Who Get Elected’ To Think Their ‘One Purpose’ Is ‘To Make Laws’
Tancredo: It’s ‘Elitist’ For ‘People Who Get Elected’ To Think Their ‘One Purpose’ Is ‘To Make Laws’
Third party gubernatorial candidate in Colorado Tom Tancredo was campaigning on Fox Business Network last night when host David Asman started complaining about “the arrogance of power.” “There is this arrogance. This sort of thing, I don’t care what you think I will do what I think is best for you,” Asman said referring to Tancredo’s Democratic opponent, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Tancredo agreed, but added a strange twist, saying that it’s “elitist” for lawmakers to think they were elected to make laws:
TANCREDO: It is an attitude that you see all the time. Yes, I spent 10 years in Congress. I could certainly see it there. There is a sort of an elitist idea that seeps into the head of a lot of people who get elected. And they begin to think of themselves as, really, there for only one purpose and that is to make laws. And why would you make laws? Well, because you know, better than anybody else what to do.
Watch it:
Why else would a lawmaker make laws? Because that’s exactly what they were elected to do. That’s why they’re called “lawmakers” — because they make laws. Indeed, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “lawmaker” as “one who makes laws.”
In fact, it seems a lot of Tea Party-backed candidates don’t seem to think it would be in their job description to do much of anything. “Once again, Harry Reid: It’s not your job to create jobs,” Nevada GOP U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle regularly says on the campaign trail.
Similarly, many Republicans running for Congress are actively pushing the idea of a government shutdown if they don’t get what they want. Powerful Tea Party-allied Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) even said recently, “This idea that government has to do something is not a good idea. So I think the less we do, the better.”
So if Tancredo doesn’t think it would be his job as governor to make laws, what exactly does he think he would be doing?
Vitter Claims Offensive Images In His Ad Portray ‘Fact Not A Stereotype’
A couple weeks ago, the Wonk Room reported that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was urging Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to apologize for and to stop running a race-baiting anti-immigrant attack ad on his opponent, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) that contained offensive ethnic stereotypes. “We found the ad to be totally abhorrent and shocking, and I’m going to use the ‘R’ word and say racist,” Darlene Kattan of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana told a local news station.
In a debate last night, Vitter was asked to respond to the allegations. Rather than apologizing, Vitter affirmed, “I stand by the ad.” According to him, the images in it aren’t a “stereotype,” but rather, “a fact”:
MODERATOR: Do you offer them an apology or do you stand by the ad?
VITTER: We have an illegal immigration problem and a huge part of that is the Mexican border. That is a fact, that is not a stereotype. Ninety seven percent of our apprehensions of illegals is at the Mexican border. That is a fact, that is not a stereotype. Over 80 percent of the 12-15 million illegals in this country have come through that border from Mexico and South American countries. That is a fact, that is not a stereotype. Now there’s one thing in that ad that is offensive and that is Mister Melancon’s votes that the ad highlights. [...]
MODERATOR: How do you respond to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Catholic Charities, the Archdiocese of New Orleans who say that this ad played into offensive racial stereotypes?
VITTER: Let me just ask you, what is the stereotype?
MODERATOR:They’re talking about the images seen in your ad.
VITTER: Is it a stereotype that folks coming across the border — that is a problem and they look like that? Dennis that is a fact, that is not a stereotype! Let’s get our heads out of the sand!
Watch it:
It’s interesting that Vitter avoided taking the Sharron Angle route of denying that the negative images in the ad are necessarily Latinos. Instead, he readily admits that there’s a connection between the two. Yet, Vitter’s ad isn’t a “fact” — it’s a racist parody of Latin culture. His implication that the running image of goofy Latino men who sneak through a hole in a fence with a giant neon welcome sign and then run off with a check from the government is somehow representative of people from Mexico and South America says a lot about how Vitter perceives reality. Wonk Room has more on how disconnected Vitter’s statement are from the immigration issue itself. About two dozen New Orleans-area community leaders called on Vitter to apologize and remove the ad, including representatives of African-American, Latino, and Vietnamese groups, and Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans.
Palin-Endorsed Fiorina Refuses To Deny That Palin Is ‘Too Extreme’
Two weeks ago, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came to California for a big rally with Republican National committee Chairman Michael Steele, but noticeably absent was the state’s Republican Senate nominee Carly Fiorina, whom Palin had endorsed. “Fiorina was just an hour down Interstate 5 earlier in the day with John McCain — yet neither showed,” presumably because of Palin’s polarizing nature. Appearing today on Good Morning America, Fiorina was asked whether Palin is “too extreme.” Twice, Fiorina dodged, saying only that she doesn’t “agree with Sarah Palin on everything”:
HOST: Why not Sarah Palin, is she too extreme for you?
FIORINA Well, I don’t know why you’re asking about her in particular, I mean there are many people who have endorsed me that I am agree with on some issues but not others.
HOST: I guess the reason that Sarah Palin’s name continued to come up is that she has been very powerful and that she has been very helpful to a lot of candidates across the country. Down in Florida, Charlie Crist had an ad campaign saying Sarah Palin is just too extreme for some Republicans.
FIORINA: Well, I don’t agree with Sarah Palin on everything. As I say, I don’t agree with many folks on absolutely everything.
Watch it:
Fiorina isn’t the only leading Republican who seemingly has doubts about Palin. In a recent interview with the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph, former Bush advisor Karl Rove questioned if the self-styled momma grizzly has the “gravitas” to be president. And the American people seem to agree; a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds 67 percent of registered voters think Palin is unqualified to be president, while just 27 percent say they view her as qualified.
Ohio McDonald’s Tells Employees To Vote Republican If They Want To Continue Receiving Raises And Benefits
Ohio McDonald’s Tells Employees To Vote Republican If They Want To Continue Receiving Raises And Benefits
McDonald’s sells itself as the ultimate happy place. But this election season, a local McDonald’s franchise in Canton, Ohio is telling employees how to keep the company happy: vote Republican.
Along with their recent paychecks, employees received a pamphlet from their employer on company letter head that stated “as the election season is here, we wanted you to know which candidates will help our business grow in the future.” While pointing out that the vote is the employee’s “personal decision,” the pamphlet explicitly states, “if the right people are elected we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels. If others are elected we will not”:
In explicitly endorsing gubernatorial candidate John Kasich (R), Senate candidate Rob Portman (R), and House candidate Jim Renacci (R), the pamphlet — which was directly inside the envelope with the paycheck — appears to directly violate Ohio Revised Code regarding elections:
No employer or his agent or a corporation shall print or authorize to be printed upon any pay envelopes any statements intended or calculated to influence the political action of his or its employees; or post or exhibit in the establishment or anywhere in or about the establishment any posters, placards, or hand bills containing any threat, notice, or information that if any particular candidate is elected or defeated work in the establishment will cease in whole or in part, or other threats expressed or implied, intended to influence the political opinions or votes of his or its employees.
“This is an outrageous attack on one of the most fundamental rights our citizens enjoy – the right to vote for the candidate of his/her choice without economic fear or threat,” states attorney Allen Schulman who is investigating the matter. “It is particularly egregious that in this time of harsh economic conditions, a corporation would stoop to this level of voter intimidation.”
Not to mention that Kasich, Portman, and Renacci all oppose the health care reform law, a law that ensures employees like those at McDonald’s can afford health coverage and provides companies like McDonald’s with “significant flexibility to maintain coverage for workers.” And should these three adopt the Republican view of the minimum wage, the only happy face at the this McDonald’s will be the employer’s.
As an independent business owner, my employees are a top priority for me. I work hard to create a positive restaurant environment for everyone. I greatly value my employees and the contributions they make to my business, each and every day. Without a doubt it's my employees' right and his or her choice, if they decide to vote, and if so, for whom. I strive to comply with all laws, including state and federal election laws. Distributing this communication was an error of judgment on my part. Please know, it was never my intention to offend anyone. For those that I have offended, I sincerely apologize.
Arkansas School Board Member Who Wanted ‘Fags’ To ‘Commit Suicide’ Vows To Resign
Earlier this week, ThinkProgress noted that with the backdrop of a disturbing wave of gay teen suicides, Arkansas school board member Clint McCance took to his Facebook page to urge “fags” and “queers” to kill themselves. McCance’s homophobic tirade came in response to a campaign by Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for educators and others to wear purple to show support for gay teens who suffered from bullying — unfortunately, McCance just took this as an opportunity to engage in some bullying of his own. However, last night on CNN host Anderson Cooper’s program, McCance apologized for his hateful comments and said he would be resigning from the school board:
MCCANCE: It was out of control. You know and it does look like I’m a hate monger or a horrible person, and that’s not me at all. [...]
COOPER: They said they can’t fire you, but that you can resign. Are you going to resign from the school board?
MCCANCE: I am going to resign from the school board.
It is to — to help my community, to help my school. I don’t want them to receive bad press or have a distraction because of some ignorant comments that have — that I made.
If they decide later, you know, a year, five years, 10 years from now to vote me back in, if my constituents want that, then — then I will run again.
Watch it:
While McCance said he still believes homosexuality is wrong in the eyes of God, he said he does not “have an problem with anyone’s sexuality.” Fortunately, most schools are cracking down on bullying. Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent new official guidelines on school-bullying to 15,000 school districts and 5,000 colleges and universities with the message “bullying is not acceptable” and can violate federal civil rights laws.
Relatives Says Man Arrested For Threatening Democratic Senator Was ‘Under The Spell That Glenn Beck Cast’
Relatives Says Man Arrested For Threatening Democratic Senator Was ‘Under The Spell That Glenn Beck Cast’
In April, a Washington man named Charles Alan Wilson was arrested for threatening Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) for her vote to pass health care reform. He left a series of threatening messages on her voicemail, saying “It only takes one piece of lead. Kill the (expletive) senator! … Now that you’ve passed your health-care bill, let the violence begin” and “I do believe that every one of you (expletive) socialist democratic progressive (expletive) need to be taken out.” Wilson was arrested after a federal agent called him pretending to be from a group backed by Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing organization responsible for funding some of the “grassroots” opposition to health care reform. Wilson told the agent, who he thought was a fellow opponent to health care reform, that “I will not blink” when it comes to shooting the Senator. “It’s not a threat, it’s a guarantee,” he said.
Now, Media Matters reports on new disturbing details about the extent to which Wilson may have been influenced by Fox News personality Glenn Beck. According to court records, Wilson’s family blamed Beck for putting Wilson “under a spell.” Wilson’s cousin submitted this letter to the court last month:
What happened later with Charlie is something I think I can understand. He became basically housebound due to illness and his small world became even smaller. His brother got him a computer and he was able to stay connected with family. And he watched television and found Glenn Beck… I found Glenn Beck about the same time Charlie did. I understand how his fears were grown and fostered by Mr. Beck’s persuasive personality. The same thing happened to me but I went in a different direction with what I was seeing. Rather than blame politicians for the current issues, I simply got prepared for what Glenn said was coming. I slowly filled our pantry as Glenn fed fear into me. I did not miss watching his show and could not understand why the rest of the world didn’t get it — Glenn became a pariah to me. But I was finally able to step away and realize the error of my ways. The media lost its grip on me. But it still held very tightly to Charlie.
While his actions were undeniably wrong and his choices were terrible, in part they were the actions of others played out by a very gullible Charlie. He was under the spell that Glenn Beck cast, aided by the turbulent times in our economy. I don’t believe that Charlie even had the ability to actually carry out his threats.
Indeed, Beck fiercely opposed health care reform, often in apocalyptic terms, saying that “This is the end of prosperity in America forever … the end of America as you know it,” and asking “if this passes, don’t we lose, really, the Democratic Party to the socialists?” This was coupled with some disturbingly violent rhetoric: Beck characterized Democrats as vampires, and then suggested “driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers.” He also said that “[t]o the day I die, I am going to be a progressive hunter.”
Watch a compilation of videos found at Media Matters:
This isn’t the first time an unhinged person may have been motivated to conduct political violence because of what they saw on Beck’s show. In July an unemployed California man loaded up his car with guns and ammunition, and was pulled over and arrested on his way to shoot up the Tides Foundation in San Francisco, a frequent Beck target. He later told a reporter that “I would have never started watching Fox News if it wasn’t for the fact that Beck was on there. And it was the things that he did, it was the things he exposed that blew my mind. I said, well, nobody does this.” In April, a man was arrested for threatening Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and his mother told reporters that she blamed Fox News.
ThinkFast: October 29, 2010
ThinkFast: October 29, 2010
Halliburton and BP knew that the Deepwater Horizon rig was facing serious structural problems before the April 20 blowout, according to the presidential commission investigating the accident. The commission staff determined that Halliburton conducted tests indicating that the cement at the rig was not up to industry standards, but did not take action.
According to the Pentagon’s DADT survey findings reported yesterday, a majority of service members “would not object to serving and living alongside openly gay troops.” The survey’s results will be included in the Pentagon’s report for President Obama on December 1 regarding how the military would end the DADT policy.
The EPA has again delayed a decision on whether to adopt tougher smog standards, a proposal that was opposed by oil refiners, manufacturers, and some Democrats running for office. The decision, scheduled for Sunday, has been put off indefinitely, and an EPA spokesman said the department was “working to ensure we get it right.”
Unemployment claims dropped sharply last week, by 21,000 claims — the biggest drop in unemployment claims in any week since July.
Court documents unsealed yesterday in the case surrounding naturalized U.S. citizen Farooque Ahmed’s plan to bomb Washington, DC Metro stations revealed that the tip that led to his arrest came from a source in the Muslim community. However, the Justice Department refused to give details of the tipster’s identity.
Yesterday, the government announced it had spent a record $80.1 billion on intelligence activities in the last year, an increase of nearly 7 percent over the previous year. In its first disclosure of both the civilian intelligence agencies and military budgets, the Defense Department said “no program details will be released.”
Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo said this week that President Obama is a greater threat to the U.S. than al-Qaida. Speaking with voters in a local coffee shop, Tancredo said, “It’s not al-Qaida, it’s the guy sitting in the White House.”
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin opened the door slightly to a run for president in 2012, telling Entertainment Tonight that she would put her hat in the ring “if there’s nobody else to do it.” She said she’ll take a “real close look at the lay of the land” to see “whether there are already candidates out there who can do the job and I’ll get to be their biggest supporter and biggest helpmate if they will have me.”
And finally: Early yesterday morning while Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) was driving, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called him with an urgent message: “You shouldn’t be on the phone while you are driving.” Actually, LaHood — who has launched a major campaign to urge people not to use cell phones while driving — was calling to say that Chaffetz’ district had been awarded a $500,000 federal grant for an airport, but he would only deliver the news after Chaffetz put in his hands free Bluetooth device.
How The ‘US’ Chamber Uses Its Money To Pay Pundits, Manipulate Google, And Create Fake News Outlets
How The ‘US’ Chamber Uses Its Money To Pay Pundits, Manipulate Google, And Create Fake News Outlets
Earlier this month, ThinkProgress published an exclusive series of investigative pieces into the fundraising program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the far right corporate lobbying juggernaut. We uncovered millions from corporations like Procter and Gamble, outsourcing giant CSC, and Microsoft, but also discovered that the Chamber has been actively fundraising from foreign corporations like the Bahrain Petroleum Company and the State Bank of India. We provided documentation for over 80 foreign corporations donating at least $885,000 to the same Chamber 501(c)(6) general account the Chamber is now using to run an unprecedented $75 million attack campaign against Democrats.
Responding to our posts, the Chamber launched a massive smear campaign using its large in-house communications staff and a network of well funded public relations firms:
– Manipulating Google And Blogs: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce retains public relations giant Fleishman-Hillard for much of their online communications work. Fleishman-Hillard VP Pat Cleary posts on the Chamber’s blog, and says he works closely with conservative bloggers through RedState. Other Chamber lobbyists collaborate routinely with conservative bloggers through the Heritage Foundation’s Bloggers Briefing to help get the message out for business lobbyists. As Cleary has told conferences of business lobbyists, he helps trade associations like the Chamber buy AdWords to promote the business lobby’s message. For example, when anyone Googles the words “US Chamber” and “foreign,” they see a link to the Chamber’s false response that it receives only $100,000 from foreign affiliates.
– Paying For Television Pundits: GOP lobbyist John Feehery has appeared on cable television to attack ThinkProgress’ reporting, taken to Twitter call President Obama a “business-hating socialist” for calling attention to this story, and even penned an article in The Hill newspaper to defend the Chamber and lie about our investigation. Feehery never mentioned the foreign corporate direct donations to the Chamber’s 501(c)(6). But more importantly, neither The Hill nor any of television outlets Feehery appears on disclosed the fact that Feehery’s public relations firm, The Feehery Group, counts the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of its clients. Shortly after our story broke, Feehery was hired by another public relations/lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie, which is also a client of the Chamber. Moreover, Fox News’ parent company is an active member of the Chamber, and hate-talker Glenn Beck met with the Chamber’s second in command earlier this year to plot the 2010 election. While Fox hosts and Beck have endlessly defended the Chamber’s secret money, there has been no disclosure of the network’s financial ties to Chamber lobbyists.
– The Chamber Owns Fake News Sites: As the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard reported, the Chamber owns a variety of news websites in West Virginia, Illinois, and elsewhere, while also maintaining a wire service called Legal Newsline. All of these websites posture as independently owned and objective journalism outfits, and do not disclose that they are fully owned subsidiaries of Chamber lobbyists.
Unfortunately, the Chamber’s sophisticated smear campaign deceived many reputable media organizations into distorting our reporting. Reporters from the New York Times (Eric Lichtblau), the Associated Press (Alan Fram, Jim Kuhnhenn), McClatchy (David Lightman), Time (Mark Halperin), and other outlets misrepresented ThinkProgress’ reporting by refusing to acknowledge any of our key revelations about the Chamber’s foreign fundraising (the fundraising documents we published, the Bahrainian or Indianian corporate donations). None of these reporters directly contacted ThinkProgress, and instead opted to only interview Chamber lobbyists.
In many cases, these traditional reporters reprinted the Chamber’s lie that it only fundraises from foreign affiliates called AmChams, and that AmChams are composed of only American companies (this has been thoroughly debunked). Ignoring ThinkProgess’ reporting, these journalists reprinted the Chamber’s unproven assertion that it only accepts $100,000 from foreign affiliates. In other cases, these reporters reprinted the Chamber’s false claim that its political operation is equivalent to labor unions. In fact, labor unions face double disclosure because they must reveal their donors to the public through both the Department of Labor and the Federal Election Commission. The Chamber, on the other hand, refuses to disclose both its American and foreign donors to anyone. Although ThinkProgress has demonstrated that the Chamber receives at a minimum of $885,000 in foreign cash every year to its primary 501(c)(6) campaign account, few journalists have bothered to cover the thrust of our story.
Corker Says Defense Cuts Have To Be ‘On The Table,’ Because ‘There’s A Lot Of Waste There’
Corker Says Defense Cuts Have To Be ‘On The Table,’ Because ‘There’s A Lot Of Waste There’
This past Friday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) guest hosted CNBC’s Squawk Box. The senator covered a variety of topics while hosting the show, including his belief that Republicans should and will alter the recently passed health care bill instead of simply repealing it.
At one point, the Squawk Box co-host Joe Kernen explained that the show received e-mails asking them to ask Corker “what he wants to cut” in order to reduce the budget deficit. Corker responded that “everything need to be on the table.” Kernen followed up by asking, “Everything’s on the table? Defense? Entitlements?” Corker once again replied, “Everything! I mean look, Secretary Gates will tell you there’s a lot of waste there. We need to streamline it”:
KERNEN: We get e-mails coming in saying, “You’re going to have Corker on. For once ask a Republican what he wants to cut.” [...] The rap is all you say is cut but you’ve got no idea what to cut. What would you specifically cut?
CORKER: Well, first of all I think everything needs to be on the table.
KERNEN: Everything’s on the table? Defense? Entitlements?
CORKER: Everything! I mean, look, Secretary Gates will tell you there’s a lot of waste there. We need to streamline it.
KERNEN: Other than waste, though?
CORKER: Well, obviously that’s going to be more difficult, let’s face it. Because it’s our national security, that’s the most important thing we do in Washington, but everything we do needs to be looked at. So I would say nothing’s off the table, nothing.
Watch it:
Corker’s sentiments are in line with at least five Republicans running for Senate this year. Last week, Oregon nominee Jim Huffman called for defense cuts, citing the “vaste amount of money wasted in defense.” Earlier that week, Pennsylvania candidate Pat Toomey criticized Congress for voting for “programs the Pentagon doesn’t even want.” The week before, Illinois candidate Mark Kirk said we need “across the board” reductions in defense spending. Earlier this month, Sen. Johnny Isakson (GA) told a local news station that reducing the deficit “begins with the Department of Defense.” A few days later, Kentucky candidate Rand Paul criticized Republicans for exempting the military from waste-trimming, telling PBS’s Gwen Ifill that cutting defense spending “has to be on the table.” All of these candidates are stating positions in direct opposition to the GOP’s much-touted “Pledge To America,” which explicitly exempts the Department of Defense from waste-cutting.
If these Republicans are really serious about reining in the defense budget, they can look to The Sustainable Defense Task (SDTF) report released earlier this year. The SDTF — which comprises Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and some of the nation’s leading defense and budget experts — identified nearly $1 trillion in waste that can be cut from the defense budget over the next ten years simply by eliminating outdated Cold War-era programs. They could also reference a recent report by CAP experts Lawrence Korb and Laura Conley that lays out $108 billion in defense cuts in the current 2015 budget forecast.
Crossroads GPS’ One-Size-Fits-All Ad Falsely Claims North Dakota’s Booming Economy Is ‘Reeling’
Crossroads GPS’ One-Size-Fits-All Ad Falsely Claims North Dakota’s Booming Economy Is ‘Reeling’
With veteran GOP operative Karl Rove at its back, and a little help from the Citizens United decision, the conservative PAC American Crossroads and its 501(c)(4) counterpart Crossroads GPS bombarded the airwaves with over $16 million in attack ads this campaign season. With 5 days to go until the election, American Crossroads announced $6 million worth of ad buys yesterday in its final blitz to defeat Democrats. But, while a GOP victory might be the Crossroads groups’ top priority, one ad proves that accuracy is certainly not.
This season, Crossroads created a one-size-fits-all ad slamming targeted Democrats for supporting the Recovery Act. Running in different races across the country, the ad claims that while whichever state’s “economy is reeling,” whoever the Democrat happens to be is “making [the economy] worse” by supporting the “stimulus boondoggle.” Confident that this “fill-in-the-blank” issue ad fits every state, Crossroads ran the ad against Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D) in North Dakota. “North Dakota’s economy is reeling and Congressman Earl Pomeroy is making it worse,” the ad warns.
Watch it:
The ominous ad, however, fails to mention one important detail: North Dakota’s economy is not reeling. In fact, it’s booming. This summer, North Dakota saw employment rise from 362,100 in December 2007 to 371,300 last month — a record in job creation for the state. Indeed, along with Alaska, North Dakota is the only state “to have created jobs since the onslaught of the Great Recession.” And with the highest rate of personal income growth and the nation’s lowest unemployment rate of 3.7 percent — well below the 9.6 percent national average — this state’s economy “sticks out like a diamond in a bowl of cherry pits.”
But truth in advertising isn’t exactly Crossroads’ modus operandi. According to Factcheck.org research, American Crossroads regularly makes “false and misleading claims” in their “blizzard” of attack ads in states like Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Nevada, Missouri, and New Hampshire. And while American Crossroads must disclose its donors, Crossroads GPS is a 501(c)(4) organization and therefore does not have to. Thus, like its “kissing cousin” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Crossroads GPS can take advantage of legal loopholes to inject massive funds into this year’s election without ever having to disclose its funders.
Pomeroy’s campaign ripped into Crossroads today for the “phony,” “cookie-cutter” ad. “Next time Karl Rove wants to funnel secret money to North Dakota to influence our elections, he ought to visit our state first or at least pick up one of our newspapers,” said Pomeroy’s spokesman Brenden Timpe. “If he did, he would know that North Dakota’s economy is doing quite well thank you very much, and Earl has been a strong partner in that progress.”
Peter King Claims American Muslim Communities ‘Do Not Cooperate’ To Combat Terrorism
Peter King Claims American Muslim Communities ‘Do Not Cooperate’ To Combat Terrorism
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly has been on an Islamophobic tear lately. O’Reilly initially took heat for saying that “Muslims attacked us on 9/11″ and he has since defended that claim, saying that “there is a Muslim problem in the world.” After receiving criticism for that statement, O’Reilly defended himself again, claiming that there is a “Muslim problem” because “good” Muslims don’t combat extremism — a point radio host Don Imus told O’Reilly was not “accurate.”
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) seems to have picked up on O’Reilly’s spurious reasoning, telling Imus yesterday that leaders in the Muslim community “do not cooperate”:
KING: It’s not just people who are involved with the terrorists and extremists, it is people who are in mainstream Islam, leaders of mosques, leaders of Muslim organizations who do not come forward and denounce, officially denounce, officially cooperate with the police against those extremists and terrorists. So, it goes beyond the terrorists and the extremists and also includes those in what others call mainstream Muslim leadership.
Watch it:
King didn’t provide any evidence that Muslims aren’t cooperating with authorities. While many Muslim leaders have complained of a heavy-handed FBI presence in their communities, American Muslims have been integral in combating domestic terrorism. As Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress, according to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, “About a third of all foiled al-Qaida-related plots in the U.S. relied on support or information provided by members of the Muslim community.” Indeed, a Senagalese Muslim immigrant who works as a vendor in Times Square was the first to bring the smoking car that was part of the failed Times Square bombing plot to the police’s attention. And the father of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab — who failed in his attempt to blow up an airplane over Detroit last year — alerted U.S. authorities of his son’s “extreme radical views” months before he tried to carry out the attack.
Moreover, a recent academic study found that American contemporary mosques are serving as a deterrent to the spread of extremism and terrorism. The New York Times noted that the study found that “many mosque leaders had put significant effort into countering extremism by building youth programs, sponsoring antiviolence forums and scrutinizing teachers and texts.” “Muslim-American communities have been active in preventing radicalization,” said study co- author David Kurzman. “This is one reason that Muslim-American terrorism has resulted in fewer than three dozen of the 136,000 murders committed in the United States since 9/11.”
King’s claim that Muslim organizations in the U.S. aren’t denouncing terrorism is simply false. For example, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading American Muslim organization, unequivocally condemned terrorism and has launched numerous anti-extremism campaigns.
Deficit Fraud Pence Calls For Defense Cuts, But Refuses To Cut Program Pentagon Doesn’t Want
Deficit Fraud Pence Calls For Defense Cuts, But Refuses To Cut Program Pentagon Doesn’t Want
While conservatives have adamantly demanded spending cuts over the past two and half years, critics have pointed out that most Republican leaders keep defense and entitlements like Social Security and Medicare off the table — which together account for over 60 percent of federal spending — making their calls for belt tightening somewhat disingenuous.
Appearing on CNN’s Parker/Spitzer last night, House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) seemed to endorse defense cuts:
SPITZER: You said everything will be on the table, which I admire you, I agree with you, it’s got to be on the table. … Are you willing to consider any cuts in defense? [...]
PENCE: But you bet, Eliot, come on, I mean, we know there are inefficiencies in defense spending in this country. We have real challenges. There are rising threats around the globe far beyond the reach of the war on terror. We need to be preparing for, for the future. I think we can do that if we look for greater efficiencies and if we set into motion processes that will encourage efficiency and a better use of taxpayer’s dollars in providing for the common defense which of course is the first article of the federal government.
Watch it:
Pence’s rhetoric on defense cuts sounds good, but like many GOP promises to cut spending, it rings hollow. Earlier this year, Pence was presented with a great opportunity to cut “inefficiencies in defense spending,” and he passed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called for major cuts to a number of big-ticket weapons programs and chief among them is a proposed extra engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Gates called the second engine — which costs $560 million a year to develop — “costly and unnecessary,” and said, “Every dollar additional to the budget that we have to put into the F-35 is a dollar taken from something else that the troops may need.” Gates even urged President Obama to veto any funding for the engine.
After the House Armed Services Committee failed to strip the second engine from the Defense Authorization bill in May, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) offered an amendment to de-fund the superfluous project — Pence voted no and the amendment failed. In an interview with Bloomberg’s Al Hunt in July, Pence defended his vote. Seemingly knowing more about defense than Gates, Pence said, “I really do believe that it was in the interest of our national defense.” Not coincidentally, the company that would manufactures the extra engine has a large presence in Pence’s district.
If Pence refuses to cut funding for a program that the military adamantly does not want, what will he cut?
Steve King Says Children Will Be Raised In ‘Warehouses’ If Conservatives Don’t ‘Defend Marriage’
Steve King Says Children Will Be Raised In ‘Warehouses’ If Conservatives Don’t ‘Defend Marriage’
The Iowa Independent’s Lynda Waddington caught up with Rep. Steve King (R-IA) at the so-called “Judge Bus” tour — a campaign urging Iowa voters to oust three Iowa Supreme Court judges who overturned an Iowa statute banning same-sex marriage in April 2009. King has long argued that judges shouldn’t “legislate” from the bench, and said that he feared the court’s decision would turn Iowa into a “gay marriage Mecca.” Yesterday, at a bus stop in Cedar Rapids, IA, he told Waddington that if conservatives don’t restrict marriage to one man and one woman, children will be taken away from their parents and to be raised in warehouses:
“I think that if we can’t defend marriage, that it becomes very hard to defend life,” King said. “Marriage is the crucible by which we pour all of our values and pass them on to our children, and that is how the culture is renewed each time. So, if we lose marriage — for instance, if our children are raised in warehouses, so to speak. There have been civilizations that have tried to do that. The Spartans did that. They took the children away and taught them to be warriors. It’s a good way to defend a country, but not much of a way to run a civilization.
“So, I’m afraid if that happened — if we lose the marriage, we lose the home, we lose the nuclear family then we can’t teach our values. We won’t be able to teach our faith. We won’t be able to teach life. We won’t be able to teach our Constitutional values either. That’s why I’m afraid it’s going to be very, very difficult to defend life.”
As the Wonk Room notes, Washington, DC, Iowa and the remaining four states that have expanded marriage rights haven’t constructed child-only warehouses. All the research about same-sex parents suggests that their families are very similar to those with different sex parents. (HT: Right Wing Watch)
REPORT: 111 Republican Incumbents And Candidates Want To Eliminate The Department Of Education
REPORT: 111 Republican Incumbents And Candidates Want To Eliminate The Department Of Education
This is the third installment in a three-part series on legislation that may emerge from a GOP-controlled Congress. Click here for part one on ending birthright citizenship and here for part two on privatizing Social Security.
If Republicans win control of Congress on Tuesday, their anti-government zeal may soon focus on an old target: the Department of Education. As recently as 1996, the Republican Party platform declared, “The Federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula or to control jobs in the market place. This is why we will abolish the Department of Education.” However, after multiple bills attempting to do so were stymied by sensible members of Congress, the Department appeared to have been spared. Now, a new wave of Republicans (along with many old hardline conservatives) are trying to number its days once again.
The last time the Republicans made a concerted effort to eliminate the Department of Education in 1995, they ran into a strong public backlash. Polling conducted by Hart Research Associates found that 80 percent of respondents in June 1995 wanted the Department of Education to be maintained, while just 17% wanted it eliminated. With a new New York Times/CBS poll finding that education funding is the last area respondents would like to see spending cuts, it’s no stretch to imagine that a strong majority of Americans still support the Department of Education.
Nevertheless, because there exists widespread support for eliminating the Department of Education in the Republican ranks, the issue could soon come to the forefront in a GOP-controlled Congress. A comprehensive review of the voting records and statements of Republican incumbents and candidates finds that there are 111 GOPers who support shutting down the Department of Education. Though a minority (35 percent) of sitting Republicans are on record supporting elimination, the anti-education bloc will undoubtedly swell in the next Congress due to the 36 new GOP candidates who favor shutting down the Department.
Here are the 111 Republicans who support eliminating the Department of Education (leadership in bold):
Senate (12)
| John McCain (AZ) | Saxby Chambliss (GA) | Mike Crapo (ID) |
| Sam Brownback (KS) | Pat Roberts (KS) | Jim Bunning (KY) |
| Roger Wicker (MS) | Richard Burr (NC) | John Ensign (NV) |
| George Voinovich (OH) | Tom Coburn (OK) | Lindsey Graham (SC) |
House of Representatives (63)
| Spencer Bachus (AL-06) | Don Young (AK-AL) | John Shaddegg (AZ-03) |
| Jeff Flake (AZ-06) | Wally Herger (CA-02) | George Radanovich (CA-19) |
| Elton Gallegly (CA-24) | Buck McKeon (CA-25) | David Dreier (CA-26) |
| Ed Royce (CA-40) | Jerry Lewis (CA-41) | Ken Calvert (CA-44) |
| Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46) | Brian Bilbray (CA-50) | Doug Lamborn (CO-05) |
| Cliff Stearns (FL-06) | John Mica (FL-07) | Bill Young (FL-10) |
| Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18) | Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21) | Jack Kingston (GA-01) |
| John Linder (GA-07) | Paul Broun (GA-10) | Tom Latham (IA-04) |
| Donald Manzullo (IL-16) | Steve Buyer (IN-04) | Dan Burton* (IN-05) |
| Todd Tiahrt (KS-04) | Ed Whitfield (KY-01) | Hal Rogers (KY-05) |
| Roscoe Bartlett (MD-06) | Michele Bachmann (MN-06) | Pete Hoekstra (MI-02) |
| Vern Ehlers (MI-03) | David Lee Camp (MI-04) | Fred Upton (MI-06) |
| Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) | Chris Smith (NJ-04) | Scott Garrett (NJ-05) |
| Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) | Walter Jones (NC-03) | Howard Coble (NC-06) |
| Sue Myrick (NC-09) | Peter King (NY-03) | John Boehner (OH-08) |
| Pat Tiberi (OH-12) | Steven LaTourette (OH-14) | Frank Lucas (OK-03) |
| Bob Inglis (SC-04) | Sam Johnson (TX-03) | Ralph Hall (TX-04) |
| Joe Barton (TX-06) | John Culberson (TX-07) | Mac Thornberry (TX-13) |
| Ron Paul (TX-14) | Lamar Smith (TX-21) | John Duncan (TN-02) |
| Zach Wamp (TN-03) | Bob Goodlatte (VA-06) | Frank Wolf (VA-10) |
| Doc Hastings (WA-04) | Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-05) | Tom Petri (WI-06) |
Senate candidates (9)
| Joe Miller (AK) | Ken Buck (CO) | Linda McMahon (CT) |
| Rand Paul (KY) | Eric Wargotz (MD) | Sharron Angle (NV) |
| Rob Portman (OH) | John Raese (WV) | Mike Lee (UT) |
House of Representatives candidates (27)
| Jesse Kelly (AZ-08) | John Dennis (CA-08) | Gary Clift (CA-10) |
| David Harmer (CA-11) | Mark Reed (CA-27) | Robert Vaughn (CA-38) |
| Mike Yost (FL-03) | Allen West (FL-22) | Rob Woodall (GA-07) |
| Austin Scott (GA-08) | Ray McKinney (GA-12) | Brad Zaun (IA-03) |
| Andy Harris (MD-01) | Robert Broadus (MD-04) | Tim Walberg (MI-07) |
| Joe Heck (NV-03) | Frank Guinta (NH-01) | Charlie Bass (NH-02) |
| Anna Little (NJ-06) | Chris Gibson (NY-20) | Ashley Woolard (NC-01) |
| Bill Randall (NC-13) | Steve Chabot (OH-01) | Bill Johnson (OH-06) |
| James Lankford (OK-05) | Bob Hurt (VA-05) | Keith Fimian (VA-11) |
*- Burton, LaTourette, and Hastings were members of “The New Federalists,” which advocated for shutting down the Department of Education.
Foreign-Funded U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Advocates For Weakening Law Against Bribing Foreign Governments
Foreign-Funded U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Advocates For Weakening Law Against Bribing Foreign Governments
As ThinkProgress has documented, the “U.S.” Chamber Of Commerce has for years received at least hundreds of thousands of dollars from foreign-owned corporations. While the Chamber claims that the foreign funds it receives do not fund its $75 million in partisan attack ads, it would be highly unusual for these foreign corporations to be donating to the organization without expecting some sort of political activity on their behalf. Now, a new Chamber paper advocating for a change in a U.S. law intended to crack down on American-based multinational corporations bribing foreign governments may provide an answer as to why these foreign firms are doling out cash to the right-wing lobbying group.
Yesterday, the Chamber kicked off its U.S. Chamber Institute For Legal Reform Legal Reform Summit 2010, where it is advocating for its pro-corporate “legal reform” agenda. As a part of the agenda, the Chamber is presenting a paper at its summit titled “Restoring Balance: Proposed Amendments to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”
Since 1977, when it was first enacted, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has been the government’s main enforcement mechanism to stop American-based multinational firms from bribing foreign governments in order to win special business advantages. The anti-corruption law has been especially strong during the Obama Administration, during which FCPA-related fines collected by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dramatically increased — in just the first two months of 2010, they totaled $1.2 billion, far more than the measly $87 million collected in all of 2007 by the Bush Administration.
Therefore, it makes sense that, now, with the “likelihood of a Republican wave in midterm elections” being increasingly high, the Chamber would release a paper proposing amendments to the law that would serve to gut many of its core provisions:
– Limiting a company’s successor criminal FCPA liability for prior acts of a company it has acquired: The Chamber’s paper advocates for restricting the amount of liability a company can take on from a firm it merges with that is guilty of FCPA violations. This would allow companies to engage in corrupt practices and then merge with other businesses and reduce the penalties they face. (page 14)
– Limiting a parent company’s civil liability for the acts of a subsidiary: This amendment would restrict the ability of the SEC and DOJ to hold American companies accountable for the actions of their foreign subsidiaries as long as the American parent firms could reasonably prove that they were not aware of the actions of their foreign subsidiaries. The problem with changing the law in this way is that it could greenlight corruption abuses by foreign subsidiaries that the parent company would profit from but not be held accountable for. (page 22)
– Clarifying definition of “foreign official”: The Chamber complains about a 2009 case by the Obama DOJ and SEC where they fined Control Components, Inc. for bribing state-owned companies in China, Malaysia, South Korea, and the UAE. The government defined bribing state-owned companies as the same as bribing foreign governments. The Chamber seeks to limit this definition, which it believes is too broad. Overly restricting the government’s ability to hold firms accountable for bribing state-owned companies just as if they were bribing foreign governments would potentially open up new channels of corruption. One of the Chamber’s cited cases of supposed abuse of this government authority is for fining defense contractor KBR for bribing a company that is 49 percent owned by the Nigerian government. Presumably, 49 percent is not a high enough threshold for the business lobby to consider it corrupt influencing of a foreign government. (pages 24-26)
In trying to weaken the FCPA so as to allow corporations greater leeway in engaging in corrupt practices, the Chamber is not simply acting out of ideological solidarity with the big business interests it champions. Numerous members of — and donors to — the Chamber have engaged in FCPA violations or are currently under investigation. Here is a short but far from comprehensive list:
– Dow Chemical: Dow, which donated $1.9 million to the Chamber last year, paid a $325,000 settlement with the SEC in 2007 for FCPA violations.
– Shell: Petroleum giant Shell is a dues-paying member of the Chamber that refused to quit the organization despite its climate change denialism last year. The company is currently nearing a settlement with the DOJ and SEC over an FCPA violation related to bribing Nigerian officials. Analysts expect it to pay at least $30 million.
– General Electric: Chamber member General Electric (GE), while denouncing its climate change denialism, also refused to quit the organization over it. GE settled with the SEC with a $23 million settlement earlier this year for FCPA violations related to the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal.
– Halliburton: Halliburton, a proud member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, had a record-breaking settlement with the SEC in 2009, paying $800 million for an FCPA violation related to bribery in Nigeria.
While the Chamber of Commerce continues to use the slogan “Fighting For Your Business,” it is increasingly apparent that the people it fights for above all else are its funders — multinational corporations whose loyalty is not to American consumers or transparency and good governance, but rather to their own bottom lines.
NPR Reports On ThinkProgress’ Investigation Of Prison Industries’ Role In Crafting Anti-Immigrant Laws
NPR Reports On ThinkProgress’ Investigation Of Prison Industries’ Role In Crafting Anti-Immigrant Laws
In September, ThinkProgress published an investigation into the prison industry’s role in helping enact SB1070, the anti-immigrant racial profiling law passed in Arizona. We charted the role of the private prison company Corrections Corporation of America, which builds and manages immigrant detention centers, in assisting SB1070 sponsor State Sen. Russell Pearce (R-AZ) and how lobbyists from the company work closely with Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ), who signed the bill into law. Private prison companies have funneled money to legislators sponsoring SB1070 copycat bills across the country, and the industry is using a corporate front group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to help lawmakers in Tennessee, Florida, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania to create anti-immigrant laws to encourage police to arrest more immigrants and people of color. Today, NPR followed up with a story about the role of the prison industry-funded ALEC in crafting Arizona’s law, and how ALEC appears to be continuing its strategy in states like Maryland:
Four months later, that model legislation became, almost word for word, Arizona’s immigration law. They even named it. They called it the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.” “ALEC is the conservative, free-market orientated, limited-government group,” said Michael Hough, who was staff director of the meeting. Hough works for ALEC, but he’s also running for state delegate in Maryland, and if elected says he plans to support a similar bill to Arizona’s law.
Asked if the private companies usually get to write model bills for the legislators, Hough said, “Yeah, that’s the way it’s set up. It’s a public-private partnership. We believe both sides, businesses and lawmakers should be at the same table, together.” Nothing about this is illegal. Pearce’s immigration plan became a prospective bill and Pearce took it home to Arizona.
As ThinkProgress’ investigation revealed, detention numbers in private-run immigrant jails have sank in the past few years. If the private prison industry, along with their allies in the Republican Party, is successful in passing new SB1070-like laws in other states, private prisons may see a boost in their profits when greater numbers of people are sent to prison.
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