The LA Times published an excellent in-depth article this weekend on the US Chamber’s opposition to a potential move by the Obama Administration to require corporations to disclose their political spending. It’s another instance of the Chamber representing the interests of wealthy corporations instead of small businesses across America. The LA Times article clearly lays out why the Chamber is lobbying so vehemently to oppose the measure:
If Obama issued the draft executive order, he would effectively discourage previously undisclosed donations to groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which — with some exceptions — have been generally helping Republican candidates. It would also give the president a chance to quiet critics who want him to be more outspoken in demanding disclosure of large contributors.
The Chamber shows just how out of touch it is with the American public in a quote from a spokeswoman:
“The way the order is drafted, it hijacks the very powerful engine of the federal procurement system and it takes it and tries to achieve political and electoral ends,” said Lily Fu Claffee, the chamber’s general counsel, who charged that the measure would “chill the free-speech rights of corporations.”
I think all of us are ok with putting a bit more of a chill on the so called “free-speech rights” (aka “free-spending rights”) of the giant corporations that work through the US Chamber. Unlimited political expenditures on the part of fossil fuel companies doesn’t help promote freedom of speech in this country, it squashes it.
Thankfully, it looks like the Obama Administration is standing up to the US Chamber for now:
The fate of the executive order, which remains under review at the Office of Management and Budget, is unclear. Daley, the chief of staff hired in part to smooth administration relations with business, called it “just a proposed rule” that the White House was considering.
“We’re going to do things they like, do things they don’t like,” Daley said of the chamber. “We’re not going to do things because they do or don’t like them. That’s just the way it is.”
Let’s make sure it stays that way. Click here to read the full story in the LA Times.
