In a press release from the campaign of Mary Jo Kilroy,
We have some disconcerting news:
... Steve Stivers has made no secret of the fact that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a conservative-leaning business group, has given him support. What he doesn’t talk about, is the fact that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been receiving millions of dollars from foreign affiliates around the world, money that goes directly into the Chamber of Commerce’s treasury which can then be used for political action. Stivers is directly and indirectly benefitting from the foreign influence of American campaigns.
Yesterday, the U.S. Chamber pledged to spend $250,000 to bolster Stivers’ campaign. Mary Jo Kilroy asked Steve Stivers to immediately repudiate the Chamber's support and ask them not to air ads at a press conference today
According to new information provided by
Think Progress, a Washington D.C. based think tank, the Chamber has been, “very aggressive with fundraising, opening offices abroad and heping found foreign chapters (known as Business Councils or “AmChams”. These AmChams, many of which are taking dues from corporations controlled by foreign governments, have their dues payments go directly into the Chamber’s general treasury, and as a 501c(6) organization, the Chamber can use unlimited funds from the treasury to fund political action.
“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is basically laundering foreign money for use in American political campaigns and Steve Stivers is a beneficiary of those contributions,” said Mary Jo Kilroy. “Steve Stivers needs to immediately repudiate the support of an organization which is using foreign money, some of which is coming from companies owned by foreign governments, to influence American campaigns.”
Steve Stivers has a history of foreign interests over American workers. He has been a vocal supporter of free trade deals with foreign countries that have gutted our manufacturing sector and supports tax breaks for companies that offshore our jobs to China and India. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been a strong supporter of candidates who support these measures and has been a key ally to Republicans in Congress who have sought to keep those loopholes open....
OMG!
If foreign companies are directly or indirectly contributing to Republicans like Stivers through the Chamber of
Commerce, we must demand that they stop. Stivers and his free trade ideas hurt American workers and families.
It is time to stop this backroom secret influence peddling. Why have these groups tried to influence our elections?