foreign influence

It ain't your dad's (or granddad's) Chamber of Commerce, folks:

Having aired more than 8,000 campaign ads on behalf of GOP Senate candidates alone and having spent 85 percent of its current expenditure on Republicans, the Chamber's spending has "dwarfed every other issue group and most political party candidate committee spending."

What the ThinkProgress investigation found is that the Chamber has spearheaded efforts "to raise money from foreign corporations, including ones controlled by foreign governments" and funneled that money into its general 501(c)(6) account. Foreign members send money either directly to the U.S. Chamber or to their country's local American Chamber (AmCham), which then transfers dues payments back to the Chamber's H Street office in Washington, D.C.

Hat-tip to Rob Schofield of the Progressive Pulse.

Your Majesty,

Now that you are planning to buy intervene in the US Congress to secure our continuing dependence on your oil fields, may I inquire if you might be interested in buying North Carolina as well?

We're a swell state, though we currently have a few budget problems that will likely get worse before they get better. But don't despair, there's nothing but upside for Your Majesty. While some of your competitors like Bank of America, Duke Energy, Blue Cross, and Variety Wholesalers are lining up to buy our General Assembly, the bidding has just begun. If I were Your Majesty, I'd take that as a chrome-plated invitation to come on down!