The most anti-business, anti-growth administration in arguably our history is attacking the US Chamber of Commerce, as we near the Congressional elections.
The Power Line guys have it right:
Desperate Times Demand Despicable Conduct
Paul wrote here and Scott here about the Democrats’ effort to smear, baselessly, the Chamber of Commerce. The Democrats speculate that the Chamber might be funneling money received from overseas into its political spending during this election cycle. The Chamber raises hardly any money in foreign countries and vociferously denies that any such money has gone toward its political spending, and the Democrats have no evidence to the contrary.
Today David Axelrod asserted on CBS that it is up to the Chamber to disprove the Democrats’ charge.
The Washington Post has more on that (emphasis added):
Axelrod also took the unusual step of calling on the chamber to release internal documents backing up its contention that foreign money is not being used to pay for U.S. political activities. Democrats have seized on a report by a liberal blog alleging that dues from chamber-affiliated business councils could be used in that way.
Where is the evidence on which Axelrod bases his accusations?
The party has also seized on a report last week by ThinkProgress, an arm of the liberal Center for American Progress, documenting the chamber’s ties to “AmChams” and other overseas business groups that pay dues to the U.S.-based group. The report said the chamber funds U.S. political activities out of the same account that collects foreign dues, and raised the possibility that the money could be unlawfully commingled.
The Daily Caller points out that ThinkProgress is
the blog that is operated under the umbrella of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank run by John Podesta, who oversaw Obama’s transition team in the winter of 2008.
So, while ThinkProgress, Axelrod and Obama are spreading the smear, we get doublespeak from the White House,
Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, said Obama and other administration officials are not accusing the chamber of illegality nor calling for an investigation into its campaign spending. He also acknowledged that the White House has no specific evidence that the chamber is using foreign money in U.S. elections.
“The president is making a disclosure argument,” Earnest said. “He’s just saying for the good of democracy the chamber should disclose where it is getting its money and how it is financing these ads, and that all organizations should.”
Get the smear going, and don’t worry about the rest, eh?
As the Power Line guys point out,
Obama’s lies are particularly reprehensible, given that his 2008 Presidential campaign represents the gold standard for accepting contributions illegally from foreign sources, with no disclosure whatsoever, as Scott pointed out. Every time you think the Democratic Party can’t sink any lower, it does.
Meanwhile, the administration and the Democrats unleash the IRS and Justice on donors to their political opponents.
William Jacobson says Obama Was Right About Xenophobic Bitter Clingers.
Betsy has more on Obama’s hypocritical propaganda on money in campaigns.
