It’s hard to know how to approach the story of President Obama’s attacks on the US Chamber of Commerce for supposedly taking money from foreign corporations. Even the New York Times sees that his attacks are bogus:
Ever since he raised the issue in his State of the Union speech nearly nine months ago . . . President Obama has been warning about the danger of foreign money creeping into elections as a result of the court’s landmark campaign finance ruling.
In two campaign stops Thursday, Mr. Obama invoked what he portrayed as a specific new example, citing a blog posting from a liberal advocacy group as he teed off on a longtime adversary, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over its political spending. . .
But a closer examination shows that there is little evidence that what the chamber does in collecting overseas dues is improper or even unusual, according to both liberal and conservative election-law lawyers and campaign finance documents. . .
Organizations from both ends of the political spectrum, from liberal ones like the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Sierra Club to conservative groups like the National Rifle Association, have international affiliations and get money from foreign entities while at the same time pushing political causes in the United States. . .
Such groups, which collectively have spent hundreds of millions dollars on political causes to advance their agenda, are required by law to ensure that any foreign money they receive is isolated and not used to finance political activities, which would violate a longstanding federal ban. The Chamber of Commerce says it has a vigorous process for ensuring that does not happen, and no evidence has emerged to suggest that is untrue.
But, as Glenn Reynolds reminds us, the hypocrisy angle is equally compelling, given how Obama’s presidential campaign accepted campaign contributions from foreigners.
UPDATE: Barone weighs in.
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