With massive midterm losses looming, President Barack Obama is blasting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for accepting foreign donations for its political advertising — a charge that myriad watchdogs and media outlets already have debunked as groundless.
The political battle the allegation has touched off appears to be escalating.
It began at a political rally in Maryland last week, when the president echoed a charge that first appeared in a left-wing blog that the Chamber of Commerce had used foreign contributions to help defray its $75 million campaign advertising budget.
Said Obama: "So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections, and they won't tell you where the money for their ads come from."
The Chamber immediately denied the report, explaining that its strict accounting procedures keep foreign and domestic contributions separate.
Denunciations that the allegations appear groundless have spanned the political spectrum.
The New York Times on Monday stated flatly in a news article: "The Democrats have offered no evidence that the Chamber is using foreign money to influence the elections."
On Sunday's "Face the Nation" program, White House senior adviser David Axelrod conceded that the administration has no facts to support its claim, while not backing off on the president's implication that the Chamber may have violated U.S. laws.
When ABC host Bob Schieffer asked whether he had any evidence to support the charge, Axelrod shot back: "Well, do you have any evidence it's not [true] Bob?"
Schieffer's replied by asking Axelrod: "Is that the best you can do?"
The political battle the allegation has touched off appears to be escalating.
It began at a political rally in Maryland last week, when the president echoed a charge that first appeared in a left-wing blog that the Chamber of Commerce had used foreign contributions to help defray its $75 million campaign advertising budget.
Said Obama: "So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections, and they won't tell you where the money for their ads come from."
The Chamber immediately denied the report, explaining that its strict accounting procedures keep foreign and domestic contributions separate.
Denunciations that the allegations appear groundless have spanned the political spectrum.
The New York Times on Monday stated flatly in a news article: "The Democrats have offered no evidence that the Chamber is using foreign money to influence the elections."
On Sunday's "Face the Nation" program, White House senior adviser David Axelrod conceded that the administration has no facts to support its claim, while not backing off on the president's implication that the Chamber may have violated U.S. laws.
When ABC host Bob Schieffer asked whether he had any evidence to support the charge, Axelrod shot back: "Well, do you have any evidence it's not [true] Bob?"
Schieffer's replied by asking Axelrod: "Is that the best you can do?"
'"So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections, and they won't tell you where the money for their ads come from."'
ReplyDeletedo we need to remind obama of his "foreign aid" for the arizona lawsuit?
Reps. know if the tables were reversed they would be running screaming Obama has sold us out to foreigners. Not to mention you can't discriminate foreign money from domestic. Money brought in from abroad might go into projects in international offices but it's still money that otherwise would have came out of domestic coffers. Money is liquid.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best one-liner retorts I've EVER heard from a news show host. The equivalent of an over the head body slam. And 10:01, maybe I missed something, but your post doesn't make sense.
ReplyDelete