The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which took $23 million from AIG to lobby for deregulation of the markets by the way, is running a one-week $156,000 TV spot supporting U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-8) in his run against Darcy Burner.
The National Federation of Independent Business will begin a $219,000 pro-Reichert TV campaign the following week.
Burner got dinged in the Seattle Times last week for all the netroots money she’s getting ($400,000 in small donations). The implication, sorta like the implication of all the out-of-state Howard Dean supporters who gave Dean a bad name in Iowa for carpetbagging, being that Burner’s support isn’t tied to the 8th District.
What then is the implication of these Reichert buys by the Chamber and the NFIB? Has the other Washington come to bail him out?
In direct donations, Burner is beating Reichert $2.3 million to $1.8 million, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Where’s the outrage from the fishwrapper’s editorial board over this out-of-state money pouring into Reichert’s campaign? I repeat, where’s the outrage?
(crickets chirping)
Reichart was pretty lucky to get that money.
He begged for a share of the funds from his own party for his re-election, and they weren’t real impressed with him. As a two-term Congressman, he should have his voter and donation base secure, and he should be on the stump raising money and helping secure votes for Republicans seeking to challenge for Democratic seats. Instead, he’s like the proverbial boat – “a whole in the water you keep throwing money into”.
Even if he does manage to win this election, he’s going to be in the same position two years from now, fighting to hold onto his seat yet again. He was unable to accomplish anything during the two years he was a member of the majority party, and he hasn’t accomplished anything in two years belonging to the minority party. Another two years isn’t going to change that.
Reichert isn’t likely to win again if he should be lucky enough to hang on this time. He will have been in the House just long enough to get another pension. And, from the looks of it, that is the only reason he’s running again this time.
If it is a choice between accepting contributions from independent business people and the nutroot SEIU, then Reichert is doing the right thing.
Wow, welcome back, US Chamber. The US Chamber cheated in 2004 in their attacks on Deborah Senn for her overregulation and to help Rob McKenna win the AG race, and they broke our campaign finance laws. Then, they attacked our Supreme Court in 2006 along with the BIAW, including very centrist and even lean republican members, in one of the sleaziest campaigns we have seen, because these judges believed in enforcing the law instead of adopting their agenda.
I found this study from last week on the US Chamber’s role in attacking any regulation of commerce and our financial markets.
Its more than just AIG- its Enron, its repealing Sarbanes Oxley, its involvement in supporting SEC rules in 2004 loosening net capital rules as reported by NY Times last week that helped hasten our financial catastrophes. Name the knee jerk anti regulatory action and the US Chamber was there in the middle of it. Birds of a feather flock together and Reichert can be known for his dubious associations. But its too late to save him now.
Below is from American Association for Justice-
U.S. CHAMBER HELPED CREATE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS, NEW REPORT SAYS
Filings show AIG paid U.S. Chamber $23M to eliminate oversight and accountability
Washington, DC – The current financial crisis was caused by U.S. Chamber’s aggressive lobbying to eliminate accountability and oversight, says a new issue brief that also exposes payments from bailed-out AIG to the Washington corporate lobby.
Today, U.S. Chamber is the loudest supporter of a $700 billion taxpayer bailout, even though it spent the last decade fighting to eliminate corporate accountability – one of the major factors that led to the current financial crisis.
U.S. Chamber has been paid millions by large corporations to limit the rights of shareholders, roll back Sarbanes-Oxley reforms, prevent disclosures to investors, and protect boardrooms while preventing consumers from holding them accountable.
The issue brief also details payments from American International Group (AIG) to U.S. Chamber totaling $23 million from 2001 to 2005. AIG, coined by one commentator as “the new Enron,” was represented by U.S. Chamber while engaging in massive corporate fraud before receiving a government bailout this month.
“U.S. Chamber has sought to destroy any check on corporate excess, accountability and greed,” said American Association for Justice CEO Jon Haber. “By conducting the dirty work of Enron, Exxon, AIG, and a host of other negligent corporations, U.S. Chamber has put countless Americans in financial jeopardy.”
The issue brief summarizes a small selection of U.S. Chamber lobbying and litigation that has put Wall Street ahead of Main Street and corporations above everyday Americans. To read “Behind the Bailout: How U.S. Chamber Created the 2008 Financial Crisis,” visit: http://www.justice.org/pdf/usc.....ailout.pdf.
DarcyBunsen Burner may be ahead in dollars raised, but look at all the scabby types who ponied up for her. Start with the SEIU/ACORN creeps who, BTW, were raided today by Nevada authorities.