Will the Chamber of Commerce buy this election? It’s going to try

Stunning Statistics of the Week:

• Amount expected to be spent on the upcoming midterm elections: $5 billion
• Amount expected to be spent on TV ads this election cycle: $3 billion
• Amount spent in 2006 election cycle: $2.8 billion

Groups demonstrate in front of U.S. Chamber
A lively demonstration was held in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week to protest the Chamber’s reported use of foreign money to pay for campaign attack ads. The Chamber is raising tens of millions of dollars to help Republicans take back Congress.

The Chamber fires back
The Chamber launched a broadside on Think Progress, which issued the above mentioned report about the Chamber using foreign money for attack ads. In its response, the Chamber said that just a small amount of foreign money goes to those ads. That prompted Think Progress to issue a rebuttal to the Chamber’s rebuttal titled “Inconvenient Fact that the Chamber Hasn’t Refuted.”

Court denies emergency request to scuttle Maine clean election law
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has refused an emergency request to strike down the matching funds provision of Maine’s clean elections law. The law provides money to candidates who rely on small contributions from voters, rather than big sums from corporate interests. However, the court is still considering the underlying challenges to the law.

Rove’s groups announced $4.2 million ad buy
American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, groups founded by Republican strategist Karl Rove, are pouring $4.2 million into ads to influence Senate races in eight states. That brings to $18 million the total amount these groups, formed just this year, have spent on election ads. Three-quarters of the money comes from undisclosed sources. Crossroads GPS is one of the groups that Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) urged the IRS to investigate for violating their tax-exempt status.

Republicans lead on fundraising for state elections
With so much attention on federal races, it can be easy to forget about all the state gubernatorial and legislative races that are raging. But the political parties haven’t forgotten. Both are furiously raising money to elect their candidates, and the GOP has the edge. The Republican Governors Association (the same group that got $1 million from News Corp., parent company of Fox News), raised a record $58.3 million through June 30 compared to $40.4 million raised by the Democratic Governors Association.

Visit www.DontGetRolled.org to learn more!

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