Smoking gun alert:

From Robert Reich

The presidents of three of America’s biggest trade associations – Tom Donahue CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, John Engler of the Business Roundtable, and Jay Timmons of the National Association of Manufacturers -- have written to the CEOs of their member corporations, telling them not to disclose any details about their political spending. (A copy of the letter can be seen by clicking on the link below.) They take special aim at the Center for Political Accountability and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, which in early October published an index ranking large corporations on their political disclosure practices.

All three organizations – especially the U.S. Chamber – are about to play major roles in the upcoming elections, using their member corporation’s contributions but not revealing which corporations have contributed what, or for whom. (Trade associations, which are nonprofits organized under Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Service code, are not by law required to reveal their funders. And the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of secret money to promote or attack particular candidates.)

Rather than help reduce public distrust and anger toward big American corporations and Wall Street banks, these three presidents and their trade associations are intent on keeping corporate political activities secret – and thereby further fanning the flames of public distrust and anger. Shame on them.

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