July 3, 2008No foreigners allowedThe Washington Post today has a story about campaign contributions from a company that operates toll roads. It seems Transurban has been pumping money in campaigns -- $172,000 to 90 campaigns over three years. Of course it's just a coincidence that many Virginia elected officials have been talking glowingly about privatizing the state's public highways. But wait, there's more. It turns out that Transurban's donations were illegal. It's a U.S. subsidiary of an Australian company, and foreign companies may not contribute to American campaigns under federal election law. The moral: If corporations are going to run this country, damn it, they are going to be American corporations. It should be interesting to watch how all this plays out in an age of increasingly multi-national companies. |
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July 3, 2008
No foreigners allowed
The Washington Post today has a story about campaign contributions from a company that operates toll roads. It seems Transurban has been pumping money in campaigns -- $172,000 to 90 campaigns over three years. Of course it's just a coincidence that many Virginia elected officials have been talking glowingly about privatizing the state's public highways.
But wait, there's more. It turns out that Transurban's donations were illegal. It's a U.S. subsidiary of an Australian company, and foreign companies may not contribute to American campaigns under federal election law.
The moral: If corporations are going to run this country, damn it, they are going to be American corporations.
It should be interesting to watch how all this plays out in an age of increasingly multi-national companies.
Comments
[July 3, 2008 11:01 AM]
Other JohnSeeing as how foreign investment companies are buying up skyscrapers, condos, and land in the US, plus that many foreign companies run various ports and shipping facilities, factories, etc...plus that our own Supreme Court now cites international and foreign law in their arguments for/against decisions made by the court...is this really any surprise?
[July 3, 2008 1:25 PM]
HenryTranslation: Christian missed the 90's completely. Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al Gore got hammered for this kind of thing. John Huang for instance. Buddhist Temple fundraising for another. Hillary and Norman Hsu
http://www.hillaryproject.com/index.php?/wiki/John_Huang/
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/09/04/thompson/hearings.main/
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6643.html