It should come as no surprise that the trigger for foreign contributions possibly finding an inroad into US elections is none other than the Citizens United decision. Here's why. By lifting the prohibitions on corporations' ability to make direct expenditures influencing federal elections, Citizens United allows 501(c)(4) nonprofits to fund independent expenditures and electioneering communications without disclosing where the money came from. Citizens United created an environment in which it is perfectly legal for a shell non-profit corporation to engage in election-related spending on behalf of a hidden interest. And there is nothing to ensure that the hidden interest is not a foreign national, a foreign company or a foreign government...
One tool to ensure that illegal foreign contributions do not influence US elections is the DISCLOSE Act. That bill, which was
blocked by Republicans in 2010 and is likely to suffer the same fate again this year, would impose disclosure requirements on nonprofits that make political expenditures, thereby uncovering or even preventing the laundering of foreign money."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sunlight-foundation/citizens-united-2012-elections_b_1342545.html
ThinkProgress has slammed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for raising funds from foreign businesses and businessmen at the same time it has promised to buy $75 million worth of attack ads to help elect Republicans on Nov. 2.
"We documented at least $300,000 from the Kingdom of Bahrain and India alone," says Lee Fang, a researcher who uncovered the foreign contributions. "We know the chamber has sent out fundraising applications to foreign corporations. They're asking those foreign corporations to wire or send their checks to the same campaign account used to run attack ads."
The money, says Fang, goes to a Chamber unit incorporated under section 501(c)6 of the tax code, allowing it to be used for attack ads - and not requiring that its source be publicly identified.
That's exactly what critics feared about the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which knocked down a wide range of restrictions on corporate campaign spending: The possibility that foreign interests could pour money into American elections without anybody here knowing the source or intent of the donations.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/201..._foreign-cash-attack-ads-foreign-corporations
Now, you prove to me that every penny spent on attack ads is from American citizens.... waiting...