To: Federal Elections Commission (FEC)
Don't Let the FEC get Fooled by Chevron
Re-evaluate your decision on Chevron. Don't create a loophole and undermine years of "pay-to-play" legislation. Corporations must not be allowed to use tricks to break our campaign finance laws and enrich their bottom line.
Why is this important?
Chevron and the FEC just created a loophole big enough to navigate an oil tanker through.
It starts in 2012, when Chevron made a $2.5 million donation to a super PAC called the Congressional Leadership Fund, that is reportedly connected to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the National Republican Congressional Committee. This should be a big no-no for a corporation that has hundreds of government contracts, because our "pay-to-play" laws prevent companies from obtaining government work by influencing elections. Supposedly.
But Chevron wasn't slowed down by pesky campaign laws.
Chevron asserted that the entity that made the donation, Chevron Corporation, is separate from the one that holds the contracts, Chevron U.S.A. But Mother Jones explains why that's just slight of hand: "By any normal sense Chevron Corporation and Chevron U.S.A. look like the same company. Chevron USA is a subsidiary of the brand name company. Chevron Corporation owns a 100 percent stake in Chevron U.S.A. They share the same CEO and list the same mailing address."
The commission knows the facts. And yet, they bought Chevron's outrageous argument. The FEC must re-evaluate its decision and admit the truth: Chevron broke the rules.
It starts in 2012, when Chevron made a $2.5 million donation to a super PAC called the Congressional Leadership Fund, that is reportedly connected to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the National Republican Congressional Committee. This should be a big no-no for a corporation that has hundreds of government contracts, because our "pay-to-play" laws prevent companies from obtaining government work by influencing elections. Supposedly.
But Chevron wasn't slowed down by pesky campaign laws.
Chevron asserted that the entity that made the donation, Chevron Corporation, is separate from the one that holds the contracts, Chevron U.S.A. But Mother Jones explains why that's just slight of hand: "By any normal sense Chevron Corporation and Chevron U.S.A. look like the same company. Chevron USA is a subsidiary of the brand name company. Chevron Corporation owns a 100 percent stake in Chevron U.S.A. They share the same CEO and list the same mailing address."
The commission knows the facts. And yet, they bought Chevron's outrageous argument. The FEC must re-evaluate its decision and admit the truth: Chevron broke the rules.