ICYMI: U.S. Chamber’s 44 Billion Reasons to Fight Corporate Political Transparency

Posted by Lauren Levenstein on April 26, 2011

Last week, the U.S. Chamber immediately criticized news about a leaked proposal from the White House, that according to the Huffington Post, “would require government contractors to disclose campaign contributions.”  The Executive Order would directly affect many Chamber companies and jeopardize the secrecy of their contributions to the organization.  

And no wonder the Chamber howled. A U.S. Chamber Watch review of public records reveals that at least 55 companies associated with the Chamber had contracts with the federal government, totaling $44 billion in 2010 alone.

Clearly, the Chamber has 44 billion reasons to oppose the White House’s plan.  As Chamber President Tom Donohue admitted, the Chamber's main purpose is to be the "reinsurance" policy for big corporations to secretly influence the political process and then profit handsomely from it, without public accountability. After all, disclosure is the Chamber's kryptonite.  As the Chamber noted in its amicus brief supporting Citizens United, "The reason no Chamber donors are disclosed is simple. Many of its members have made clear that they are not willing to be identified and will terminate or withhold support if disclosure becomes a risk.”

Click here to read Huffington Post’s coverage. 

Click here for pdf version of the list below. 

U.S. Chamber Board Members - 2010 Government Contract Awards

Lockheed Martin $34,376,276,089
Fluor Corporation $1,909,397,381
FedEx $1,449,382,988
Pfizer $979,923,146 
Deloitte LLP $882,103,043 
United Parcel Service $700,647,431 
AT&T $681,907,371 
Verizon $642,224,270 
Siemens $607,721,219 
Xerox $489,097,667 
Caterpillar $308,871,844 
PepsiCo $213,946,752 
PEPCO Holdings Inc. $199,773,198 
ConocoPhillips $175,700,583 
Wellpoint $129,736,608 
Deere & Company $106,103,148 
JPMorgan Chase $73,282,527 
The Carlyle Group $67,438,415 
Sanofi-Aventis $51,003,022 
3M Company $39,072,206 
Duke Energy $19,194,945
Entergy Services, Inc. $18,513,507
AGL Resources, Inc. $12,483,327
Alcoa Inc. $10,777,795
Indiana University Health Care Associates Inc. $9,230,751
Buffalo Supply $5,138,871
Eastman Kodak Company $4,235,080
SIRVA Inc. $1,803,493
Las Vegas Sands Corporation $999,256
Ryder System Inc. $985,105
American Medical Association $900,618
CVS Caremark Corporation  $900,306
Hawk Corporation $592,240
CONSOL Energy $551,678
Norfolk Southern Corporation $363,009
The Travelers Companies, Inc. $330,764
Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce $300,000
KCI Technologies, Inc. $248,102
BNSF Railway Company $216,774
Vulcan Materials $203,802
Aegon N.V. $114,437
UniGroup $114,430
The Alpha Group $1,657,551
Amway $0
Bay Cast Companies $65,550
U.S. Chamber of Commerce $17,097
Leading Authorities Inc. $16,050
Allstate Insurance Company $10,700
Tandy Leather Factory $8,791
Premiere Global Services $8,451
Action Chemical $8,004
Anheuser-Busch Companies $182,818
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. $4,547
US Airways $3,239
State Farm Insurance $0
Jackson Kelly $0
Spencer Stuart $0
Odney Advertising $0
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association $0
Constangy, Brooks & Smith $0
Harrah's Entertainment $0
Sunrise Senior Living $0
Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. $0
New York Life $0
Select Milk Producers $0
Altria $0
Peabody Energy $0
AGCO Corporation $0
Ruan Transportation Management Systems $0
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. $0
Argo Group International Holdings Ltd $0
IBM $0

TOTAL $44,173,789,996

*Companies with $0 are presently U.S. Chamber board members that have received federal government contracts in previous years. 

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