The U.S. Chamber in the news - October 19

Corporate donors fuel Chamber of Commerce’s political power
Major U.S. companies wrote big checks last year to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for dues and political activity, recent disclosures show. But many other large corporations that have helped support the Chamber’s pro-business advocacy and ubiquitous political issue ads remain a secret to the public. The Chamber — one of Washington’s major political powers, with annual revenue of $200 million — pledged to spend $100 million this election cycle to support candidates focused on corporate concerns. But the corporate trade association does not have to name the companies that donate, and those firms can decide whether to share that information. [The Washington Post]

Business, labor rev up ground games
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday released a video featuring Tom Donohue, the Chamber’s president and CEO, exhorting the business community to vote…. The get-out-the-vote video is being sent to more than 7 million of the Chamber’s supporters and will be available on VoteForJobs2012.com, the group’s voter website.  The Chamber is one of the biggest outside spenders of the 2012 campaign and has supported several Republican candidates for the House and the Senate this year. The business group has spent more than $27.2 million on independent expenditures and electioneering communications so far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.  [The Hill]

Stealth spending on the rise as 2012 election approaches
Since Labor Day, spending by outside groups taking advantage of the high court’s Citizens United decision totaled a little more than $229 million, including unions. Forty-four percent of the total — $100 million — has come from non-disclosing, nonprofit corporations…. Rounding out the top five spenders are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also a nonprofit, at No. 3 ($16 million).  [The Center for Public Integrity]

US Chamber of Commerce Calls Elizabeth Warren 'Catastrophically Antibusiness'
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday launched a new get-out-the-vote effort, sending a video to members and dropping its first piece of direct-mail in the general election, attacking Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.  [ABC News]

Dems have shot at key House seats in Calif’s Inland Empire region
House Speaker John Boehner traveled west this summer to help raise money for Republican John Tavaglione, a Riverside County supervisor who is running in the wide-open district centered in Riverside. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also came to the aid of Tavaglione, launching a $220,000 television ad campaign attacking his Democratic opponent, high school teacher Mark Takano. [Los Angeles Times]

Siena Poll: GOP’s Nan Hayworth Holds 7-Point Lead in NY’s 18th District
Freshman Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., one of Democrats' top targets in the House, leads her challenger, Sean Patrick Maloney,  by seven percentage points and is just short of majority support in a new independent poll released Friday morning. TV ads from Hayworth's campaign as well as the National Republican Congressional Committee and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce appear to have taken their toll on Maloney's image.   [National Journal]