Wait, wut? “I thought foreign money was already illegal in our elections” one California lawmaker told us when we met in their Sacramento office. We were talking about AB 83, the Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act.
Their assumption was understandable for a couple of reasons: 1) US Election code is clear: “It shall be unlawful for a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make a contribution to any political campaign or political party.” (52 U.S. Code, Section 30121, and 2) the California Legislature had unanimously passed a bill in 2021, which the Governor signed, to prohibit foreign governments, foreign businesses, and foreign individuals from contributing to California elections (AB 319, 2021).
Given these two unambiguous laws, one federal and one state, how is it possible that there is foreign money in our elections?
The answer lies in the rightly reviled Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, which has been turbo charging the undermining of American democracy for almost 14 years. As bad as we knew that decision was, it’s actually worse.
When the SCOTUS decided that corporate entities should have the “free speech” rights of “natural persons” expanding the definition of “speech” to encompass “money” spent in US elections, part of that preposterously flawed reasoning allowing U.S. corporations to contribute unlimited amounts of money from their corporate treasuries was because, the Court said, US corporations were “associations of citizens”.
Justice Kennedy, writing for the five-man majority, and yes, they were all men and yes, ethics challenged Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito were among them, employed the “associations of citizens” rationale three times.
These giant multi-national corporations, incorporated in the United States, are not associations of U.S. citizens. It wasn’t true before Citizens United and it is a linguistic atrocity to try to categorize them as such now.
40% of all the shares held in US corporations are now held by foreign investors living outside the US. These investors can be sovereign wealth funds as is the Saudi way, or government banks like Norges, the central bank of Norway.
Really, Norway? Yes. Norway has significant oil & gas industry interests and are major investors in US corporations.
AB 83 will close the loophole the Court opened for foreign money in California elections. Seattle closed the loophole in 2020, and the state of Minnesota closed it in May 2023. California must close it in 2024.
“I’m not a US company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the US.” This stark statement of a behemoth US corporation’s consideration of patriotism in their decision-making is from Lee Raymond, longtime CEO of Exxon, in 2003.
It’s unlikely that he or any other CEO of a giant multi-national would admit to this now. The SCOTUS has deemed US corporations are “associations of citizens'' and Raymond’s sentiment is not civic minded.
Giant US multi-national corporations with massive amounts of foreign investment (40% overall!) decide what America can spend money on and how much America can invest in its people, its children, and the general welfare.
Foreign influenced US corporations are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in California elections. Uber ($3.5B investment from Saudi Arabia) and Lyft ($10B investment from China) spent over $200M to successfully repeal an enacted law they didn’t like (see CA’s Prop 22, 2020) which guaranteed rights and benefits ride share drivers and other gig workers.
To paraphrase and take some license with ardent AB 83 supporter FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub’s words, allowing foreign money to mix in with American money that is then funneled into our elections is dangerous and dumb.
Some years ago, I found myself at dinner with the late, great Alan Rickman. He was a dear friend of a dear friend, and it was just the three of us. We were talking politics, as Alan did. It was in the Bush 43 years on the cusp of Obama’s first election and Alan said “The whole world should vote on the US President. It’s too important to be left to Americans.”
I had a Gene Roddenberry moment , imagining a united Earth, keeping the universe safe while exploring its mysteries. But that is not where we were then, and it’s not where we are now.
Alan was a good guy and a smart guy, and he sure could persuade, but marvelous as he was, he was English. I shook my head and said no. Americans fought a revolution to escape the yoke of England and forge their own way without English influence and interference. The whole world should not have a vote in US elections, nor should the whole world spend money in US elections to influence our vote.
Action Item: Please take two minutes to CALL YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER. Find your California Assembly Member here: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov Suggested script: I’m calling today because U.S. Election Law is CLEAR – there should be NO FOREIGN MONEY IN OUR ELECTIONS!
Can I count on [ELECTED OFFICIAL’S NAME] to vote YES on AB-83?
Citizens’ United created a giant loophole allowing FOREIGN money into U.S. elections through foreign investments in U.S. Corporations. Did you know that foreign investors own more than 40% of shares of U.S. corporations?
By passing AB-83 – The Get Foreign Money out of California Elections Act, we can close that loophole.
Here is a link to the language of AB83 legislation
American elections are increasingly decided by money. Can we at least make sure it’s American money?
Seriously!
Michele Sutter is President and Co-Founder of MOVI, Money Out Voters In, the California sponsors of AB 83 - The Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act, now on the floor of the California Assembly.