The Chamber of Commerce is fighting tooth and nail President Obama's draft executive order, which would require greater transparency from government contractors when it comes to political donations. The order would require companies bidding for federal government contracts disclose any political contributions made by company directors and officers to federal candidates and parties, as well as corporate donations to third-party advocacy groups.
The Chamber is, of course, opposed. But many Chamber affiliates seem to be fine with the idea.
[M]any of the companies affiliated with the Chamber have extolled the values of disclosure and already publicly reveal their donations voluntarily.Aetna, for example, discloses their contributions to trade associations with dues over $50,000 or more. It also reveals what portion of those dues are allocated to non-deductible lobbying. Dell does not usually make payments to trade associations that are designed for political purposes beyond its normal dues, but has a policy of disclosing the information on their website when they do.
Procter and Gamble said on its website that it "has no plans to use corporate funds to support independent political expenditures to influence federal elections, nor to make contributions to trade associations for that purpose." Microsoft says it will "publicly disclose and update annually on Microsoft.com a list of those trade associations to which Microsoft pays dues and makes other expenditures through our Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Group." eBay says it "believes it is important to disclose our lobbying and political activity in a clear and transparent fashion." The policies and statements on disclosure from the Chamber members were collected by U.S. Chamber Watch.
So it's just the Chamber that's allergic to transparency, not necessarily its affiliates. Given that these companies would potentially be receiving government funds—taxpayer provided payments—it'd be good for the public to know how their dollars are being recycled in the political system. But that's an argument that will never fly with the secretive Chamber, or its Republican allies.