DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE BILL BARRING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MULTINATIONALS: Nearly two dozen House Democrats introduced a bill today that would block multinational corporations from donating money in U.S. elections. The bill's lead sponsor, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), has introduced similar iterations of the legislation in each of the last two Congresses, but it has never gotten so much as a committee markup. — Aimed at closing what Raskin, progressive groups like the Center for American Progress and government watchdog groups like Public Citizen call a loophole that was created in the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, the bill would ban companies with partial foreign ownership from giving to candidates, parties or committees or engaging in their own direct election spending. — The bill defines partial foreign ownership as having one foreign owner who holds, owns, controls, or has beneficial ownership of 1 percent or more of the business; multiple foreign owners who hold, control or have beneficial ownership of 5 percent or more of the business; or one or more foreign owners who participate directly or indirectly in the company's decision-making process with respect to political activities. It's similar to a measure passed by the Seattle City Council last year targeting homegrown Amazon, and the activist group Free Speech For People in a press release touting the bill name-checked others like Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Uber and Airbnb as potential targets. — "Six days after the Supreme Court invented corporate free speech rights in Citizens United, President Obama warned that the Court had just opened 'the floodgates' for foreign interests to funnel cash freely into American elections through corporations. He was right," Raskin said in a statement, arguing that his bill "will stop this dangerous stream of foreign cash and influence from flowing in our campaigns through corporate spending." ADVOCATES FIND A NEW MEDIA TARGET TO GET ON BIDEN'S RADAR: During the Trump years, advocates looking to get a message to the president turned to Fox News. These days, POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs and Max Tani report, "a handful of organizations with legislative interests before the government have taken to running print ads in Delaware's The News Journal in an effort to get their message in front of the world's most powerful individual, one who is likely the paper's most famous reader." — "A review of the paper found that 17 ads have been run by these groups between September and mid-November alone. The ads' messages range from calling on President Joe Biden to take action on renewable fuel policy, to imploring him to draw down the country's nuclear arsenal, to expressing gratitude that he preserved tribal cultural heritage sites in Utah. They often run alongside the paper's more traditional ad content: print ads that urge local readers to buy a motorized scooter or hire a new local roofer. — "Biden was known to read The News Journal during his tenure as vice president, and regularly fielded questions from the paper's reporters on the 2020 campaign trail. That's carried over, at least in part, to his time as president. POLITICO reported in May that the paper — which employs a few dozen reporters, has been in existence for more than 100 years and largely focuses on Delaware — was read in the White House and delivered to Biden's Wilmington home. Just a few weeks after POLITICO's story was published, a group advocating for Puerto Rican statehood ran an advertisement in The News Journal reminding the president of his previous support for that position, and urging him to back legislation advocating statehood." HOW CHINA IS LOBBYING ON THE DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT OF OLYMPICS: "The Chinese government hired a firm to recruit social media influencers as part of a new digital operation amid controversies surrounding diplomatic boycotts of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics," OpenSecrets' Anna Massoglia reports. — "The influence operation is being coordinated by Vippi Media , a consulting firm based in New Jersey, as part of a $300,000 contract that spans through March 2022. China's Consulate General in New York paid $210,000 in advance on Nov. 23," according to records filed with the Justice Department. "As part of the online influence campaign to promote the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and the 2022 Paralympics, the Chinese government is paying the firm to recruit influencers who are 'to be activated to drive viewership, mass awareness and premium content' for China." — "Most of the influencers' posts are expected to focus on 'Beijing & China elements,' including 'Beijing's history, cultural relics, modern life of people, new trends,' Chinese athletes' preparations and 'touching moments.' At least 20% of the posts are supposed to focus on 'cooperation and any good things in China-US relations,'" while "promoting news and trends from the consulate are expected to make up just 10% of the deliverables, meaning most of the content is coming directly from social influencers enlisted by the firm." — Massoglia notes that the "new $300,000 contract is far less than China spends on China Daily or CCTV , but it demonstrates how online influencers can have a wide reach without the high costs of physical newspaper production or television programming. While China Daily's entire international print readership is estimated to be around 900,000, a single 'celebrity' influencer targeted as part of the Chinese government's new campaign would have more than 2 million Instagram followers or 2.5 million TikTok followers." A DIFFERENT KIND OF FOOD FIGHT: "A transportation industry fight over vegetable oil and animal fats is heating up as the sector races to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," POLITICO's Catherine Boudreau reports. "Fuels made from plant and animal waste are in hot demand as companies that operate planes, trucks, trains and ships want to use them to lower climate impacts. Now, Congress is considering extra tax credits for an emerging sector: sustainable aviation fuel." — "A coalition of truck stop owners and diesel distributors argues that a provision in Democrats' Build Back Better Act would give the aviation fuel market an unfair advantage in accessing the limited supply of oils and fats, with negative consequences for the planet. SAF proponents say those concerns are overblown because clean aviation fuel is a nascent industry playing catch up, and also has strict environmental standards." — "Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) led the push for the tax credits with support from airlines, environmental groups and companies that make both clean jet fuel and renewable diesel. He said the proposal is a key part of the broader effort to combat global warming," and argued that "other transportation sectors have multiple" other means for reducing emissions, unlike the aviation industry.
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