It’s hard to turn on a television these days without being hit with a barrage of political advertising.  While such ads may be expected this time of year, today’s political advertisements are markedly different because they are operating in a post-Citizen’s United landscape.  This landmark Supreme Court decision lifted restrictions on the political activities of corporate entities and unions, allowing for unprecedented spending on political ads this election cycle.  However, as the Campaign Legal Center’s Meredith McGehee discusses, foreign entities may also be getting in on the action.

While contributions from foreign entities were previously illegal, Ms. McGehee describes how foreign  nationals, corporations, and governments may be exploiting new loopholes created by Citizen’s United to influence U.S. elections.  This means that even foreign airline competitors in the Gulf region and in Asia, who are already heavily state-sponsored and supported, may be able to use their significant cash reserves to support candidates they see as favorable to their interests.

Watch Meredith McGehee discuss this issue in a three-minute clip here:  http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Meredith_McGehee_ACDB8164-727B-4813-9969-2D0ECEB787B9.html

The threat of this foreign money makes the efforts of our traditional PAC (ALPA-PAC) even more important. ALPA-PAC, unlike the super PACs referenced above, can liaise directly with Members of Congress and their campaigns.  Strengthening ALPA-PAC by increasing pilot participation in the PAC is vital to our future success fending off these threats. ALPA pilots:  Please support these efforts by joining ALPA-PAC today.