Biden jabs at Karl Rove on campaign spending

The Obama administration showed little interest on Monday in backing off its public spat with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups spending on behalf of Republicans. 

Vice President Joe Biden accused the Chamber and a group affiliated with Bush political guru Karl Rove of fronting corporate interests at the expense of working voters.

“Karl Rove has his stable of billionaires, literally, and millionaires pouring tens of millions of dollars into close races,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Pennsylvania for Rep. Chris Carney (D), according to a pool report. “The Chamber of Commerce — does it surprise you that insurance companies are against us after we prevented them from taking advantage of the people they’re supposed to take care of?”

The vice president’s jabs toward the Chamber and Rove, and, by extension, the group American Crossroads, with which Rove is affiliated, signaled the White House has no intention of backing off it its attacks. 

The administration, including President Obama, has accused the groups of possibly accepting foreign donations to fund its political advertisements against Democrats. The groups have denied the alleged donations, which would be illegal.

Biden renewed calls for the Chamber and other groups to disclose the source of their funding to prove they’re not accepting foreign donations.

“I challenge the Chamber of Commerce to tell us how much of the money they’re investing is from foreign sources,” Biden said. “If I’m wrong I will stand corrected. But show me.”

The groups and top Democrats have been locked in a pitched, public battle over their influence in elections. Ed Gillespie, another former Bush adviser who’s affiliated with American Crossroads, penned an op-ed to run in Tuesday’s Washington Post accusing Obama and Democrats of “political vigilantism.”

The Chamber will stay focused on representing its agenda, said Bruce Josten, the business group’s executive vice president for government affairs.

“We are seeing an attempt to demonize specific groups and distract Americans from a failed economic agenda. With three weeks until Election Day, it’s time to return to the discussion that Americans care most about: job creation,” he said. “The Chamber will stay focused on representing and advocating for an agenda of economic growth and speaking out against policies that are counter to those objectives.”