A new report highlights the secret money from multinational oil corporations and shadowy front groups that is being used to influence American voters, in an effort to protect their profits:

…big polluters and their special interest allies have spent an additional $1 million combined, amounting to $69.5 million since the beginning of 2010 on misleading and fictitious television ads designed to shape midterm elections and advance their anti-clean energy reform agenda.

These multinational oil corporations, including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Hess, and Shell Oil, are also active members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And it is no surprise that as these Big Oil companies are beginning to release their third-quarter earnings, they are posting considerable profit increases:

“The Exxon Mobil Corporation, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday that its quarterly profit rose 55 percent…” [Reuters, 10/28/10]

“ConocoPhillips’ third-quarter earnings more than doubled from the year-earlier period as the oil giant benefited from higher oil and gas prices and better margins for refined products.” [Dow Jones, 10/27/10]

“Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, said Thursday that profit rose 7 percent in the third quarter…” [New York Times, 10/28/10]

Shadowy front groups headed up by Republican operatives and funded by secret corporate donors are supporting the GOP and their special interest agenda – shipping good-paying American jobs overseas, handing Social Security over to Wall Street, turning Medicare over to the insurance companies, and keeping us addicted to oil.