U.S. Chamber of Commerce TV ads praising Congressman Dave Reichert for his support of a Medicare drug plan were paid for in part by the drug industry. That's what The Associated Press is reporting, though the chamber is refusing to say where it got the money for the campaign.

The ads have already been a problem for the Chamber around the country. In Ohio an ad was pulled because the congressman praised for his support actually voted against the measure. Three others, including one for Reichert, were changed after the Chamber realized that the incumbents were not in Congress when the bill was passed.

AP reports there are no legal problems with the drug company financing: "In political terms, though, the disclosure is likely to embolden Democratic critics of the Medicare drug program, who charge it amounts to a Republican-engineered windfall for drug companies."

Indeed. Democrats were quick to respond. Bill Burton, communications director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement:

There's a civics lesson here from the drug companies. They write checks to protect their GOP friends, and then they write the laws to benefit themselves, all the while doctors are writing prescriptions middle class Americans can't afford.