The US Chamber of Commerce is rated the top spending lobbying group in the country according to watchdog group Open Secrets. Almost double the spending of the second place AMA.Their website ‘take action’ page urges opposition to proposed Congressional climate change policies, a Financial Protection Agency a shareholder bill of rights and the Employment Free choice Act (EFCA).
Chamber in the past?
The chambers ‘about us’ web-page may lagging or just feeling nostalgic for friendlier days when they even today state “Over the past year, the chamber hosted more than 2,500 programs, meetings, seminars, and forums with various participants, including President George W. Bush and his Cabinet, members of Congress, and dozens of international leaders.”
All is not unity for the members with the position on pending climate change legislation. Rep. Markey of Massachusetts says of the chamber’s attitude "Unfortunately, while the chamber says they are for everything the Waxman-Markey bill addresses, they are just not for the bill itself; the chamber should listen to the companies who would rather leave the group than wait for it to back up their talk with action."
Five major companies have left the organization over its opposition to aspects of climate change efforts .Excelon corp. PNM Resources Inc.,PG&E Corp. ,Apple Inc. and Nike Inc. One business observer noted that the divide did not fall along traditional players versus technology players but was across the board suggesting a deeper rift. US Energy Secretary Chu and Greenpeace have praised the companies that took the leap from the chamber. This is on the heels of an earlier call by one chamber official for a new "Scopes Monkey Trial" to examine the EPA's role and look at whether human activities are actually causing global warming and the damage attributed to them.
Recently Obama has restated his desire to move on climate legislation after he and Sen. Majority Leader Reid warned that it would most likely not happen until next year and certainly not before the Copenhagen conference. Some shakeup of position in the chamber crowd may help save this legislation from the delay that health care has suffered from but it is only a glimmer in a long battle.
Whoever owns the shoe
October 14 the chamber will launch the Campaign for Free Enterprise a $100 million dollar effort in what is being called a war on Democrats. When Chairman Thomas Donahue was asked about this said “First of all, it's not a declaration of war against anyone. The issue is very, very clear. This is going to be very positive program”
Shortly after accentuating the positive this telling exchange took place
Q)Much of it does seem to focused on wanting to limit regulation, limit government, limit taxation at a time when there is obviously a lot of discussion in Washington about whether more reforms or regulations are needed to prevent many of the excesses we've seen in the last year.
A)“Well, if the shoe fits, whoever owns the shoe ought to wear it.”
(UPDATE)Its,...more on the Chamber at
Digby's Hullabaloo
which has details(scroll down to post titled Gag)on the Chambers anti-government-run-heath care legislation efforts and at AlterNet Matt Stoller
has even more interesting stuff along these lines
The Chamber of Commerce, run by corrupt lobbyist Tom Donahue, has turned into a pay-to-play vehicle for right-wing causes and corporate dishonesty.
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