No Deal: Chamber Of Commerce's War Against Obama

Wall Street Journal :

With President Barack Obama bidding to overhaul the health-care system, tighten bank oversight and make industries pay for their greenhouse-gas emissions, some trade-association chiefs have decided to compromise with the party in power.

Not Thomas Donohue. On many of Mr. Obama's priorities, the president and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is working to defeat the administration--delighting some members, causing some to quit and sparking a furious reaction from the White House and left-wing activists. In the process, he has made the Chamber one of Mr. Obama's most visible opponents.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[mrJJ]

$100,000 reward for info on CEO Tom Donahue

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stopthechambercom-offe...


StopTheChamber.com Offers $100,000 Reward for Information Leading to the Arrest and Conviction of Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donahue


The StopTheChamber.com campaign, www.StopTheChamber.com, today posted a $100,000 reward for hard evidence leading to the arrest and conviction of Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donahue. Mr. Donahue and the Chamber have been publicly accused of criminal activity in complaints filed attorneys and Attorneys General in different states, and also by non-profits such as Citizens for Reform and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Public Citizen. StopTheChamber.com now seeks direct evidence that will stand up in a court of law -- documents, affidavits and testimony -- implicating Mr. Donahue in crimes, including fraud, tax violations, campaign finance violations, money laundering, insider trading, election tampering and pension fund and stockholder manipulations. StopTheChamber.com wants to hear from insiders and whistleblowers possessing information not already in the public domain.

Specifically, StopTheChamber.com seeks evidence pertaining to the period of Mr. Donahue's tenure at the Chamber and on the boards of Sunrise Senior Living, Union Pacific, Qwest Communications (until 2005) and XM Satellite Radio (until 2008). The information provided must lead to or result in the arrest and conviction of Tom Donahue. The identity of those who contact us will be kept strictly confidential. 1-888-4U-CHAMBR (1-888-482-4627) or tips@velve­trevolutio­n.us
-snip-

[ReedYoung]

War against the President is treason. Hang them.

[CaptainVideo]

"overhaul the health-care system, tighten bank oversight and make industries pay for their greenhouse-gas emissions"

If the Democratic leadership is on the ball (unlikely) this is a golden opportunity to frame the debate on these issues as a struggle between Main Street and Wall Street. If done properly, this would rally the public support to win on these issues, but the Democratic leadership probably lacks the insight to take advantage of this golden opportunity to take a strong winning populist position.

[JaneQCitizen]

Such a simple solution. Boycott all businesses, small and large, who are Chamber members. No dues, no Chamber, no smear campaign.

[yankees]

You want to face the employees and the families of these companies when they get laid off or reduced hours? You probably don't care to get your simple point across.

[cef911f1]

I seriously doubt if companies would sacrifice business for Chamber membership. Very few are that principled. I also suspect that the vast majority of members in the US Chamber of Commerce are large corporations. That us one of the reasons why we patronize small, locally owned businesses whenever we can.

[mafina]

But Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is trying to help telecoms and the cable industry make their destructive dream a reality. He recently introduced the inaptly-named "Internet Freedom Act," arguing that rules preserving net neutrality would be a "government takeover of the Internet." Join the tens of thousands of people who have spoken out in favor of a free and open Internet by taking action here.

[GrizzlyBowman]

Sometimes gas declares war on me too. I know how you feel, B.

[norkas]

The chamber will loose more business support as they continue promoting there stance on global warming. This is a great war for Barak Obama and many big business can fight it for him and are by leaving the chamber.

I am for big and small business because that is where the jobs come from and i am aganist anyone who wants to puish business because of there own personal reasons and envy. Many in business are becoming eco frienfly at a rapid pace and see that the Chamber is a sham and not good for their business at this time.

Small business as well citizens need a real change in insurance where it is more cpmpetive and that is not hard to do with a small strp that allows open competition across all state lines and to allow small business and citizens to purchase insurance as the big business does.
This will have a major postive effect fast.

The public option is a joke as it stands now and will be debated

[moxieme]

The goal and mission of the Chamber of Commerce is for the richer to get richer and the poor to get poorer. This is a special interest group that is maximizing on the public's-at-large perception that the "chambers of commerce" are somehow advocates for and inclusive in their mission of the average working American. If such were the case, affordable health care coverage would have been available to all workers, we would all be making a liveable wage, and have some measure of job security. Of course they enjoy all of that, along with the golden parachutes. We dunces out here in the trenches just keep drinking the Kool-Aid. As long as they're declaring war on the POTUS, he must be doing something right. If this were in another region of the world the working people would have taken to the streets long ago!

[TheBaffler]

This is all for show. They know he's on their side. The only ones being fooled are the cultists who think Obama is a reformer.

[jumperpin]

Maybe now that the "financial crisis" is tamed (for now), O can finally put an offense on the field. This spat w/ CoC is but one recent and welcome sign.

[RandVictims]

Obama's efforts are limited to saving Reaganomics, he hasn't done anything for the middle-class. In fact, he's done more damage in the past few months.

If Supply Side (rob from the poor and give to the rich) theory and these current trade rules and practices are staying in place, - we might as well have elected McCain.

[JaneQCitizen]

OMG. You think Obama is a Reaganomic? LOL.

The first thing Obama did is lower taxes for the working class. My weekly paycheck has a few extra bucks in it since he took office.

[angelrubes]

Another Corporate entity declares war against Obama??? What else is new?

[Philclock]

Good for the Chamber & Thomas Donohue; IMHO he's standing for the principles of free enterprise.

Big corporations in cahoots with Big Government sell out, supporting Big Taxes and Big Regulations for a loophole.

Mr. Donohue is not stepping in line to being "transformed" by Big Government and its crackpot taxes crammed down the throats of the american people with little thought or study, to nationalize health care and assess punitive carbon emissions charges without an iota of evidence on effecting climate change.

No wonder Obama's bashing him, in speeches, of course.

I wish Mr. Donohue would challenge Obama to a debate, Obama would run and hide as fast as Al Gore is from his global warming challengers.

[palindrom]

"Debate" is a really poor way of getting at the truth and illuminating the issues. The creation/evolution issue provides an example -- creationists, who are certain they are right, prepare for debates by finding little bits of anecdotal evidence against evolution, many of which are just plain wrong. In a debate, there's no time for careful fact-checking, and nobody can know absolutely everything, so they can make their opponent look flummoxed and flat-footed. Global warming is another such topic, in which the right-wing noise machine has asserted its own "truth", which stands against the overwhelming consensus of scientific opinion. Look, folks, scientists who study climate their whole lives know a lot more about climate than Rush Limbaugh does, and essentially all of them are sounding a loud alarm. We ignore them at our peril.

[Philclock]

Disagree big time.

But Fidel heartily agrees.

[JaneQCitizen]

To some "free enterprise" means doing whatever you damn well please to make a buck, including destroying the environment and shafting your employees.

And when citizens band together to say enough, the guilty of businesses cry us a bucket of tears about how unfair it all is.

[CaptainVideo]

Free enterprise my ear. What the Chamber of Commerce is supporting is monopoly capitalism and unbridled corporate greed.

Corporations only care about the bottom line, no matter how much maximizing the bottom line harms society.

[Philclock]

And what does Big Government care about? Politicians.

Of course government regulation & oversight has a role; but not government mandates, and government agencies running or taking over the business of providing godds and services (medicare, post office, AMTRAK, social security, public education, all bankrupt, full of fraud, protected as legalized monopolies).

Capitalism = freedom = people doing business as they see fit, not some government committee. Sure there are problems, that's human nature, that's what laws and regulations handle. That's what has created the American miracle, and will continue in spite of Obama and the Democrats' small-minded push to force the rest of us to live our lives their way.

[StillAmused]

Weren't the founding members of the Chamber reported casting lots in Jerusalem at the foot of...

[CaptainVideo]

The money changers at the temple were members of the Jerusalem branch of the chamber at that time.

[swift goat pet for truth]

The leaders of $multi-billion multi-national corporations are against Obama.

Great.
Obama must be doing really a LOT of things right.

[hamchunk]

The only corporate leaders against him are the ones he has not paid off/ rewarded yet. Once he can justify giving them billions in some sort of stimulus/ payoff, they will shut their moths, too.

Obama is a corporate tool, just for different bosses.

[hamchunk]

mouths, I meant to type "mouths".

Ugh. Typing while watching Iron Chef America is soooo distracting.

[racetoinfinity]

The Chamber of Commerce is a reactionary dinosaur! I hope a lot more companies leave it, and stop any contributions to it.

[Ucan2]

The Chamber of Commerce is a joke. They have inflated their member numbers for years.

They're against re-negotiating NAFTA
They were against a buy-American provision being placed in the stimulus bill
They are against trade restriction on imports from china.

This is a Republican ran organization who looks out for their members bottom line not working people.