Faith-Based Investors Target Members Of U.S. Chamber Of Commerce

Prominent faith-based institutional investors are pressuring several of the Chamber of Commerce's biggest members -- including Merck, Walmart, McDonald's, AT&T, IBM and General Electric -- to state publicly if they agree with the chamber's campaign to defeat health care reform.

All of the 36 companies have agreed to "embrace health care principles that are now inconsistent with the anti-reform stance of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on health care legislation," reads the press release from the 275-member Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR).

The three dozen targeted companies are (in alphabetical order): Aetna; American Express; AT&T; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Cardinal Health; Cisco Systems; Duke Energy; DuPont; Eli Lilly; Exxon Mobil; General Electric; General Mills; Goldman Sachs; Home Depot; IBM; Kellogg; Kohl's; Manpower; Marriott; McDonald's; Medco; Merck; Peabody; Pepsi; Pfizer; Safeway; Staples; Starbucks; Target; 3 M; UnitedHealth Group; United Technologies; Verizon; Walmart; Wellpoint; and Xerox.

The letter to the companies reads:

"Does the U.S. Chamber of Commerce speak for [your corporation] when it opposes healthcare reform? As members of the faith community and concerned investors we have been troubled by the efforts of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to undermine efforts to curb global warming. We are equally concerned that the same tactics seem evident in the Chamber's attempts to undermine efforts to bring about a just health care system available to all citizens. Given the position that the Company has taken in endorsing core precepts for healthcare reform, we are asking you in this letter to communicate in a clear public voice whether or not the Chamber has your 'proxy' when it comes to healthcare reform policy...

As shareholders in major companies threatened by a broken health care system, we are united in our view that that the status quo in health care is unsustainable. It has runaway cost increases, presents great risk for employers as well as employees and leaves millions uninsured ... Given the current campaign of the Chamber of Commerce, we ask you to provide answers to these questions: (1) Does the Company agree with the Chamber's campaign in opposition to health care reform? (2) Will the Company publicly distance itself from the Chamber's position in opposition to health care reform? (3) What are the Company's plans to contribute in a constructive way to the health care debate going forward?"

Last month, the Huffington Post asked readers to send along names of members of the Chamber of Commerce.

Comments

[ispeak]

Now all we have to do is hold them accountable, PUBLICLY.

[tempting]

Everyone please call the faith based groups who are defending people like this and scaring off votes for health care in God's name. today I was checking channels and heard the CTN channel constantly harping on how bad the HR bill is and asking folks to call [phone] to sign a petition to stop the bill. Well I called and told them that they should be ashamed of using their faith to lie to the public. These people are with out guile.
The playing field is not level and there are hardly any outlets for those of us who are progressive in MSM.

www.ctnonline.com

[gumby40]

I have more of a question than a comment, How do these "faith based organizations" get so much power? Why do we listen to these people?

[christimarie]

The Chamber of Commerce, in my opinion, speaks for the interests of China and other third world countries where big corporate business has moved their slave labor factories. The Chamber is not in the best interests of this country.

[fireW]

Delusion-based investors actually interested in the common good? Why now? What's their real agenda here?

[noaxe397]

Why is there no call to break up CofCs for being harmful to the cause of business and commerce the way Republcans call for breaking up labor unions for the same reason?

If capital can organize to form corporations and businesses can can organize to form CofC's, then why is it considered the end of western civilization if labor organizes to form unions?

[Genep34]

Indeed!

[gypsyl]

To me, being "liberal" means to think carefully about what ever is said or written. It may be a bit sophisticated, but there is a distinction between the investors in this article and conservative ignorance. Some of the problem may be because Dubya coopted the term "faith-based" to blur religion and government.

I take these are investors of "denominational" funds of more liberal, mainstream churches committed to ecumenism, social justice and the environment. Those funds may represent retirement, new church development, something like that.

Let's not let loudmouth bigotry coopt the term "faith" or "Christians".

[chedet]

Faith in what? Money?

[DantesE]

The fight against slavery was carried out by people of faith. They risked everything for their faith that people should not be slaves. The civil rights movement was run out of churches. It was the REVEREND Martin Luther King after all. Gandhi was a person of faith. So was Mother Theressa. Christian or not most faiths advocate helping the poor, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, and helping the sick. For Christians that was the message their Savior sent them. That message has been twisted and debased for many years. Right around the time they hitched their wagons to the Republican brand. Good to see that some of them are dragging themselves out of the pit of money, property and prestige that had trapped so many of them for so long.

[mary clyne]

Prominent faith-based institutional investors,does the writer means Churches?.Could some one please explained what he means

[JTPurcell]

Refuse to give your business to ANY business that may have a "Chamber of Commerce" sign in their window. let t hat business know who you can't give your business to tham and advise t hem to quit the "Chamber..."

jtp

[moongal6]

The US Chamber of Commerce has little to do with the local CofC. I don't know if I would boycott a local, but, if the sign in the window says they are a member of the National, I may give boycott more thought.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

Where I live, the local C of C just wants to build homes over graveyards.

[GeoLee]

I imagine most of those listed make up the National...they are national chains.

[KIVPossum]

Local CoC are in business only to protect businesses.

[Genep34]

Yes!

[Lori Bowles]

I don't know how to take this. Its a weird and shady faith based group that is invading politics, but its landing on our side so dang it. Sorry have to stay with my principles, no faith based anything in politics. keep separation of church and state.
Preach in the church and vote in a booth. I dont care what they are saying now!

[pinksheets]

I have no objection to faith-based organizations lobbying specific organizations. As there are a lot of moral dimensions to political issues, it would make sense that a specific faith might act as a unifying force for people who subscribe to it, as faith and religion are often what people believe is the foundation of their moral values(I would argue such institutions often simply serve to reinforce inherent, basic moral standards). Separation of church and state is really only stepped on, in regards to policy, when the state begins to choose policy BASED on a particular religion's principle without any real, legitimate reasoning to defend it.

[pinksheets]

Correction on my first sentence: I have no objection to faith-based organizations lobbying on specific policies.

[gypsyl]

It's neither weird or shady, but the article doesn't do a good job of describing it. If you follow the link and start cueing in on words like "interfaith", "socially responsible" and "ecumenical", those are the clues that tell you this is NOT right wing. Many mainline (evangelicals sometimes denounce them as "liberal") churches invest funds to help support new church development or mission work. You may not like their stances either, but I believe that's the difference.

[WorkingClass]

Some investors have a beef with the Chamber's politics. So do I. What does that have to do with church and state?

[wattnot]

Without looking under the rock for bogeymen why can't everyone simply rejoice in the fact that for once, miraculously, the faith-healers have come down on the side of rationality. Encourage it! My former employer IBM should be wetting their panties at the thought of how much money is going to get spent on IT systems in the reformed health system. I'm surprised they aren't busting their tails to get single-payer, but I suppose they don't have that much clout any more, now that the country is run by banks..

[pixiepotpie]

Frankly, i'm not shocked there aren't more corporate supporters, faith-based or otherwise. I doubt it's any big secret that most companies would love to save every penny they can for themselves and their investors rather than pay out for their employees' health care. Somehow, however, I can't figure out how the repubs (i.e., the biggest supporters of business vs. people) deal with this contradiction. Oh yeah, they Ignore it. Be that as it may, it's nice that at least some CEOs, et al., aren't completely inhuman.

[Vere15]

So what is this new faith group called the Church of the Holy MegaMammon all about?