Chamber of Commerce is Chamber of Horrors this Holloween

While most Americans thought of the Chamber of Commerce as a social organization to which local merchants belong, it has evolved into a powerful Washington and state-level lobbying organization that opposes all things American. Those include labor rights, environmental protections, progressive industrialization and technological advancements.

The anti-workplace bullying movement and the Healthy Workplace Bill face the Chamber of Commerce as the most formidable opponent. Whenever this bill reaches legislative floor votes, it is the Chamber that is most verbal in calling this morally responsible bill "A Job Killer!"

Hiding behind its mask as "The Protector of Small Business," the Chamber is in fact the exact corporate giants who are putting small business out of business in this nation. Though they employ more Americans than any other sector, small businesses (those with 100 or fewer employees, by definition, depending on the industry) are the largest employers, even in this recession-era economy. To add insult to injury, banks recently bailed out by We the Taxpayers will not lend to small businesses. The TARP language included no such language when it was rushed through Congress by the out-going Bush administration.

The United States of America is being bullied by the US Chamber of Commerce!

The $300,000 spent daily by these same huge, largely global corporations to stop health care reform and to squelch the public option, comes from the same behemoths that commandeer the Chamber of Commerce. Local Chambers are crying for change in our health care system. They are going out of business from the high cost of supplying health insurance to employees.

And the Chamber is lying about their membership in the process.

The Wall Street Journal, moveon.org, and Mother Jones have all reported that the national Chamber is boasting it has 3,000,000 member businesses when it only has about 200,000. That's only 6.666...% of their false claim. The Chamber is hiding behind the very people they are destroying in our deregulated, laissez-faire capitalistic economy. And Congress is buying their lies at our expense. Or should we say that the Chamber of Commerce is buying Congress?

1. "U.S. Chamber Spent a Record $34.7 Million on Lobbying in Past 3 Months," The Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85026&id=17752-6792541-sfL8qfx&t=3
2. "The Chamber's Numbers Game," Mother Jones, October 13, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85045&id=17752-6792541-sfL8qfx&t=4
3. "Chamber Rejects Use of Term '3 Million Members,'" Mother Jones, October 23, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85030&id=17752-6792541-sfL8qfx&t=5
4. "U.S Chamber of Commerce: About Us," U.S. Chamber of Commerce website, accessed October 30, 2009
http://www.uschamber.com/about/default.htm
5. "Survey of Business Owners," U.S. Census Bureau, accessed October 30, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85048&id=17752-6792541-sfL8qfx&t=6