The National Chamber of Commerce has become a mouthpiece and spokesperson for huge special interest campaign contributors to the Republican Party. Rather than focus on the incredibly complex & diverse needs of SMALL and MID-SIZED Businesses, they have brainwashed ALL BUSINESSES in believing that the same old, same old "needs" of BIG BUSINESS are the same needs of Mom & Pop shops across the nation. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!
Just like the Blue State Republican "values voters" ... middle class Republicans (read small business owners) often vote AGAINST their own interests, because they buy into a false bill of goods by believing some nonsense about abortion, gun rights, or "big government." Anything that convinces someone to vote Republican is acceptable ... and most local, and all state and national Chambers of Commerce have become fire hydrants of false information, misleading assertions, and illogical reasoning. Their true bottom line? Reduce or eliminate taxes, reduce or eliminate regulation, reduce or eliminate consumer protection laws -- all for multinational corporate profit. They spew out the same non-provable arguments year after year, and are unwilling to truly look at the Big Picture. When was the last time the Chamber of Commerce spoke out AGAINST corporate welfare, the biggest welfare (and socialist program) in the nation? Huge tax credit and government cash (well over $100 Billion in 2008) literally handed to tobacco farmers, Big Oil, Big Pharma, strip mining interests, clearcutting loggers, and manufacturers moving their operations to China (Amway got a huge tax credit payout from the Feds a few years ago to move their operations from Michigan and elsewhere in the US to China... not a peep, not one word from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce).
Climate Change? Chambers of Commerce response: Can't exist, doesn't exist, liberals are creating it to produce a bigger government. Switch to renewable energy? Sure, agree with it on paper (at least on Chamber brochure applications) but make sure Congressmen vote AGAINST all meaningful legislation to address it. Protect our environment? Fuhhgeddabout it! Anything that addresses water or land or air pollution might cost a big company some $$$, so reframe it as a "land taking" or "excessive government control." Health care? No way, no how ... no matter what suggestions come down the pike, even if Wal-Mart agrees, then Wal-Mart MUST HAVE SOME EVIL AGENDA. But -- if Wal-Mart had supported the standard Republican's views, then by God, the world's largest retailed must be listened to, after all, they're the biggest job provider in the country and they must be listened to!
Its astonishing how an otherwise smart small or mid-sized businessman can suspend their rational thinking when the Chamber of Commerce takes a position on some issue ... if all a businessman does is vote for their wallet or against some supposed potential tax increase (the mind-numbing, repetitive false boogeyman argument used successfully to SCARE Chamber members into voting Republican), then the children of these non-thinking brainwashed businessmen will enjoy the fruits of their labor in a war-filled, oil-dependent, very expensive world that is hotter, drier, more flood-prone, with national forests, oceans, and our atmosphere ravaged for corporate profit. Oh wait, the Chambers of Commerce tells me to vote Republican, and will stop "Big Government" from reaching their hands into my back pocket. I guess that's far more important.
This is the TAKE-AWAY from all this: DO NOT JOIN your local Chamber of Commerce, save your dues and invest that into your business or your child's college fund. Just substitute the words "Republican Party" whenever you hear Chamber of Commerce, and you'll see that this once honorable, legitimate, open-thinking organization is simply an outdated, political, special interest group serving the needs of the super-rich. That is, IF YOU STILL have an open mind left ... or do you categorize anyone that has a difference of opinion as a "big-government, big taxes liberal" ... an easy way to truly not think for yourself and let yourself be taken advantage of by guys in much bigger shoes than you? PT Barnum would have a field day with merchants and businessmen who would give the richest man in town their son's best pair of shoes because they were afraid the town council might want to confiscate them to give to a poor person -- at least that's what the rich guy in town said might happen, at his meeting of super-rich guys from across the state, after his super-rich media buddies spread the bogus message throughout the land.
It’s not everyday that Wal-Mart and SEIU join forces. As President Obama takes to the road to pitch his health care reforms in a “town-hall” format, one of America’s biggest companies and one of its largest unions have released a joint statement in favor of employer-mandated health coverage.
