Transcript File - John Gear Law Office

Top 10 Ways the U.S. Chamber
Hurts Americans
1. First in Line for a Bailout
Even after the calamitous collapse of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Lehman
Bros., Bear Stearns and AIG, the U.S. Chamber kept fighting for weaker
regulations and less accountability for its big Wall Street members. Yet
when the market collapsed under the weight of Wall Street schemes
gone wrong, the Chamber was the first to plead for massive,
unconditional bailouts. [1] [2]
2. The Leading Denier of Climate Change
The U.S. Chamber has been one of the world’s leading opponents of
policies to curtail climate change, even threatening to sue the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its reform efforts. Major
companies, such as Apple, and energy companies PG&E, PNM Resources
and Exelon, have left the organization in protest of the Chamber’s climate
change stance. [3]
3. Do As I Say Not As I Sue
The U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform spent more than $226
million in the past decade lobbying the federal government to restrict
Americans’ ability to hold corporations accountable when they are
harmed by dangerous products and services. At the same time, the
Chamber’s National Chamber Litigation Center engages in an average of
two lawsuits a week on behalf of its multinational corporate members. [4]
4. Big Business Only
The U.S. Chamber claims to represent small businesses, but 55 percent of
its funding comes from just 16 giant corporations. Major corporations
dominate the Chamber’s agenda to such an extent that many state and
local chambers have abandoned the national organization. [5]
5. Beholden to Foreign Corporations
Even being a major U.S. corporation isn’t always enough to win the U.S.
Chamber’s favor. Foreign corporate members of the Chamber often get priority
treatment over American companies. After multiple Middle Eastern petroleum
companies began contributing to the Chamber, the organization pushed against
limiting dependence on foreign oil, saying such measures were a “job-killing
energy tax.” In another instance, the Chamber flew Hill representatives to France
to be wined and dined with Airbus executives, when the European manufacturer
was in direct competition with U.S. manufacturer Boeing. [6] [7]
6. Drowning Elections in Corporate Money
The U.S. Chamber threatens the nation’s democratic process by secretly
pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into state elections on behalf of
their own pro-corporate candidates, often to the dismay of state and
local chambers of commerce that prefer not to enter into the electoral
process. At least 40 local chambers of commerce have abandoned the
national organization in response. [8]
7. Tampering with Juries
Not content with closing the courthouse door to individuals while they fill it with
suits on behalf of their corporate clients (see #5), the U.S. Chamber has
consistently been linked with attempts to tamper with juries. The Washington
Post identified the Chamber as “one of a growing number of advocacy groups
that blur the distinction between legitimate media and propaganda to promote
their causes.” And in one case, after disgraced accountancy firm Arthur Andersen
was convicted of witness-tampering, the Chamber filed a brief in their defense
claiming the corporation’s actions were acceptable because they were “part of
numerous businesses’ everyday routine.” [9] [10]
8. Stepping Up for the World's Worst Polluters
After causing the worst oil spill in U.S. history, UK-based BP turned to the U.S.
Chamber to thwart any punishment or regulation federal and state lawmakers
would try to impose on the corporation. The Chamber and BP have a long history
together, so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise when shortly after the oil
started gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. Chamber CEO Tom Donohue leaped
to BP’s defense, saying that American taxpayers should help pay for BP’s mess.
This statement came just days after Donohue chided President Obama for taking
responsibility to ensure the spill was cleaned up. [11] [12] [13]
9. Pushing the Corporate "Get Out of Jail Free“ Card
Forced arbitration is the corporate “Get Out of Jail Free”
card, and no one has pushed it harder than the U.S.
Chamber. Time and again the Chamber pushes to take
away Americans’ right to justice by placing pre-dispute
forced arbitration clauses in the fine print of contracts.
These ubiquitous clauses force Americans into a private
system of “justice” that is largely controlled by the major
corporations who have harmed them. And there is no way
to appeal if you lose. Anyone who has a credit card, a cell
phone or a mortgage and many people who have a family
member living in a nursing home have probably been
forced to sign away their legal rights. And most probably
won’t know they have until they try to take a dispute to
court. The U.S. Chamber has been a leading advocate of
these contracts for consumers, but, not surprisingly
considering its two-faced attitude to all things justice, the
Chamber also opposes arbitration when it comes to union
contracts, where workers would have the upper hand. [14]
10. Funneling Special Interest Money into Washington
Having spent nearly a billion dollars lobbying Congress since 2000, the U.S.
Chamber has succeeded in poisoning Washington with money funneled from big
businesses into their own pet projects. Oil and gas companies, drug companies,
asbestos companies, chemical companies, and others, have all enjoyed massive
political and media campaigns in support of legislation that would benefit their
industries but are extremely unpopular with the public. This arrangement allows
the Chamber to be the bad guy while the corporations get favorable laws and
anonymity. Of course this service comes at a steep price. Undeterred by the
unwelcome attention of the IRS, the Chamber even maintains separate accounts
to hide the money used to dispense its multimillion dollar favors. [15] [16]
Sources
[1] Lee Fang, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Coordinating Wall Street’s Stealth Lobbying Campaign to Kill Reform, ThinkProgress, April 24, 2010,
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2010/04/24/93244/stealth-chamber-banks/.
[2] David R. Sands and Kara Rowland, Hill Support Erodes for Bailout Funding, Washington Times, January 15, 2009,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/15/hill-support-erodes-for-bailout-funding/.
[3] David A. Fahrenthold, Apple Leaves U.S. Chamber Over Its Climate Position, Washington Post, October 6, 2009,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/05/AR2009100502744.html.
[4] The Chamber Litigation Machine, American Association for Justice (AAJ),
2010,http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xbcr/justice/ChamberLitigationMachine2010.pdf.
[5] Bill McKibben, The Chamber of Commerce is Darkening Our Skies, Grist, February 23, 2011, http://grist.org/climate-change/2011-02-22-the-us-chamber-of-commerce-darkens-the-skies/.
[6] Brad Johnson, Chamber of Commerce is Fueled by Foreign Oil, ThinkProgress, October 23, 2010,
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2010/10/23/126082/chamber-foreign-oil/?mobile=nc.
[7] Al Kamen, Chamber Soars, Boeing Hits Ceiling, Washington Post, April 1, 2002, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-342634.html.
[8] Jeanne Cummings, Angry member groups shun U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Politico, December 7, 2010,
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46049.html.
[9] Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, Advocacy Groups Blur Media Lines, Washington Post, December 6, 2004, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/articles/A38184-2004Dec5.html.
[10] Revisiting the death of Andersen, Chicago Tribune, January 19, 2005, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-0119/news/0501190063_1_andersen-lawyers-andersen-jurors-arthur-andersen-llp.
[11] Jason Linkins, Chamber Of Commerce Says Taxpayers Should Help Pay For BP Spill Cleanup; GOP Leader Agrees, Then Recants, Huffington
Post, June 10, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/10/chamber-of-commerce-says_n_607748.html.
[12] Dianna Heitz, U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Don't over regulate BP, Politico, May 28, 2010,
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37924.html.
[13] U.S. Chamber Watch, The U.S. Chamber and BP, Public Citizen, http://www.fixtheuschamber.org/news/news/us-chamber-and-bp.
[14] Art Levine, Why Does Chamber of Commerce Favor Arbitration for Workplace Rape Victims, But Oppose It for Union Workers?, Washington
Monthly, June 17, 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-levine/why-does-chamber-of-comme_b_216597.html.
[15] Chamber lobbying expenditures since 2000 were $850 million – Center for Responsive Politics,
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000019798.
[16] Jim Vandehei, Business Lobby Recovers Its Clout By Dispensing Favors for Members, Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2001,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100015411979219346.html.