US CHAMBER WATCH TO SPEAKER-ELECT BOEHNER: LISTEN TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NOT CORPORATIONS

Washington, DC—Today, US Chamber Watch released the statement of spokesman Christy Setzer on the results of last night’s elections:

“Today, Speaker-Elect John Boehner pledged to ‘listen to the American people’ as he and the new Republican leadership craft an agenda to move our country forward. We sincerely hope he does. Unfortunately, all indications are that Boehner—pegged as a ‘Chamber of Commerce Republican’ for his allegiance to his wealthy corporate backers—will continue down the path notably seen during this current Congress, when Republicans voted in lockstep with the corporate interests funding their lobbying agenda—and ultimately their campaigns.

“The US Chamber of Commerce-- and the biggest 26 corporations who fund its agenda-- poured an unprecedented $75 million into elections this cycle to take out Democrats who voted for historic health care legislation, Wall Street reform, and other efforts to help small businesses. In the Democrats’ place, the Chamber invested tens of millions of dollars in candidates who will be beholden to corporate special interests. Because of their efforts, Rand Paul, who the Chamber spent more than $1.2 million to elect, can now help out the big banks as he votes to privatize Social Security. Marco Rubio will have the backs of insurance companies, as he casts votes to repeal health care. And members like Joe Heck in Nevada will be thinking fondly about the Chamber’s top CEOs as he votes to extend the Bush tax cuts.

“Mr. Speaker, it’s clear that your new Members will be listening to Big Business. We can only hope they’re listening just as hard to the regular people among us.” 

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U.S. Chamber 2010 Election Scorecard Available Here