Top Ten Ways the U.S. Chamber is a Partisan Shill

Last Thursday, the doors of the U.S. Chamber were once again stacked with Occupy DC protestors, while the Republican National Committee held its holiday party inside. We have to agree with Politico’s Ken Vogel, who recently tweeted, “If the US Chamber of Commerce doesn't want to be thought of as a GOP arm, it probably shouldn't host @RNC holiday party.”

The truth is, the Chamber has consistently decked its halls with partisanship and we expect them to up the ante in 2012 - acting, once again, as a shadow RNC - funded by big corporations that don’t have to disclose their involvement in proliferating misleading ads and favoring partisan politics. In the style of the Late Show with David Letterman, we now present:

Top Ten Ways the U.S. Chamber is a Partisan Shill

1.) The Republican National Committee Held its 2011 Holiday Party at the U.S. Chamber.

2.) 93% of the U.S. Chamber’s Reported Spending on Electioneering Communications During the 2010 Election Cycle Favored Republicans.

3.) All 7 of the U.S. Chamber’s Candidate Specific Ads in 2011 Favored Republicans by Either Praising them or Attacking Democrats. (“2012” Ads; NY-27 Ad)

4.) The Chamber’s 2012 Political Team is Being Run by RNC Alums Scott Reed and Rob Engstrom.

5.) The U.S. Chamber Received $1M in 2010 from News Corp head and Fox News Owner Rupert Murdoch, Rents its Roof to Fox News, and Loves Glenn Beck.

6.) The U.S. Chamber’s Top Communications Staff Include Former GOP Leader John Boehner Staffer Nick Schaper and Sean Hackbarth, Previously of the Senate Republican Conference and Republican Fred Thompson’s Presidential Campaign.

7.) The U.S. Chamber Coordinated with Right Leaning Groups Like Crossroads GPS, the National Republican Congressional Committee and Others to Elect a Republican Congress in 2010.

8.) In 2010, the U.S. Chamber gave $3.9 Million to the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), Making it the Organization’s Largest Contributor.

9.) The Chamber Leaks Scandal Revealed that the U.S. Chamber’s Long-Time Outside Counsel was Involved in Planning “A Dirty Tricks Campaign” to “Monitor Liberal Critics.”

10.) …And as Rolling Stone’s Tom Dickinson Pointed Out:

“Where does this radical new GOP orthodoxy come from? On the economic and regulatory front, at least, a recent interview with Tom Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, offers a clue. Donohue outlined the business group's top policy prescriptions - and they are virtually identical to those promoted by the GOP candidates.”