U.S. Chamber’s “Jobs Agenda” Doesn’t Create Jobs, Say Advocates in Advance of “State of American Business” Address

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Contact: Christy Setzer 202-506-6421
christy@newheightscommunications.com

U.S. Chamber’s “Jobs Agenda” Doesn’t Create Jobs, Say Advocates in Advance of “State of American Business” Address
Chamber-Proposed Deregulation and Tax Breaks Benefit Big Business at the Expense of the 99%

January 11, 2012 (Washington, DC) – Just ahead of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s annual “State of American Business” address, leaders from the business sector, consumer protection and environmental advocacy groups spoke out against the Chamber’s so-called “Jobs Agenda” as nothing more than a guise to promote Big Business and line the pockets of wealthy member CEOs. Representatives from Patriotic Millionaires, the National Wildlife Federation, Public Citizen and U.S. Chamber Watch stated on a press call that while Chamber President Tom Donohue has advocated for months for further deregulation and lower taxes on giant corporations and millionaires to stimulate hiring, the Chamber has shown little concern for the 14 million Americans still looking for work and has invested significant resources in projects detrimental to the middle class.

“It becomes immediately clear where the Chamber’s priorities stand when you look at their reaction to the American Jobs Act,” said Leo Hindery, member of Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength. “Instead of urging higher taxes on millionaires to reduce the deficit, create jobs and strengthen the economy, they greedily protected their own pockets—pockets that are already plenty full at a time when millions of their fellow citizens struggle to make ends meet.”

In an October 11th letter to members of the United States Senate, the U.S. Chamber opposed the American Jobs Act because it would have returned tax rates to the Clinton-era level for millionaires and billionaires, imposing a 5.6% surtax on people making $1 million a year or more. 

“The Chamber’s agenda is just a grab-bag of gifts to its massive corporate donors,” said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “It wants to block regulations that protect American health and the environment, to reward companies for tax evasion, to insulate wrongdoers from accountability, and to let the financial sector run wild and crash the U.S. economy again. Policy makers should think twice before supporting these positions, which amount to an aggressive campaign to undermine the lives of nearly all Americans.”

The Chamber has pushed hard on industry deregulation, arguing that regulations are harmful to job creation—despite numerous studies showing that regulations do no such thing. In one particularly jarring example of the Chamber’s campaign against regulations, the organization spent more than $700,000 to dismantle the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in 2011—a nod to the Chamber’s eight member companies who have been charged by the SEC for violating the FCPA.

Additionally, last year, the Chamber lobbied for the Keystone XL Pipeline—a highly controversial project that would have transported toxic tar sands fuel from Canada clear across the country to Texas refineries.  Again, the Chamber did so under the guise of job creation. While a few Big Oil CEOs would have temporarily hired 500 to 1400 construction workers and reaped windfall profits for decades to come, the pipeline would also put much of the Midwest at risk of irreversible environmental damage, health hazards and rising gas prices that would stifle an already fragile economy. 

“There’s not much to like about what is going on in Washington. The political games Congress and the Chamber will play over the pipeline in 2012 speaks to the grip that oil companies have over our elected officials,” said Jeremy Symons, Senior Vice President at the National Wildlife Federation.

“The greatest myth about the U.S. Chamber is that they have an interest in creating or protecting jobs,” said Christy Setzer of U.S. Chamber Watch, a watchdog organization. “Rolling back needed regulations and putting more money in the pockets of millionaires and corporate CEOs won’t create jobs, but it will benefit the wealthy few who fund the Chamber’s lobbying budget.”

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