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The U.S. Chamber in the news - August 13
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce appears in the following stories in today's news:
Lieberman not giving up on cyber security bill
The legislation was successfully filibustered in the Senate amid opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Lieberman said opposition, including from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., whom the Connecticut senator calls an old friend, has been “really disappointing.”
Lieberman said he has asked the Chamber of Commerce to recommend amendment language, something the organization is working on.
Ryan’s voting record shows conservatism tinged with maverick streak
He has a 90 percent lifetime rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with most of his mark-downs coming because he voted against government spending as a way to produce jobs — including opposing Mr. Obama’s 2009 stimulus.
He was also one of less than three dozen Republicans who in 2007 backed Democrats‘ plan to require at least 15 percent of electricity in each state come from renewable fuels — a program the Chamber called unworkable.
I recently saw the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s negative TV advertisement against former governor Angus King. I was appalled that such a faceless D.C. organization could possibly understand what Maine needs. As small businesses in Maine will recall, King was instrumental in creating the environment that saw them through the recession of 2001 with far fewer bruises than most of their colleagues in other states.
Let’s get real. Distorted TV ads from some distant, deep-pocket Washington lobbying group have no place in Maine elections.
Streams of million-dollar nonsense
Thirty years ago, a stroll across Lafayette Square in D.C. was about the only thing separating the White House from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. When Ronald Reagan was in office, the Chamber certainly used its various levers to protect him, but it mostly had to deploy traditional D.C. tools: propaganda, arm-twisting, cash, booze.
The Chamber now has many millions and many levers, a fact that has become abundantly clear to folks following the race for the contested Virginia seat in the U.S. Senate.
The Chamber has begun throwing millions at Virginians in an attempt to get us to vote against former Gov. Tim Kaine, squaring off against former Gov. and Sen. George Allen.
Political ad buys likely to test stations' capacities, viewers' tolerance
Political campaigns — and Democrats particularly, at least so far — are preparing to test both the amount of airtime available for political commercials on Orlando TV stations and viewers' abilities to stomach them all.
So far, their likely Republican opponents — U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV in the Senate race, and the winner of a four-way primary in District 9 — have spent virtually nothing on local TV. But Republican-favoring groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have stepped in, spending millions of dollars attacking Nelson and Grayson.
Rex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil, admitted recently that global warming is not a hoax, but that we needn’t worry: "We have spent our entire existence adapting, OK? So we will adapt to this. Changes to weather patterns that move crop production areas around — we’ll adapt to that. It’s an engineering problem, and it has engineering solutions."
Tillerson’s buddies at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce added, "Populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of behavioral, physiological and technological adaptations."
