I almost titled this “US Chamber of Commerce starts recognizing its class interests,” but that kind of language bugs people on the Right, for some reason.
Say hello to the US Chamber of Commerce. Or don’t; they’re coming to sit down at the table any which way.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is building a large-scale grass-roots political operation that has begun to rival those of the major political parties, funded by record-setting amounts of money raised from corporations and wealthy individuals. [snip] The new grass-roots program, the brainchild of chamber political director Bill Miller, is concentrating on 22 states. Among them are Colorado, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet is vulnerable; Arkansas, where Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln faces an uphill reelection battle; and Ohio, where the chamber sees opportunities in numerous House races and an open Senate seat. The network, called Friends of the U.S. Chamber, has been used to generate more than a million letters and e-mails to members of Congress, 700,000 of them in opposition to the Democratic healthcare plan. That is an increase from 40,000 congressional contacts generated in 2008.
The article goes on to note that the CoC’s grassroots planning recently got a big boost from the recent Citizens’ United case, as well as that this organization is increasingly publicly acknowledging that ‘pro-business growth’ means ‘pro-Republican.’ And why would that be? Probably because of Democratic assaults like this one: Continue reading US Chamber of Commerce getting into the game.