I could believe it when I first saw it on T.V. It is an ad against the so-called “lawsuit abuse tax”. They even set up this website. This is obviously a politically-motivated issue, and an issue supported by Republicans. They don’t try to hide the fact that they are against Democrats in their website. Just look at this web page.
But most shocking of all, look at who is paying for it. It is supposedly part of an effort by the “U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform”. That’s right, U.S. Chamber of Commerce–that means you and I are paying for all of this!
I realize that if we don’t let George W. Bush and the Republicans do what they want, it will be as if the terrorists won. But did they go too far with this?
How are the taxpayers paying for this? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a non-government non-profit association of corporations, trade associations, and local chambers of commerce (the last of which are in turn non-profit associations of businesses in a particular area).
I guess I should change my question a little (although please understand I have always assumed chambers of commerces were runned by governments–my bad if I was wrong:)). Even if non-profit, and even–as you all seem to claim or imply–non-government, should they use their resources for polically-motivated purposes? Wouldn’t they help commerce and industry more so by staying out of the political fray? And while we’re at it, isn’t the “U.S.” kind of misleading then? People should understand they are not governmental–especially if they are going to become political about it?
That’s one of their main functions. From the above cite
Note that labor unions also perform political advocacy on behalf of unions and union members.
You have a point here. IIRC one cause of the Great Depression was the failure of the Band of the United States. This was a private bank, but its name suggested that it was a part of the federal government.
However, the US C of C has been around for a long time. And, the name helps distinguish it from various state and local Chambers of Commerce.
Personally, I blame the Great Depression on Yoko Ono.
There were two attempts to charter an institution known as the “Bank of the United States” to act as the country’s central bank, but both were before the Civil War, and the controversy over them had nothing to do with the Great Depression. The current Federal Reserve System dates back to the Wilson Administration, so it was around during the Great Depression, but I don’t think you could say it “failed” in the banking sense of the term, since it’s still here.
The formerly-named United States Steel, and the United States Golf Association, not to mention Federal Express, are non-governmental entities. “United States” is less common than “American [Trade Association]” or “American [Corporate Name]”, but it’s not unheard of. And “National” is all over the map, from the National Broadcasting Company to the National Security Agency.
Interestingly, I heard that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce when originally founded was quite a progressive organization. Alas, in recent years, it has become anything but. Still, I don’t begrudge them the right to pursue their political agenda, warped though it may be IMHO.
