By Madeline Janis. Originally published in the Los Angeles Times. September 21, 2011.
Earlier this summer, the L.A. City Council ended the fierce competition for the multimillion-dollar food concessions business at Los Angeles International Airport, awarding contracts to three food service companies that will bring a variety of new local restaurants to the airport.
By Donald Cohen There’s an old adage that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. That seems to be the unofficial motto of the United States Chamber of Commerce, which has spent the last forty years repeating (and repeating and repeating) the mantra that government regulations on businesses “kill jobs” and economic growth. But their predictions are repeatedly wrong. The laws that they warned would bring economic ruin have become the basic health, safety, and environmental safeguards we now take for granted.
Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held its "Jobs For America Summit". Consider it part of a continuing campaign to convince the public that the organization cares about something other than the profits of its largest donors. (It doesn’t.)
By Donald Cohen. Published in the Los Angeles Times. May 19, 2011.
Every year since 2003, the California Chamber of Commerce publishes its hit list of proposed legislation it labels “job killers.” The list includes legislation to protect consumers, workers and the environment from irresponsible business practices, or raise revenues to fund public services, or support middle and working class families.
By Peter Dreier and Donald Cohen. Posted on the Huffington Post. February 6, 2011.
President Barack Obama will walk across Lafayette Park on Monday to address the United States Chamber of Commerce at its headquarters. What should he tell them?
By Brad Johnson. Published in Think Progress. February 1, 2011.
At a Washington DC press conference, U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials blasted President Obama’s call for a clean energy future. Christopher Guith, vice president for policy at the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said a national clean-energy standard is “ridiculously premature,” even though 25 states have renewable and alternative energy standards, the first established in 1983. The Institute’s president, former Bush official Karen Harbert, said that the United States should instead allow “increased access to land for oil and gas drilling both onshore and offshore,” drilling a deeper hole with fossil fuel dependence.
By Donald Cohen and Peter Dreier. Posted on Huffington Post. January 5, 2011.
Newly emboldened as chair of the House’s key investigative committee, California Cong. Darrell Issa, the conservative Republican, sent letters to more than 150 business lobby groups, asking them to identify government rules that they want eliminated.
Issa wants to hand the government over to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a who’s who of corporate America. The new Republican Congress is their opportunity to get rid of those pesky environmental laws, consumer product safety laws and even rules to prevent another Wall St. financial train wreck.
L.A.'s Living Wage Ordinance Isn't a Job Killer
By Madeline Janis. Originally published in the Los Angeles Times. September 21, 2011.
Earlier this summer, the L.A. City Council ended the fierce competition for the multimillion-dollar food concessions business at Los Angeles International Airport, awarding contracts to three food service companies that will bring a variety of new local restaurants to the airport.
Read MoreRegulating Greenhouse Gases a Job Killer? Quit Crying Wolf
By Donald Cohen
Read MoreThere’s an old adage that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. That seems to be the unofficial motto of the United States Chamber of Commerce, which has spent the last forty years repeating (and repeating and repeating) the mantra that government regulations on businesses “kill jobs” and economic growth. But their predictions are repeatedly wrong. The laws that they warned would bring economic ruin have become the basic health, safety, and environmental safeguards we now take for granted.
The Chamber of Commerce Does Not Care About Unemployment
By Jake Blumgart
Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held its "Jobs For America Summit". Consider it part of a continuing campaign to convince the public that the organization cares about something other than the profits of its largest donors. (It doesn’t.)
Read MoreChamber of Commerce, Wrong Again
By Donald Cohen. Published in the Los Angeles Times. May 19, 2011.
Every year since 2003, the California Chamber of Commerce publishes its hit list of proposed legislation it labels “job killers.” The list includes legislation to protect consumers, workers and the environment from irresponsible business practices, or raise revenues to fund public services, or support middle and working class families.
Read MoreObama to Chamber: “Time to Stop Crying Wolf; Time to Cooperate”
By Peter Dreier and Donald Cohen. Posted on the Huffington Post. February 6, 2011.
President Barack Obama will walk across Lafayette Park on Monday to address the United States Chamber of Commerce at its headquarters. What should he tell them?
Read MoreChamber Of Commerce Continues Decades-Long Assault Against Clean Economy
By Brad Johnson. Published in Think Progress. February 1, 2011.
At a Washington DC press conference, U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials blasted President Obama’s call for a clean energy future. Christopher Guith, vice president for policy at the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said a national clean-energy standard is “ridiculously premature,” even though 25 states have renewable and alternative energy standards, the first established in 1983. The Institute’s president, former Bush official Karen Harbert, said that the United States should instead allow “increased access to land for oil and gas drilling both onshore and offshore,” drilling a deeper hole with fossil fuel dependence.
Read MoreDarrel Issa’s Government Handover
By Donald Cohen and Peter Dreier. Posted on Huffington Post. January 5, 2011.
Newly emboldened as chair of the House’s key investigative committee, California Cong. Darrell Issa, the conservative Republican, sent letters to more than 150 business lobby groups, asking them to identify government rules that they want eliminated.
Issa wants to hand the government over to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a who’s who of corporate America. The new Republican Congress is their opportunity to get rid of those pesky environmental laws, consumer product safety laws and even rules to prevent another Wall St. financial train wreck.
Read MoreU.S. Chamber: Jobs Argument a Little Leaky
By Samantha Brown. U.S. Chamber Watch. August 26, 2010.
Drilling Down on the U.S. Chamber’s Weak Jobs Arguments
Once again, the U.S. Chamber cries "job-killer!" and once again, the Chamber is found to be crying wolf.
Read MoreFDR to Chamber: "Stop Crying Wolf"
Read the full New York Times article here.
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