US Chamber to Back Democrat Mary Landrieu

breitbart ^ | 7/28/14 | m flynn

[bestintxas]

Rob Engstrom, the US Chamber of Commerce's national political director, recently told a gathering of trade association executives that the Chamber planned to endorse Louisiana Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu in her reelection bid this year. The endorsement, reported by the New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, could decide the balance of power in the Senate and preserve Sen. Harry Reid as majority leader. Landrieu, running in crimson-red Louisiana, is one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection this November. In the RealClearPolitics average of polls, she trails her leading Republican challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy, by one point. An endorsement from the Chamber could throw her a critical lifeline as she tries to separate herself from Obama and national Democrats and position herself as a conservative Democrat. Because of the unique way Louisiana conducts its elections, the Chamber endorsement could also lead to an upside-down political world where the ostensibly pro-business interest group is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's last line of defense to hang on to his leader's gavel. Louisiana holds its primary election on the same day other states conduct their general election. The top two voter getters in Louisiana then proceed to a run-off election in December. It is not improbable that control of the Senate could hang on the outcome of the December run-off in Louisiana. Having endorsed Landrieu, the Chamber would find itself fighting to keep Democrats in control of the Senate. Two of the Chamber's current top legislative priorities are preserving the Export-Import Bank, which subsidizes foreign sales of certain manufactured goods and comprehensive immigration reform. Both of the issues have put the Chamber on the opposite side of many conservatives. The Chamber recently faced a political setback when one of its supported candidates lost in part because of its backing of him.

[grandpa jones]

Sorry bunch of SOB’s.

They would rather keep the whigs from taking the Senate than have a conservative pick up a seat.

[all the best]

Her Republican opponent needs to make it known that she is the candidate of big business as evidenced by C of C backing.

[kabar]

Jeff Sessions supports the view that the Reps must separate themselves from the corporate elites and identify with the American worker.

Becoming the Party of Work--How the GOP can help struggling Americans, and itself. By Senator Jeff Sessions An excerpt:

When Americans went to the polls in 2012, the following was true: Work-force participation had sunk to its lowest level in 35 years, wages had fallen below 1999 levels, and 47 million Americans were on food stamps. Yet Mitt Romney, the challenger to the incumbent president, lost lower- and middle-income voters by an astonishing margin. Among voters earning $30,000 to $50,000, he trailed by 15 points, and among voters earning under $30,000 he trailed by 28 points.

And what did the GOP’s brilliant consultant class conclude from this resounding defeat? They declared that the GOP must embrace amnesty. The Republican National Committee dutifully issued a report calling for a “comprehensive immigration reform” that would inevitably increase the flow of low-skilled immigration, reducing the wages and living standards of the very voters whose trust the GOP had lost.

Over the past four decades, as factories were shuttered and blue-collar jobs were outsourced or automated, net immigration quadrupled. Yet the corporate-consultant class has pronounced that an insufficient level of immigration is the problem. A more colossal misreading of the political moment has rarely occurred.

Perhaps the most important political development now unfolding in the U.S. is the public’s growing loss of faith in our political and financial elites of both parties. To open the ears of disaffected voters, the GOP must break publicly from the elite immigration consensus of Wall Street and Davos. Republicans have a clear path to building a conservative majority if they free themselves from the corporate consultants and demonstrate to the American public that the GOP is the only party aligned with the core interests, concerns, and beliefs of everyday hardworking citizens.

[freedomfiter2]

The US Chamber of Commies shows their true colors once again.

[freedomfiter2]

That stereotype will stick as long as the GOP keeps nominating people like Romney.

[Robert A Cook PE]

F’cking idiots.
Both the National Republican “elites” and the National Chamber of Communists ....

[ObamahatesPACoal]

This is good news for Cassidy. The last thing he needs is a token endorsement from the US Chamber and a token million out of the millions he will already have. Cassidy isn’t great but he is better than Mitch, Rand, Lamar, Corker, Cochran, Perdue, Isaakson, Wicker, Graham, Murkowski, Ayotte and Collins.

This will help the leading Republican.

Whoever runs 2nd amongst Republicans needs to unite behind the leading Republican because they may also get a shot at Vitter’s seat in 2016 or Vitter may appoint the 2nd runner.

DeMint, Vitter and Jeff Sessions were the main Senators who have stopped the Chamber’s 2006-2014 amnesty agenda.

Vitter has a huge warchest for his 2015 Governor race.

Maybe Big Oil doesn’t need more cheap workers but needs Reid and Obama’s EPA jackboots off their neck.

[Ben Ficklin]

"that she is the candidate of big business"

It would be more accurate to say that she is the candidate of the oil and gas business.

She has the majority chair in the Senate Energy Committee. Lisa Murkowski has the minority chair. They are joined at the hip on drill baby drill..

OTOH, if you take Landrieu out in the election, then the far left Ron Wyden from Oregon takes over the dem chair of the committee.

[rcofdayton]

Exactly. The Chamber of Commerce has demonstrated it will sell out its country for money.

[House Atreides]

“...OTOH, if you take Landrieu out in the election, then the far left Ron Wyden from Oregon takes over the dem chair of the committee.”
***************************************************************************************

Ahh....what makes you think that come January 2015 the ‘RATS will still be in the majority in the Senate. If you say “ranking member” you’ll have more credibility. Mary Landrieu needs to be defeated at all costs.

[Ben Ficklin]

Apparently, the oil industry and the Chamber disagrees with you

[House Atreides]

“Apparently, the oil industry and the Chamber disagrees with you”
**************************************************************************************
Sorry, you’re wrong once again. The oil industry KNOWS that whoever wins the Louisiana Senate seat will support the oil industry. The difference between Mary Landrieu and a Republican Senator is that ONE OF THEM will be voting for Harry Reid and one will not. Landrieu TALKS a “I support the oil industry” line but her WALK is to vote for Reid who will block any legislation that benefits the oil industry and the American economy. The “Oil Industry”, like MOST (but apparently not ALL) of us here, wants to see Landrieu defeated and the Republicans to become a majority in the Senate.

The Chamber of Crony Government Supporters & Illegal Alien Employers on the other hand support DemocRATS and RINOs and would be quite pleased to see the DemocRATS maintain their Senate majority and the Republican caucus to continue to be led by RINOs.

[Joe 6-pack]

"I cannot imagine what voter would care that they endorsed someone."

Voters don't care. Donors who want to stay connected to the right people do.

[bestintxas]

Insightful discourse, as usua

[bestintxas]

See www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/georgia_voters_choose.html

[indthkr]

The US Chamber of Commerce is no friend of Main Street.

Only Wall Street and K-Street.

[nathanbedford]

Thanks for the citation to the article by Senator Jeff Sessions which I have carefully read. He obviously gets it.

It is clear that the Chamber of Commerce/Washington elitist position on immigration is hostile to the interests of Reagan Democrats and, certainly, Republican small-business entrepreneurs. He also draws out the facts concerning our smothering Washington behemoth that is the driving business abroad to find cheaper wages, less restrictive regulations, and sounder tax policies.

I am not sure that Reagan Democrats get the connection between the smothering federal government and their kitchen table predicaments that propel businesses offshore but the connection is surely there even as it is unrecognized.

There is a mountain of bad federal policies upon which to mount presidential campaigns and campaigns for lesser federal offices of which the Republican establishment certainly cannot be ignorant but they have consciously chosen another path.

Can Ted Cruz be the next Ronald Reagan delivering the same message to a new generation in a slightly different context?

[ogen hal]

Louisiana voters: do America a favor. Throw this landrieu oaf out. Thanks in advance.