Free Republic

Laywers for Sen. Bill Nelson have written to Florida TV stations asking them not to air an ad that includes a false claim about Medicare cuts. From a news release: In the wake of the recent Citizens United case, in which the Supreme Court allowed unlimited and undisclosed corporate money to be spent on such ads, TV stations have a greater responsibility to protect the public from the spread of false and deceptive information, Kendall Coffey, a lawyer for Nelson wrote in a letter to the stations today. “On behalf of our client, we respectfully insist that you take this...

Harry Alford is the president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. And boy is he entertaining. He’s also not a fan of many of the business positions Democrats have taken. You might remember him for his fiery exchange with call-me-Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in 2009, when he accused the senator of infusing race into a congressional hearing: Today he joined Laura Ingraham on her radio show to talk about Obama’s business policies. He started with this: “Obama wanted the National Black Chamber to dance to his music and have blind allegiance to his crazy programs and agenda,...

Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue said Tuesday that his organization would join in the fight to repeal the new health care law, lobbying Congress to take it back to the drawing board and renegotiate key provisions. “Last year, while strongly advocating health care reform, the Chamber was a leader in the fight against this particular bill — and thus we support legislation in the House to repeal it,” Donohue said at the Washington, D.C., headquarters.

Who better to explain why firms aren't hiring than the nation's largest business federation? How to create jobs was a central focus of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's State of American Business address today, given by its President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue. It's 2011 outlook was on the optimistic end of the spectrum, asserting that the year will provide 3.2% GDP growth and 2.4 to 2.6 million net new jobs. Of course, that will only bring down the unemployment rate by about 1%. What's holding the private sector back from hiring more aggressively? The Chamber emphasized the "regulatory tsunami"...

WASHINGTON -- The White House says President Barack Obama will speak to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 7, addressing a major trade group that has been sharply critical of some of his domestic policies. The announcement comes amid the changing political terrain in Washington that has given more power to congressional Republicans, traditional allies of the business sector.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FUN AND GAMES) "September 19, 2007 Rudolph Giuliani is raising campaign cash in London. Only U.S. citizens and green-card holders can legally give to U.S. campaigns. But Giuliani, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are all holding events for Americans living in the British Isles. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Today, Republican Rudolf Giuliani campaigned for the White House in England. Tonight he's got a lecture and dinner with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But in this cash-craze race for the White House, he also did something no other presidential candidate has ever done: He held a fundraiser on...

Prudential Financial sent in a $2 million donation last year as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce kicked off a national advertising campaign to weaken the historic rewrite of the nation’s financial regulations. Dow Chemical delivered $1.7 million to the chamber last year as the group took a leading role in aggressively fighting proposed rules that would impose tighter security requirements on chemical facilities. And Goldman Sachs, Chevron Texaco, and Aegon, a multinational insurance company based in the Netherlands, donated more than $8 million in recent years to a chamber foundation that has been critical of growing federal regulation and spending....

Over the past several works numerous members of the Obama administration and various Democrats have claimed groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and GOP advocacy campaigns, such as Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS have taken "foreign money." However, on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett did not accuse these groups of taking foreign money. Instead, she claimed President Obama has been an "advocate for disclosure and transparency in campaign finance." Jarrett has previously made the implication. "He believes it's important that people understand where the money is coming from. As you have noted in this campaign season,...

Judge tosses Mont. corporate campaign finance banBy MATT GOURAS The Associated Press HELENA, Mont. -- A Montana judge says the state's century-old ban on corporate political spending is unconstitutional. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena on Monday tossed out the 1912 Corrupt Practices Act that prohibits corporations from making independent political expenditures. Sherlock ruled in favor of conservative think-tank Western Tradition Partnership... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/18/AR2010101804283.html

For the past couple of weeks Barack Obama and other liberal democrats in his administration, Congress and on MSNBC have continued to claim that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is using foreign funds to pay for campaign ads in this year's election cycle. If the Chamber was indeed doing that then it would be a violation of U.S. election laws, so these claims by Obama and his liberal cohorts are very serious, and potentially slanderous if they are found to be untrue. Of course, they are also completely unsubstantiated. And when Obama advisor, David Axelrod, suggested that the burden of...

My Fox News colleague Glenn Beck yesterday urged his radio listeners to participate in the “largest fundraiser for the Chamber.” Several readers wanted me to join in. Sorry, but I can’t think of a more perfect illustration of that old saying that “the enemy of your enemy is not always your friend.” If you have followed this blog over the years, you know I have opposed illegal alien amnesty in all forms, opposed the bipartisan TARP bailout from day one, opposed the bipartisan auto bailout from day one, and opposed the Obama stimulus from day one. The U.S. Chamber of...

To: Local News Media RE: Democrat/Goyle Fact Check: "Stealing Democracy" The Democrats are falsely accusing Republicans of violating Federal Campaign Law: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvm0cWgHp6A&feature=player_embedded In an Orwellian statement, Obama staff member David Axelrod claims that it is up to REPUBLICANS and up to the Chamber of Commerce to prove that they are INNOCENT of any criminal charges, in this matter: "White House senior adviser David Axelrod said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has the burden of proving false the charge by Democrats that the business group is funneling foreign money to Republican campaigns." http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/123539-axelrod-chamber-must-prove-foreign-money-allegations-false

It is the fourth quarter and the Democrats are down by a lot! They know they cannot win, but their coach is vigorously trying to prevent an embarrassing defeat on November 2nd. He blames Republicans, Fox News, John Boehner, Sean Hannity, angry people attending town halls who cling to their guns and religion, and anyone else in sight hoping that something will stick so they can catch a breath and slow down the momentum mounting against them. Like his policies, his attacks on his opposition have also failed. I guess you can’t blame a man for trying. With that in...

Fed up with unsubstantiated accusations claiming the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is funneling foreign money into political campaigns, Glenn Beck is encouraging his listeners to shower the Chamber with “record-breaking” support. “I would like this to be the largest day of fundraising for the Chamber of Commerce ever,” Beck said. While calling for action on air Thursday morning, Beck walked his readers through the donation process and pledged a $10,000 gift to the organization. “Let’s break all records. Let’s show these people that we actually believe in something different than what Barack Obama and Joe Biden are saying,” Beck said,...

Bill Miller can't remember when he took his last vacation, works 13 to 14 hours a day every day of the week and is on the road constantly. And he couldn't be happier. Miller, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's national political director, is spearheading one of this election cycle's highest-profile and possibly most successful campaign drives as the largest business group in America tries to undo what it considers an "anti-business" agenda in Washington. Boosted by generous member contributions that have expanded the Chamber's revenue to an estimated $240 million, the influential group is on track to spend $75 million...

Obama and his minions continue to follow Saul Alinsky's playbook of using projection, demonization, and spewing lies about their opponents. From Outside the Beltway: David Axelrod: Chamber Of Commerce Guilty Until Proven Innocent Axelrod was defiant, suggesting the chamber is lying and the New York Times report was inaccurate. “Well, do you have any evidence that it’s not, Bob? The fact is that the chamber has asserted that, but they won’t release any information about where their campaign money is coming from, and that’s the core of the problem, here,” Axelrod said. Scumbags all of them. I only hope the...

DICKSON CITY, Pa. (AP) -- Vice President Joe Biden is criticizing a Republican fundraising effort that he says has poured vast sums of unaccounted-for money into GOP campaign coffers. Biden on Monday challenged former Bush administration political operative Karl Rove to reveal the names of donors to his advocacy group, which has given millions of dollars to Republican candidates this year.

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed. Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited. ... The problem with such [prepaid] cards,...

Barack Obama is being politically crushed in a vise. From above, by elite opinion about his competence. From below, by mass anger and anxiety over unemployment. And it is too late for him to do anything about this predicament until after November's elections. With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits,...

Yeah, OK. I got the following e-mail from Organizing for America. It seems as though we have a threat to American democracy surrounding us from every hilltop. The US Chamber of Commerce. The real threat is politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. who ignore their oath of office and completely ignore the US Constitution. This is the same damn playbook Democrats have been relying on for decades. Where’s the change that was promised. Yeah, the GOP is baaadddd. They want to take away your Social Security! From Organizing for America – the political wing of the current Executive Branch –...

White House senior adviser David Axelrod said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has the burden of proving false the charge by Democrats that the business group is funneling foreign money to Republican campaigns. Axelrod was pressed by CBS’ Bob Schieffer on Sunday for evidence that the foreign campaign contributions benefiting the GOP is more than “peanuts.” “Do you have any evidence that it’s not, Bob?” Axelrod said on “Face the Nation.” “The fact is that the Chamber has asserted that, but they won’t release any information about where their campaign money is coming from. And that’s at the core of...

President Obama this afternoon joined the gang of Democrats and liberal groups alleging that the US Chamber of Commerce is using foreign funds to influence American elections. Referring to a study by the liberal group ThinkProgress that – correctly – notes that the US Chamber of Commerce has some funding sources abroad, including foreign corporations and American Chambers of Commerce around the world (or “AmChams”), the President said, “just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign corporations.” The president then took this step, saying, “groups that receive...

WASHINGTON — With growing scrutiny of the role of tax-exempt groups in political campaigns, Congressional Republicans are pushing back against Democrats by warning about the possible misuse of the Internal Revenue Service to audit conservative groups. Leading Republicans are suggesting that a senior official in the Obama administration may have improperly accessed the tax records of Koch Industries, an oil company whose owners are major conservative donors.

Following Friday’s report that only 67,000 new jobs were created in the private sector in August, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Chief Economist, Dr. Martin Regalia, issued the following statement: “The employment data released today shows another month of anemic job growth in the private sector and an outright decline in the total number of jobs. “While this data was better than expected, it is a sad day when such a dismal number exceeds our expectations. “Once again, these numbers are confirmation that the economy is not growing sufficiently and it is far past time for the administration and Congress...

U.S. Chamber Endorses Manchin for Senate in West Virginia An Invaluable Leader Who Understands that Lower Taxes & Smart Energy Policies Will Help Get Americans Back to Work CHARLESTON, WV—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce today to announce its endorsement of Joe Manchin for Senate, highlighting his record of supporting the state’s businesses and workers. “We’re endorsing Joe because he understands the economic challenges our country is facing and has a record of supporting policies that allow businesses to create jobs,” said Lisa Rickard, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber and president of...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce accused President Barack Obama on Saturday of giving misleading remarks in his latest radio address about possible illegal foreign involvement in the 2010 midterm elections. In his weekly speech, Obama reiterated his oft-repeated criticisms of the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, saying the high court's early 2010 decision to throw out most bans on corporate and union broadcast advertising buys "overturned decades of law and precedent" and "gave the special interests the power to spend without limit -- and without public disclosure -- to run ads in order to influence elections."

Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce President John Wade said Wednesday he is disappointed that 1st District Rep. Tim Walz has chosen not to participate in a planned congressional debate. "Candidly, this was a great opportunity to get off the wagon and check on the horses that are pulling this economy," Wade said. The two-term DFL incumbent declined to participate in the Sept. 20 debate sponsored by the chamber and Post-Bulletin. Instead, he's opting for another debate in Rochester sponsored by the Minnesota News Network and AARP. The date for that debate has not yet been set. Walz will participate in...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday filed a lawsuit that challenges EPA’s recent rejection of its petition for reconsideration of the agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gases threaten humans. The finding is the underpinning for upcoming EPA rules limiting emissions from power plants, factories and other sources that are opposed by a number of business groups. “The U.S. Chamber, policymakers, numerous trade groups, state governments, and businesses throughout the country have collectively raised strong concerns about the significant negative impact the EPA’s endangerment finding will have on jobs and local economies,” said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of...

In the past 24 hours, more than a few pundits and writers have noted that the NAACP resolution accusing Tea Partiers of racism is hard to swallow when the NAACP seems unconcerned with the New Black Panther voting intimidation case. Their points would be valid by analogy only. Their points are even more valid, though, because of a direct, rather than just analagous, tie between the NAACP and the Panther case. It was first reported here at the Washington Times that "Kristen Clarke, director of political participation at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Washington, however, confirmed to The Times...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday rejected a request from top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett to speak at a jobs summit hosted by the business group, the latest escalation in an ongoing war between the two camps. “We would have loved to have gone and participated. We weren’t invited. In fact we were told not to come,” Jarrett said, during an interview on Bloomberg Television. Chamber officials said Jarrett requested that she be allowed to address their gathering, a several-hour long “Jobs for America Summit,” on Wednesday morning, a few hours before the event began. They said the...

Chambers Of Horrors Ed Rendell has done more to hurt business in Pennsylvania than any governor in recent memory. So why do our local chambers of commerce keep patting him on the back? Posted on 5/12/2010 at 8:33AM “The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to promoting regional economic growth…and advancing business-friendly public policies.” So says the mission statement of Philadelphia’s Chamber of Commerce. It further states that it is “dedicated to supporting and encouraging the continued growth” of its members by striving “to influence business-friendly legislation in all levels of government, participate in initiatives to improve education and...

The Chamber of Commerce has a fascinating post up at its Chamberpost blog recounting a series of e-mails between its own blogger Brad Peck and Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos, the popular left-wing site. It began when Kos claimed in an April 30 post on his site that the Chamber was funding, via a group called Americans for Job Security, an ad attacking Arkansas Senate Democratic primary candidate Bill Halter, whom Kos is supporting. Peck e-mailed Kos to inform him that he was incorrect. The Chamber was in no way connected to

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, already one of Washington's largest lobbying groups, is gearing up to play a major role in this year's midterm elections on a scale to rival the nation's two main political parties. Modeled in part on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign juggernaut, the group has built a grass-roots operation known as "Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." It has a member list of 6 million names, aimed at lobbying on legislation and swaying voters to back preferred candidates, primarily Republicans, in crucial battleground areas, officials said. With an overall budget of $200 million -- twice what...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ought to reconsider its finding that greenhouse gas emissions pose a public health danger, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Monday.

The pranksters who impersonated U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials in a bogus news conference last week are getting smacked with a federal lawsuit in reply. Far from finding the stunt funny, the chamber is suing the group, called the Yes Men, for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising. In a suit filed late Monday in U.S. District Court, the Chamber charges that four principal members of the group engaged in conduct that “is destructive of public discourse, and cannot be tolerated under the law.”

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue says a campaign by the White House and its allies to undermine his $200-million-a-year association has largely failed — and actually has helped raise even more money for its pro-business efforts. In a 75-minute interview with POLITICO, Donohue dismissed recent defections by Apple and at least four other companies, which quit over the Chamber’s opposition to Democratic climate change legislation — as essentially meaningless. “Members come and go all the damn time,” he said.

The White House may want to diffuse its spat with the Chamber of Commerce, but Big Labor clearly has no such intentions. Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and chairwoman of the five-union federation Change to Win, slammed the big business lobby and its president, Tom Donohue, in a letter delivered today to House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank and Rep. Spencer Bachus, the ranking Republican on the committee.

Barack said recently that the Chamber of Commerce spent half a billion dollars over the past 10 years on lobbying. He was so impressed with that number that he said it twice, for emphasis. As if to say, "in case you didn't hear me the 1st time, and as shocking as it may sound, yes, I meant it: half a billion dollars." Now the U.S. Chamber represents over 3 million businesses and organizations. Just doing a little math for ya, but if you take 500 million divided by 10 (for the 10 years) that's 50 million a year spent on...

Reporting from Washington - The Obama White House, stepping in where other Democrats feared to tread, has launched a potentially risky fight with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- attempting to bypass the nation's most powerful business organization and develop independent ties to corporate America. In recent weeks, President Obama, his Energy secretary and one of his other most senior advisors have begun criticizing the chamber publicly, casting it as a profligate lobbying organization at odds with its members in opposing the administration on such issues as consumer protection and climate change.

The free-enterprise system is under attack as government gets bigger and more intrusive, and the stakes never have been higher, speakers and panelists said yesterday at the Virginia Chamber of Commerce 2009 Conference on Virginia's Future. Capitalism, far from being the cause of today's crisis, is its only cure, said the lead speaker, BB&T Corp. Chairman John Allison.

At an event Wednesday to launch its ‘Dream Big’ campaign to promote the American free enterprise system, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue said that people, not government, will create the jobs needed for economic recovery. “The government can support a few jobs in the short-run, but over the long-run only the private sector, powered by free enterprise, can keep America working,” Donohue said in his prepared remarks. “We believe it is imperative to remind, educate, and persuade our fellow citizens and leaders that it was a free enterprise system based on individual initiative, hard work, and personal responsibility...

“Supporters and critics alike agree that capitalism is at a crossroads,” said U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's reaction to a limited set of stricter rules for banks hiring foreign workers answers a bar debate that long has raged. The question has always been whether if we had another Great Depression would the Chamber still continue to lobby for more foreign workers on the basis of worker shortages. This week, the debate is settled. YES, THEY WOULD! The Chamber and immigration lawyers are in an uproar over a provision placed in the Stimulus Bill by socialist Sen. Sanders of Vermont and Republican Sen. Grassley of Iowa. Any bank receiving Stimulus money should not be...

4/28/2008 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- Coast Guard aircrew students completed altitude-chamber training taught by the 1st Fighter Wing Airmen here April 23. The base provides training for all Coast Guard members and the instructors tailor the class specifically to them, said Master Sgt. Rodney Morris, the 1st Aerospace Medical Squadron NCO in charge of aerospace physiology. The two-part training involves a classroom portion where Langley AFB instructors travel to Elizabeth City, N.C., to teach. The second portion involves the altitude-chamber and is conducted here at a later date. The Coast Guard students are usually aircrew members...

WASHINGTON - Take that, Washington rumor-mongers. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, the longest-serving senator in history, defied a whisper campaign about his declining health by showing up Thursday, very much alive and able to vote, for a marathon session on the federal budget. "Yes!" Byrd shouted, defiant as ever, from a wheelchair on the Senate floor as the chamber opened a vote-o-rama expected to last late into the evening. It was a pushback that recalled the Monty Python sketch in which supposed victims of the plague are prematurely loaded, protesting, onto carts. "No!" Byrd shouted later, rejecting a subsequent...

Anticipating that the enactment of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level might not occur for several years, the US Chamber of Commerce will continue to oppose state and local efforts to address illegal immigration. Immigration reform at the federal level is unlikely until businesses are faced with a lack of workers, said Chamber President Tom Donahue at a conference the largest business federation hosted, which examined the impact of state and local immigration laws. "To really get it done," Donahue said, "I think it has to hurt more." In the meantime, Donahue pledged to challenge state laws that businesses...

Lubbock Hispanic Chamber of Commerce officials say a proposed merger with the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce will fix the Hispanic group's financial problems and allow it to better serve its members. But some residents and members are concerned that merging could mean Hispanics will lose their voice, allowing their needs and interests to disappear in the system. The Hispanic chamber held a public forum Saturday morning to discuss the pros and cons of a merger, which has to be approved by members and accepted by the Lubbock chamber to happen. If the two chambers merge, the Hispanic chamber, which has...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2007 – Coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained nine suspects today during operations to disrupt al Qaeda and foreign terrorist networks in central and northern Iraq. During an operation west of Abu Ghraib, coalition forces targeted an alleged associate of several senior terrorist leaders in Kirkuk. Reports also indicate the targeted individual has information about foreign terrorists in the area. As the force secured the target, several men, one of whom was armed, maneuvered toward them. The suspected terrorists did not comply with the force’s instructions. The armed men continued to maneuver toward coalition troops, who...

Andritsa Cave's chamber of secretsLate 6th-century finds retrieved from the Argolid cave and exhibited at theByzantine and Christian Museum begin to unfold the story of a group of peoplewho sought refuge there and slowly starved to death CHRISTY PAPADOPOULOU A large number of transporting and storage vessels from clay were found in the cave (above). Bronze processional cross with the Sunday prayer engraved on both its sides A NATURAL shelter in case of inclement weather and dangerous situations, and occasionally the place to practise cult rituals, caves often keep their secrets hermetically sealed. The Andritsa Cave in the Municipality of...

...The straightforward generosity of the corporate sector has been well reported. [D]onations had exceeded $200 million. Besides cash, companies have handed out free drugs, suspended finance payments on cars and mortgages and helped emergency personnel with equipment. As interesting, though, has been the application of corporate best practices-- from supply-chain management to logistics-- to a natural disaster. The private-sector planning began before Katrina hit. Home Depot's "war room" had transferred high-demand items -- generators, flashlights, batteries and lumber -- to distribution areas surrounding the strike area. Phone companies readied mobile cell towers and sent in generators and fuel. Insurers flew...