Hudson breaking from U.S. Chamber of Commerce

[ProSense]

Source: Nashua Telegraph

Already under fire for controversial fundraising practices, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is now losing some of its local support.

On Friday, the Greater Hudson Chamber of Commerce released a statement saying its board of directors has voted not to renew its membership with the national chamber because it felt recent political advertisements by the national chamber in support of specific parties and candidates were in “direct conflict” with the foundation of the Hudson chamber.

Jerry Mayotte, executive vice president of the Greater Hudson Chamber of Commerce, said the Hudson group is a nonpartisan organization. He said he can’t remember the last time they chose not to renew their membership.

The decision wasn’t made lightly.



Read more: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/882587-196/hudson-breaking-from-u.s.-chamber-of-commerce.html

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Think Progress: New Hampshire Chamber Leaves U.S. Chamber, Says It Can’t Find ‘One Positive Thing To Say’

[Old and In the Way]

1. Interesting development and hope that others follow suit.

Local chapters are far less likely to be controlled by corporate/Republican interests. Their motivations are completely different than the US Chamber of Commerce, a wholly owned subsidiary of GOP, Inc.

[NewJeffCT]

2. Or is the US GOP partly owned by the Chamber of Commerce?

and partly owned by Big Oil, Big Pharma & Big Insurance (among others)

[HawkerHurricane]

8. Does it matter?

If the GOP owns the Chamber, or the Chamber owns the GOP, or some third party(s) own both?

[NewJeffCT]

9. The Saudis, Chinese & Indians?

maybe

[Jackpine Radical]

25. Just think of it as interlocking directorates.

[ProudDad]

35. Both right-wings of the Corporate War parties are owned by the C of C (n/t)

[glinda]

14. In part, I disagree. Some local Chambers are very much like the bigger one and I guess

that some are not renewing in order to throw the scent off of their tracks.
I hope the Government and all investigations do not allow this to happen by making the huge mistake in thinking local Chambers are in totality, harmless. I have seen that they are not and many times do the local bidding to feed the larger Chamber's goals.
The Chamber of Commerce all the way around needs to be dismantled.

[Hannah Bell]

22. agree. my idea of the CoC is that's it's a political & intelligence machine serving corporate

america:

the national org sends info to the smaller ones: what issues are coming up, how to vote, talking points, etc.

& the small orgs feed info to the national one: local developments, local trouble-makers, etc.

it's also my belief that local CoC's are sometimes "seeded" with national people who move to local areas to "manage" developments.

[glinda]

39. Yes. They appear to do so.

[alfredo]

3. You reap what you sow.

[RKP5637]

4. Recommend! n/t

[jwirr]

5. Good now let them be an example for other chambers.

[Angry Dragon]

6. Good for them

And you too, if you find having no soul an advantage, could buy a congress person or two.

[orbitalman]

7. Let's hope there's an avalanche....

This will tell us where the nature of business that depends on people (customers) is.:grouphug:

[activa8tr]

10. I would be in favor of THIS kind of an avalanche in snowy Mountain NH as long as

it's just about the local CoC's divorcing from the US.

Maybe others in NH, ME, VT, MA, CT RI will do this soon, also MI OH... places that lost manufacturing jobs to China, Mexico, etc.

[matt819]

12. It doesn't matter

When I was the director of a local chamber, I terminated our membership as soon as I realized that a) the US Chamber was an arm of the republican party and b) didn't give a shit about small businesses.

That said, like poor people who want (unrealistically) to be rich people, and thus support rw policies, many small businesses want to be big businesses, and so they too with support RW policies. Also, remember, some small businesses are not that small. Or, perhaps more accurately put, some local businesses, members of the local chamber, are not that small. Sure, they seem small-ish, because they are local, or because we see only the one or two local facilities. In reality, they are parts of larger national or multi-national corporations, and so their macro goals are consistent with the policies supported by the US Chamber.

Also, local chamber membership dues in the US Chamber are based on size (if memory serves). The dues, in any case, for small town chambers probably do not constitute a significant portion of the US Chamber's revenues. So, they could care less. In fact, losing these small town chambers will simply allow the US Chamber to focus on its key priorities, which is to support policies that benefit huge corporations, regardless on the impact on small towns and communities in the US or, for that matter, their detrimental impact on small business development.

[quakerboy]

30. I think it does matter

sure its symbolic. the money and the power may not rest in these smaller local groups. However, each one that they lose is a local PR black eye. It also is a removal of a little bit of the mask that allows the chamber to play the part of the businessmans friend. The more that is removed, the more clear it is that they are not, they are merely the BIG money's friend, and everyone else is getting the cold shoulder.

Basically, the US chamber, minus all of its local affiliates is kinda like Becks rally minus all the angry people. Still there, still gonna have great funding, still gonna get positive news coverage. But without even the pretense of legitimacy.

[AllyCat]

11. Fantastic! A start...how many others will follow?

[proud patriot]

13. Keep putting pressure on your local Chamber folks

:bounce: we are having an impact .

[skepticscott]

15. Translation:

We're as guilty as the rest of the membership, but we're abandoning ship early and hoping we get forgotten in the shit storm that's going to follow.

[Tim4319]

16. I hope this is the first flake of a huge snowball!

[jeanmarc]

17. I'm sure there's a natural rift

Between the smaller Chambers and the national one anyway, as the smaller one represents local businesses, while the larger one likely represents large corporations that compete against the local ones.

Oh, and supporting foreign Chambers doesn't seem to be a win for the local Chambers either.

[indimuse]

18. KNR! n/t

[Kolesar]

19. The business community needs immigration reform

And the Republican party is playing that issue very badly. Pat Buchanan said that immigration was going to divide the gop and I think he is right.

[WillyT]

20. More From RawStory:

I love this quote from Mayotte:

“I don’t believe we lose anything” by leaving the national organization, the Greater Hudson Chamber's Mayotte said. “As far as I’m concerned, I could not find one positive thing to say about being involved in the US Chamber.”

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/business-groups-distance-chamber-commerce/

:rofl:

BTW... K & R !!!

:hi:

[NCcoast]

21. What I wrote to my local Chamber

I was always under the impression that the Chamber was a nonpartisan group. I believe the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has tarnished the reputation of the Chamber as it appears to have become a subsidiary of the Republican party. The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. The Federal Election Commission was a serious blow to an already corrupt federal election system. And it’s certainly sad to see the Chamber rushing in to capitalize on this erosion of our democracy.

Here is an article from Nashua, New Hampshire about a local Chamber that is not renewing its membership to the national organization. I hope you’ll consider following suit.

Hudson breaking from U.S. Chamber of Commerce

[moondust]

23. Maybe they should drop the "U.S." from their name.

If they are representing the interests of foreign countries.

[myrna minx]

24. K&R n/t

[AAAProgressive]

26. Chamber and Koch=Danger to America

The Tea Party and the Billionaires
How the Koch Brothers Manipulate Politics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YnXCCuGs00

[mcollier]

27. Money Can't Buy My Vote

Power To The People.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0MsGoV3OAk

[mcollier]

28. Updated Link - Money Can't Buy My Vote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2JJXBrsQeI

[David Zephyr]

29. K&R. May this begin a trend.

Let it be.

[donheld]

31. Can one hope this is the start of a tidal wave or avalanche?

[ProSense]

32. NYT editorial: Stealth Money

NYT editorial: Stealth Money

[earcandle]

33. Cool! thanks!

[Scurrilous]

34. K & R

:thumbsup:

[NBachers]

36. This is a big deal. The Hudson Chapter did not arrive at this decision lightly.

[Hekate]

37. KnR

[The Uncola]

38. 2 down..

.. how many thousands other to go?

[DavidSegal]

40. New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce Disaffiliates from National: Let's Make it the First of Many

Cross-posted at HuffPo-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/new-hampshire-chamber-of-_b_773226.html


The Greater Hudson Chamber of Commerce has had enough: It's so fed up with the shameless politicking that's being done in its name that it disaffiliated from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier this month.

Will you help make sure it's the first of many by signing on to Demand Progress's letter urging local chambers of commerce to disaffiliate?

http://demandprogress.org/chamber/

The so-called United States Chamber of Commerce -- flush with donations from foreign lands -- has spent countless millions lobbying Washington against progressive policies. That includes more than $81 million so far this year to work against health care, workers' rights, social security, environmental initiatives and more. Combined with its anti-consumer rights Institute for Legal Reform, it spent $144 million on lobbying in 2009 alone.

Now the Chamber's being used as a laundromat, through which corporations like Chevron, Dow Chemical, and Goldman Sachs are washing millions of dirty dollars as they try to throw next week's elections. The Chamber is taking advantage of the Citizens United decision by spending more than $75 million this cycle, with over 90% of its money going to support Republicans.

But the Chamber is also spending your money: It's supported by a network of dues-paying local affiliates -- some representing small towns, and others whole states. You can look for affiliates over here.

The Chamber is controlled by the big boys -- Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharma, and the rest of the gang. But the hometown affiliates help pay for its bureaucracy and give it a good name -- one that's steadily being sullied as the Chamber pushes a radical agenda that hurts most Americans.

The national chamber's egregious political spending is already the object of consternation in many local chapters: they include plenty of all small businesses, and even non-profits and social service agencies, that sure as hell aren't happy about the dirty politicking that's being done on their behalf or the potential that their plight will be made even worse by a Republican-controlled Congress. Even some bigger companies, like Apple, have already severed their ties.

Combating corporate control of the government is the fight of our lifetime: If we don't fix the way people get elected, we will never be able to address any of the other issues that we all care about. We need to figure out ways to fight back, and fast: This session's Congress -- elected in a pre-Citizens United world -- failed even to pass the pathetic Disclose Act this summer. As congressmembers get elected based on the new rules they'll have even less incentive to change them.

It's a daunting undertaking. But you can help us hit them where it hurts: Please join us as we call on more local chapters to disaffiliate.

We'll make sure the chapters hear your calls -- and we'll keep you informed as our effort proceeds, so you can choose where to spend your money without worrying that you're forwarding the radical right's attempt to usurp our democracy.