VR Press Release: U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Wins National “Scrooge Of The Year” Award

[ThirdChoice]

U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Winner of National “Scrooge Of The Year” Award While Its CEO Tom Donohue Meets With President Of China To Outsource American Jobs.

With Christmas right around the corner, we wanted to let all of you know that the focus of one of our campaigns, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has just been named winner of the “National Scrooge of the Year Award.”(http://www.jwj.org/scrooge) Each year, the national organization Jobs with Justice gives an ‘award’ to the greediest, most cold-hearted company or person to be its “Scrooge of the Year.” This year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce won by a large margin.

As Jobs with Justice says, "This Scrooge likes you to think it is the voice of American business. But in reality, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- and its CEO Tom Donohue -- are pushing a narrow, radical agenda. The Chamber is the ultimate Scrooge. Not only will Tom Donohue fight hard to put a lump of coal in your stocking at taxpayer expense, but it will claim that the lump of coal represents the voice of American business and is good for you.”

"There was plenty of competition for the award this year," said Jobs with Justice Executive Director Sarita Gupta, "but the similarities between Scrooge and the Chamber of Commerce were hard to beat. The ghost of years past would show that the policies they've promoted including deregulation and maximizing profits at the expense of workers are directly connected to the destruction of America's middle class.”

This award coincides with reports that Tom Donohue has been meeting with the president of China in order to promote the outsourcing of American jobs.( http://www.gov.cn/misc/2009-01/13/content_1204588.htm)As Mr. Donohue told the publication Venture Outsource, outsourcing is good for business and the Chamber is “fighting to preserve their right to .”(http://www.ventureoutsource.com/contract-manufacturing/executive-interviews/2007/tom-donohue-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-on-outsourcing-and-offshoring?page=0%2C0)

Our Stop The Chamber campaign is working to expose the extremist agenda of the Chamber and its CEO. The vast majority of small and large businesses do not support the Chamber’s radical polices against health care for all, environmental protection, and financial regulation. In fact, Chamber polices are determined by a select few big business insiders without any board or membership approval. And we know that those insiders are controlled a mere handful for the worst polluters, robber barons, and failures in modern history. With millions of Americans out of work, it is outrageous that the Chamber is going to Communist China to outsource jobs and spending $100 million to oppose initiatives that will help every American citizen.

We urge all of you to join our call for a federal criminal investigation into the actions of the Chamber and the Chamber CEO, Tom Donohue. When you sign on at www.stopthechamber.com, you are asking member companies to quit the Chamber and Congress to hold hearings on the Chamber’s misrepresentations, controlling donors, and unethical conduct.

If you have not joined our Stop The Chamber campaign, please sign onto it at http://www.stopthechamber.com