Possibly the most evil press release ever written

[LuckyTheDog]

http://www.michamber.com/mx/jan10#supctdecision

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 21, 2010



CONTACT: Bob LaBrant or Jim Holcomb
517-371-2100


AFTER NEARLY 20 YEARS, U.S. SUPREME COURT FINALLY RECOGNIZES CORPORATE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS, MICHIGAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORTS


LANSING, Mich. – After nearly 20 years, the U.S. Supreme Court today finally recognized that corporations have free speech rights when it reversed Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce in the case of Citizens United v. FEC.

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief in Citizens arguing for a reversal in the Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce decision. Funding for the brief was provided by the Michigan Chamber Litigation Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to championing important precedent-setting legal issues before state and federal courts.

"It’s gratifying after so many years to see the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledge that corporations have a First Amendment right to express their views at election time,” said Bob LaBrant, Senior Vice President & General Counsel for the Michigan Chamber.

“What this decision means is that corporations will still be prohibited from making direct contributions to candidates, but corporations will be permitted to make independent expenditures in support of or in opposition to candidates,” LaBrant explained. “The issue in Austin was about expenditures, not contributions.”

Getting to this day has been a long and arduous process, noted LaBrant. The case stemmed from an effort the Michigan Chamber launched in 1985 when the Michigan Chamber proposed to buy a quarter-page newspaper ad in the Grand Rapids Press expressly advocating the election of a candidate (Richard Bandstra) in a special election in the 93rd House District. “The Michigan Chamber, not its PAC, was going to pay for the newspaper ad,” LaBrant said. “The Michigan Chamber attempted to get an injunction to prohibit enforcement of the felony provisions for publishing the ad, but the injunction was denied.”

LaBrant further explained that a trial was held a year later on whether a non-profit corporation like the Michigan Chamber could spend money to buy such an ad under the First Amendment. The Michigan Chamber lost its case in federal district court but won on appeal in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals resulting in the case reaching the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989. The U.S. Supreme Court in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990) upheld the state’s legal prohibition on corporate expenditures.

In June 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a re-argument in Citizens United v. FEC asking the parties to specifically address whether Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce should be reversed. A special argument before the U.S. Supreme Court was held September 9, 2009 – ultimately leading to today’s long-awaited decision in support of corporate free speech rights.

- 30 -

[annabanana]

1. Chamber of Commerce, so

no surprise. Evil is just "what they do".

[LuckyTheDog]

4. No, not really

Very few chambers are as openly ideologically far-right as the Michigan chamber.

[DJ13]

8. Those Mich Chamber types sure know how to run an economy

into the ground, dont they?

[arcadian]

9. The US Chamber of Commerce, the one that is right across the street from the Whitehouse

It's pretty right-wing, so are the local ones.

[LuckyTheDog]

2. To those "un-recommending" this

Do not shoot the messenger here. I think it is important that the idiotic position of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce becomes widely known.

[PassingFair]

24. I think you need to do some reading up on the Chambers...

They are not "openly right wing" in the same way that
idiots thought Lou Dobbs was not "openly right wing"...

Their money always goes to right wing candidates and
causes. The spend TONS on installing and propping up
right wing judges in every state.

They are the largest lobbying group in country.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. The Corporate States of America is now official.

[BP2]

5. Are we sure this wasn't generate by the Office of Senator Harry Reid?

[Danger Mouse]

6. In my mind, the guy who wrote this is wearing spats and a monocle and an awesome mustache.

:hide:

[Canuckistanian]

10. Don't forget the Cummerbund

[Danger Mouse]

19. And most likely smoking a fat cigar or a ridiculously large pipe.

[Canuckistanian]

7. Gee, a "Chamber of Commerce" approves of the SCOTUS ruling

The USCoC has been pushing for this ruling ever since the 1971 "Powell Memorandum"

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/powell_memo_lewis.html

Now all those pesky election funding lawsuits can now disappear.

It's good for business.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. The powell Memorandum, which helped push us down this slippery slope was written

to the Director of the US Chamber of Commerce. They have been RW Repuke supporters forever.


http://www.reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/powell_memo_lewis.html

This page and our introduction were published April 3, 2004

In 1971, Lewis F. Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of 11 corporations, wrote a memo to his friend Eugene Sydnor, Jr., the Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The memorandum was dated August 23, 1971, two months prior to Powell's nomination by President Nixon to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Powell Memo did not become available to the public until long after his confirmation to the Court. It was leaked to Jack Anderson, a liberal syndicated columnist, who stirred interest in the document when he cited it as reason to doubt Powell's legal objectivity. Anderson cautioned that Powell "might use his position on the Supreme Court to put his ideas into practice...in behalf of business interests."

Though Powell's memo was not the sole influence, the Chamber and corporate activists took his advice to heart and began building a powerful array of institutions designed to shift public attitudes and beliefs over the course of years and decades. The memo influenced or inspired the creation of the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Cato Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Accuracy in Academe, and other powerful organizations. Their long-term focus began paying off handsomely in the 1980s, in coordination with the Reagan Administration's "hands-off business" philosophy.

Most notable about these institutions was their focus on education, shifting values, and movement-building - a focus we share, though usually with contrasting goals. One of our great frustrations is that "progressive" foundations and funders have failed to learn from the success of these corporate institutions and decline to fund the Democracy Movement that we and a number of similarly-focused organizations are attempting to build. Instead, they overwhelmingly focus on damage control, band-aids and short-term results which provide little hope of the systemic change we so desperately need to reverse the trend of growing corporate dominance

<snip>

You can read the memorandum in its entirety at the above link

[izquierdista]

13. "hands off business"

Which is some good advice for Obama. Keep your hands off when Wall Street bankers ask for a hand out, just throw them up. :shrug: But since it is not a "feet off" policy, you can go ahead and kick them when they are down.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. LOL

[Hissyspit]

12. Yes, a SCOTUS decision made possible by appointees of George W. Bush can't help but be awesome!

:sarcasm:

[ChicagoSuz219]

14. They should make it literal...

...and allow only speech that is FREE; i.e., no paid ad campaigns, etc.

[malaise]

15. The Chambers of Commerce across the Western World became

powerful entities thanks to Atlantic slavery. Never ever forget that. They would back slavery tomorrow.

[JVS]

18. I'd love to have a link so I can tell others and research this myself.

Could you give me a start?

[malaise]

23. I'd recommend Eric WIlliams'

Capitalism and Slavery - his seminal work from the late 1940s but you can find several links on line.
Ireland and Slavery
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7080934.stm
Part of Belfast's commercial and industrial advances were linked to trade with the slave economies of the West Indies.

The founding president of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, Waddell Cunningham made a fortune from slavery and tried to set up a slave company in Belfast.

He even had a plantation of his own in Dominica, which he renamed Belfast.
...
I'll post some other books on the subject re Jamaica and Barbados tomorrow.

[fascisthunter]

17. Fascists... dweebs with inferiority complexes

who use money to make themselves feel superior, when their efforts actually prove how inferior they really are. I'm glad they have exposed themselves as the fascists they are. Now we can collectively respond in kind.

[Kablooie]

20. Like it says: CONTACT: Bob LaBrant or Jim Holcomb 517-371-2100

[NICO9000]

25. Bob's direct line is 571-371-7653

http://www.michamber.com/mx/busadvteam

Maybe some MI DU'rs could give him a ring and respectfully tell him why he's wrong. I'm sure he'd LOVE to hear from the general public!

:sarcasm:

You might also want to ask him what local business he purchases his hair from...

[Kablooie]

21. Oops. Duped it by mistake.

[47of74]

22. What a bunch of turds.

[Blue Owl]

26. Lick that corporate asshole, fuckos

Jesus, what a pair of fucking tools LaBrant/Holcomb are...