OPINION

The Chamber of Commerce is Bad for Republicans, Conservatism and America

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Almost everything liberals say about conservatives isn’t true.

 Rush Limbaugh isn’t angry, Sarah Palin isn’t dumb, the Tea Party movement isn’t racist and the idea of a war on women never made any sense to begin with, given how many prominent conservative women there are in the Republican Party. However, liberals are right about one thing. They’re right about the Chamber of Commerce, which has transformed from a solid conservative organization that looked out for mom and pop businesses into a pale imitation of the kind of “evil corporation” that you see in the movies. In fact, the Chamber goes wrong in the same place every evil corporation in the movies initially goes wrong: it puts profit before EVERYTHING else. It puts it before what’s good for conservatism, the Republican Party and it even puts it before what’s good for the country.

We are talking about an organization that has adopted the same philosophy as a bad guy in an Ayn Rand novel. The Chamber of Commerce may portray itself as the voice of small business in America, but in actuality it’s all about using the power of government to benefit big corporations. In fact, many of the stupidest things the Republican Party has done over the last few years have been driven by the Chamber of Commerce.

TARP didn’t “save the economy” or “keep us from going into a depression;” it was a huge giveaway of taxpayer money to corporations that made bad business decisions. That Chamber-supported decision cost the taxpayers more than 4 billion dollars.

One of the biggest unspoken reasons why the Republican Party has been unwilling to stand and fight during the debt limit stand-offs is that the Chamber of Commerce opposes any kind of shutdown. The more money the government spends, the more is siphoned off into its pockets.

If there’s corporate welfare involved, like the Export-Import bank, you can be sure that the Chamber of Commerce will be on board. Since when is supporting corporate welfare a conservative value?

Why do so many Republicans in Congress support Common Core even though it’s unpopular with their constituents? Of course, The Chamber of Commerce supports it.

Did you know the Chamber also supported Obama’s failed trillion dollar stimulus package? It didn’t matter if it blew up the deficit or even whether it worked as long as some of its members made a few dollars in the process.

The incredibly dangerous TPP trade agreement that would dramatically erode American sovereignty and could lead to regulation of greenhouse gasses, massive immigration and could strip congress of the ability to regulate many trade issues only has a chance of passing because the Chamber of Commerce is behind it.

Guess what else the Chamber of Commerce has now rallied behind? OBAMACARE….

A top official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday that the fight against Obamacare is largely over and that critics' energies were better spent fixing specific problems caused by the landmark healthcare legislation.

"There is a growing realization that repeal won't happen," Randy Johnson, the chamber's senior vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits, told reporters during a Thursday press conference.

Additionally, if you want to know why the Republican Party keeps pursuing absolutely suicidal immigration policies that are unpopular with the rank and file, will bring in massive numbers of new welfare recipients and will ultimately demographically destroy conservatism in America, it has everything to do with the Chamber of Commerce.

Keep in mind that there is ZERO EVIDENCE that Hispanic Americans who typically break about 70/30 for the Democrats will suddenly start voting Republican if the GOP embraces amnesty and open borders. So, why would conservatives want to see tens of millions of illegal immigrants become American citizens when fifty two percent of households headed by legal immigrants are using welfare programs” and those new voters would be pulling the lever for Democrats in such numbers that they would vote many Republicans out of office?

It’s because some of the Chamber of Commerce’s members make more money by firing American workers and replacing them with cheaper foreigners. Those foreign workers may be cheaper because they cheat on their taxes and don’t have to pay for health care like illegals or because they’re here temporarily on an H1B visa, but the Chamber benefits either way. So, it’s willing to pay an enormous amount of money to keep the illegals coming even if it decimates the Republican Party and ordinary Americans suffer in the process. This has become what the Chamber of Commerce is all about: it benefits BECAUSE ordinary Americans suffer.

Yes, the Chamber may use its considerable bankroll to support SOME conservative candidates, but its agenda is dominated by cronyism and corporate welfare to such an extent that you essentially have to sell your soul to make it happy. In fact, being a Republican who’s opposed by the Chamber of Commerce has become a badge of honor. There are many conservatives who are hated by the organization because they put the interests of their constituents, conservatism and the country ahead of the interests of the Chamber. The Chamber spent millions backing establishment candidates like Thad Cochran in 2014 and it’s gearing up to spend 100 million dollars defeating conservative members of Congress in 2016. You may like conservatives who think we should have a secure border, fight harder against Obama and repeal Obamacare, but the Chamber of Commerce doesn’t.

Under Tom Donohue’s leadership, the Chamber of Commerce has become a 5th Column inside the conservative movement. It’s not the only group that fits that definition, but unlike, let’s say the Main Street Partnership, the Chamber is a deep-pocketed influential group that has sway with many Republicans in Congress.


Unfortunately, a Republican Party that continues to make the corrupt agenda of the Chamber of Commerce its own is destined to be pummeled once Obama leaves office and can no longer be used to drive conservative turnout. A Republican Party that rips off the taxpayers, ignores its own constituents and leaves the border open to please an organization that is okay with decimating the entire country as long as it makes a few bucks in the process is a Republican Party that deserves to be defeated.