Chamber of Commerce

Chamber: No Taxpayer Money For Oil Spill Recovery (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | June 11, 2010, 2:42PM

U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue

Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue has issued a statement clarifying his position on who should pay for damages resulting from the Gulf oil spill. Congress, he seems to say, shouldn't legally require BP to cover all costs, but BP will ultimately have to pay for everything.

The spill, Donohue says, "will require significant long-term attention from BP, the federal government, state and local authorities, volunteers, and the entire business community. While the depth and breadth of the consequences are unknown, clearly BP will have to assume its responsibilities over the long-term."

"Let me be clear: the recovery costs should not be on the backs of American taxpayers or the businesses that have been adversely affected by this tragedy," Donohue adds.

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Health Care

Chamber To Spend $50M On Anti-Health Care Reform Campaign

Christina Bellantoni | March 31, 2010, 12:59PM

President Barack Obama and Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will spend $50 million on an election campaign around bashing health care reform that the Wall Street Journal called "an aggressive strategy to blunt the impact of the new law." The new push for the 2010 midterm elections adds to a more than $144 million ad campaign the chamber mounted on behalf of its business membership in the last year against passage of the measure.

The Wall Street Journal detailed a letter that Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue sent board members outlining the strategy. "The Chamber is going to carry a message across the country that says the health care debate is not over," Mr. Donohue wrote, according to the Journal. He wrote members that the chamber will put together a team of staffers to evaluate the federal regulations included in the law.

The chamber was a major player in ad spending and campaigns to challenge health care reform during the long debate in Congress, and the news is a signal that won't let up any time soon. As we've been reporting, health care and charges to repeal the law or declare reform unconstitutional in court have emerged as a key 2010 campaign theme.

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Barack Obama

UPDATED: Some War! Chamber CEO Visited White House Ten Times

Zachary Roth | November 25, 2009, 2:54PM

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue

Last month, the White House was accused of launching "a frontal assault against free enterprise and the Chamber of Commerce," by an executive of the business lobby.

It's true that the White house signaled its intention to play hardball with the Chamber. But it's not like the group has been shut out from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since Obama took office.

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