Chamber of Errors The business lobby abandons free-market principles to back 23 freshman Democrats. By Kimberley Strassel
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chamber-of-errors-11599174564?mod=opinion_featst_pos1
To err is Washington, and even the most seasoned Beltway players can be forgiven the occasional strategic mistake. But deliberately ignoring history, evidence and principle by engaging in an act that undermines one’s reason for existence is another matter. Meet the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The nation’s premier business lobby this week finalized its decision to help re-elect 23 House Democratic freshmen. Most of those endorsed spent their first term reliably voting to end U.S. business as we know it. Of the chamber’s new favorite politicians, 20 have voted to abolish right-to-work states; 18 said yes to a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage; and 14 supported the House’s $3 trillion blowout, styled the Heroes Act—among other votes designed to crush the life out of free markets. This from an organization whose tag line reads “Standing Up for American Enterprise.” These days it’s more like “prostrating ourselves for crumbs.”
The old tag line was more befitting of chamber CEO Tom Donohue, the feisty Irishman who as recently as 2008 led the chamber in a full frontal effort to deny Barack Obama a filibuster-proof Senate majority. Today’s chamber reflects the growing influence of Suzanne Clark, who replaced Mr. Donohue as president in 2019, and chief policy officer Neil Bradley. In their choice between defending free enterprise and making nice on the cocktail circuit, the drinks are winning.
The endorsements are best viewed as the chamber leadership’s bow to both political correctness and dubious strategy. Internally, the outfit is increasingly under pressure from tech and Wall Street executives who want a focus on climate change, equal pay and raising energy taxes. The chamber’s website touts its diversity initiatives: “The U.S. Chamber Celebrates Women’s Equality Day.” “At Historic U.S. Chamber Headquarters, Temporary Art Installation Celebrates Black Lives Matter Voices.” Good luck finding a policy paper on, say, the economic cost of a higher gasoline tax (a levy the chamber supports these days).
Externally, the chamber is falling for the old tried-and-failed belief that it can buy goodwill by making nice to swing-seat Democrats in the majority. The 23 endorsements are supposed to prove that the chamber is truly bipartisan and that it maintains distance from Republicans—and thus persuade Democrats to work with the chamber to modulate the latest progressive promises to double corporate taxation, jail CEO “polluters” and eliminate fossil fuels.
History shows otherwise. The chamber’s golden era was the 1980s, when its commitment to free-market principle made it a powerhouse. Its chief economist, Richard Rahn, with the support of President Richard Lesher, produced an economic platform that was solidly for lower taxes, less regulation and free trade. The chamber was able to brush aside the special pleadings of this or that industry, even as it demonstrated bipartisanship, for instance by opposing the 1982 Reagan tax increase. While other trade organizations cut deals, the chamber did not—and that made it a force to reckon with.
The chamber’s clout waned with the elevation of William Archey, who subscribed to the make-nice strategy, to the position of senior vice president for policy and congressional affairs. In 1993 the chamber threw itself behind Hillary Clinton’s health-care plan, as well as other Democratic policies. It never got anything in return, though the chamber’s members did revolt, resigning in droves. The board dumped Archey in 1994, and Mr. Lesher followed in 1997. That’s how Mr. Donahue came by his job.
The chamber is now repeating history. Local chambers and members across the country are furious that this week’s endorsements stack the decks against true free-market candidates. Letters are pouring in; members are threatening to quit. It’s not the party affiliation; they approve of the chamber supporting free-market Democrats. They complain that the chamber juked free-marketeers by changing its scorecard formula to ease the path for Democratic endorsements. Instead of measuring members purely on votes, the chamber now awards points for “leadership” and “bipartisanship.” That’s how a business lobby ends up endorsing members who voted for the February PRO Act, which would eliminate right to work, independent contractors and secret ballots in union elections.
Mostly, they want to know how the chamber could be so gullible as to think these Democrats will stand with business when it counts. Sure, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will cut a few loose here or there to burnish their “moderate” credentials. But she will never allow them to cost her a floor vote.
Supporters will argue the chamber isn’t spending any money on House races. What really counts, they say, is the chamber’s support for continued GOP control of the Senate. Tell that to companies in those swing districts left at the mercy of their antibusiness Democratic representatives.
It’s hard to see what the chamber accomplished with this week’s move. Democrats will continue to shut its doors to the chamber, though now Republicans will too. That’s what comes with putting politics ahead of principle.
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