The Chamber of Commerce has a plan to improve health care: Do Nothing. If you can’t force nothing to happen, enact the policies of George Bush the (hopefully) Last. This is a comprehensive plan, applying to financial regulation and energy policy, among others.
Take health care. Oh yes, the Chamber wants changes.
We have been a consistent advocate for the expansion of health care IT, an emphasis on prevention and wellness, and pay-for-performance. Sen. Kennedy’s bill has some positive aspects, such as health care Gateways (allowing one-stop shopping for health insurance) and guaranteed coverage without regard to preexisting conditions.
But don’t do anything else. Employer mandates will cause layoffs and firings. The public option is an unfair competitor to the private health plans. Then there’s this unintelligible jewel:
A minimum benefits package might force all health plans to be expensive "gold-plated" plans. Health reform needs to be affordable, or it will not be successful.
On health care, at least, the Chamber has stepped out in front of some of its largest members. From Bloomberg:
In an opinion editorial earlier this month, Wal-Mart President and Chief Executive Mike Duke said health care “is too important to let special interests choose sides, go to their corners and battle it out.”
Other employers agree. A coalition including AT&T and Intel says:
“We think it’s important to take a deep breath and look at things calmly,” she said. “When we see a whole bill we will be able to have a rational reaction.”
The Chamber is ramping up its irrational reaction, claiming its members have sent 36,000 letters, faxes and e-mails since June 17 on the health care issue. We can expect greater and greater doses of e-mails, visits to congressionals and staffers, and the usual campaign contributions.
And lobbying. Jill Richardson at La Vida Locavore does the spadework and tells us that the Chamber leads the list of spending on lobbying for the first quarter with $9,996,000.
On financial regulation, the Chamber has the same do-nothing plan: better regulators and a bit more information for them to work with; maybe some minor changes to the derivatives markets. But protection for investors and borrowers, systemic risk regulation, proxy access so shareholders can protect themselves from rapacious corporate managers, and “inflexible regulation”, NO. Do nothing. Because, after all, the big problem is Capital Formation. And here I thought the big problem was the ocean of money coursing through the financial system, and destabilizing everything in its lust for higher returns. And you have to love the conclusion, apparently written by someone who hadn’t read the rest of the position paper:
We hope the Administration has not listened to those who only want to tinker at the edges. We believe it will be best for our long term recovery to emerge from the crisis with a comprehensive overhaul and modernization of the regulatory system. If not now, when?
More of the same on energy: cap and trade is a tax increase that will increase dependence on foreign oil and get people fired from the oil industry and other jobs. We need to drill here and right now. We need to give the oil industry more favorable tax treatment. We need to encourage spending on natural gas. It does seem like this might have had some input from Exxon Mobile, the number two in lobbyist expense in the first quarter, at $9,320,000, heading the six oil contributors in the top 45, with a grand total of $30,900,000.
If it weren’t for all their money, no one would pay any attention to the continued efforts of the Chamber to enact Bush policies.
Related posts:
- Chamber of Commerce Want Ad: “Need Economist to Write Study Trashing Health Care Reform”
- Progressive Groups Target Companies over Their Chamber of Commerce Membership
- Chamber Of Commerce Attacks Schumer’s Public Option Amendments
- Findlay, Ohio, Chamber of Commerce Kills Parade Because Unions Backed It
- “Feinstein Bailing on EFCA” or “Reporter Punk’d By Chamber of Commerce”?
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I’m totally behind the Chamber of Commerce when it comes to health care reform. After all, they have been consistently leading the way on this issue for years.
Um …
but masacchio!
government programs are SO wastefull!
private industry is SO much more efficient then government agencies
thus when they say the public option will give too much pressure to private industry they argue against their own points
this is just like private school, it is ALWAYS more expensive to use private school yet the industry survives
private health care will also
i expect this kind of bs from the chamber of commerce.
but where are all the progressive organizations i was counting on to counter chamber of commerce nonsense with single payer comprehensive universal health care reform? or with hansen’s carbon tax and 100% rebate proposal for saving the planet?
the plans the dems are putting forward will not get the job done.
The head of the Chamber of Commerce is an exec at Sunrise Living assisted living centers. He has been investigated by the SEC. He also has a history of labor law violations. Matt Stoller wrote a brilliant article about him.
Progressive organizations in America are, and I say this with the greatest fondness and kindness, cowards. They spent eight years under Bush being vitrolic, but being “safely” vitrolic; they never stepped out of line or accused the Moron-in-Chief too harshly or too accurately, and were tolerated because of it. Progressive organizations in America don’t have the courage to stand up against things like this.
Also, on the article itself, just more wrongheadedness and stupidity that we’ve come to expect. I would like to know who wrote that last bit, though; is it a sly joke by some sarcastically-minded aide, or what?
Of course Wal-Mart doesn’t want the status quo to change because it would cut into their profitability. Wal-Mart foists junk insurance on its employees that are eligible for coverage and encourages its other employees to get insurance and welfare on our dime.
Feh. Chamber of
Union Busting CorporationsCommerce(Slightly OT) I caught Christopher Guith, VP of Energy Policy at the Chamber, on C-SPAN yesterday. I came in the middle of it, but what I got was that he was advocating for Nuclear Power.
He proclaimed that nuclear power was “cheaper”, without bringing up those annoying facts of the history of building overruns and the pesky disposal of radioactive waste.
He was asking Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) for loan guarantees for start up Nuclear power plants.
Along with him were Theodore (Ted) Rockwell, American Nuclear Society, another pro-nuclear advocate who was stating that “radiation is good for you” when I tuned in.
He also blatantly lied that there was no problem of radiation at Three Mile Island. He actually said that TMI *proved* that the China Syndrome didn’t happen.
Along with Rockwell was Kevin Book of ClearView Energy Partners. Also pro-nuclear.
The panel was so slanted the table was leaning.
There wasn’t a anti-nuclear soul in the place.
The Chamber of Commerce is screwing its own members. A public option is the best way of getting people with small businesses who want to provide health benefits for their employees out from under the insurance industry.
Just as most elected Democrats begin acting like Republicans, most “progressive” organizations when they become well known go all status quo.
This applies to other organizations as well. Jane had a post about NPR today. At one point in its history, it portrayed itself as the alternative to the MSM. It then became successful and joined the MSM.
There is a lesson here that all of us in the blogosphere should keep in mind.
npr was staffed by bush appointees hugh
As for the Chamber of Commerce, if it had been on the Titanic, it would have come up with a two part solution to the problem.
1. Throw all the passengers in steerage overboard to lighten the load.
2. Then do nothing. Let market forces work out an equilbrium with the iceberg.
It wasn’t just a question of appointees. It is their reporters and how they dutifully repeat the spin of whoever is in power.
I really don’t understand anything these guys say. It’s really like they think McCain won or Bush the Last was somehow reelected.
I agree. I think that may be behind Wal-Mart’s statement.
Except for the Insurance, Pharma, Medical Devices and Hospital members. You know the 18% of GDP members?
Well, from your fingers to Obama’s lips: he made that argument this morning in the press conference according to this from Salon:
Let’s give some credit here, Obama has wrung some concessions out of the big Pharma toads too, including a cost-cutting $80bn.