You are familiar with the notion that businesses support the free market, while concerned citizens demand some sort of “regulatory oversight” by government.
It’s a canard.
Oh, some businessmen do indeed support free markets and decry subsidies — and lots of businesses oppose this regulation or that — but, on the whole, the major support for a regulatory regime, or for subsidies and tariffs, for almost any scheme of government control of business, is usually business itself.
Like individuals, businesses too often turn to government for special advantages — over other businesses, or over taxpayers.
That’s why the United States Chamber of Commerce gave Congressman Ron Paul such low marks. You could hardly find a more pro-free-market gentleman in Washington. But, as Timothy Carney notes in the Washington Examiner, 90 percent of Democrats got higher marks on the Chamber’s 2009 congressional scorecard than did Paul, who also got the lowest marks of any Republican.
Why?
Rep. Paul opposed the recent stimulus bill. And he opposed subsidizing the tourism industry as well as solar energy.
The Chamber is a typical business lobbying outfit, favoring an inefficient, mixed economy because some of its leading members hope to milk the taxpayers.
If you are a member of the Chamber but support the fair play of the free market, not the rigged play of government-business “partnerships,” you might want to speak up against your Chamber’s policies.
Or join another group.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
12 replies on “The Chamber, Loaded Against the Free Market”
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Mutated.
Just like most foundations tend to get taken over by left wing radicals that bear no philisophical relation to the original intent.
Something about the absence of consequences to one’s actions just seems to attract them.
April 29, 2010
Great One Paul
Paul , this is one of your better articles. When you rob Peter to pay Paul(no pun intended), you can usually can count on the support of Paul.
[…] Free markets overwhelmingly, not businesses, but consumers. Alas, we as consumers, unlike we as producers, are so diverse and numerous that we as consumers are rationally ignorant of the too-often negative effects visited upon us as consumers by government policies. […]
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Mr. Jacob is right.
When I first read Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged” 30 years ago, I was astonished at her depiction of villainous “businessmen” such as James Taggart and Orren Boyle, who promoted statism to profit from it. Surely, I thought, this is not true — businessmen do not support government regulation and control of the economy in this fashion.
But Rand, I have since learned, was precisely right. Businessmen today are generally their own worst enemy.
As a former member of the Chamber of Commerce I must strongly agree with your assessment of the Chamber. The Chamer has become a lobbying force that is very pro-big business and very anti-small-to0medium business if there’s disagreement between the two (and there often is, nowadays).
The Chamber favors the outsourcing of basically every American job, if a multinational corporation can make a penny on the deal. They’re also for basic amnesty, which is another way of outsourcing jobs previously held by Americans. They also back the multinational meat packers (who control over 85% of processed beef) as the packers try to push family farmer/ ranchers into subservience.
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The Chambers of Commerce have always been an enemy of our Nation, our States and our cities.
There has never been a tax increase they didn’t support.
There has never been a government boondoggle with which they weren’t in bed.
I despise all Chambers of Commerce.
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