September 1, 2016 The WA S H I N G T O N LOUwashingtonspectator.org DUBOSE, Editor PERIODICALS CLASS SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 Postage Paid at New York, NY vol. 42, no. 9 issn 0887-428x © 2016 The Public Concern Foundation SPECTATOR washingtonspectator.org

associations and chambers of com- Corporate Lobby: merce throughout the country” was wasting its time and treasure. the Third Chamber A truly valuable trade associa- tion, according to this small group of Congress of Republican politicians and their corporate sponsors, would transform by Mark Dowie itself from a high-minded affinity hy do we criticize people for group (described by a tobacco execu- doing what they were hired to do? Take tive as a “weak sister”) into a fighting W Thomas J. Donohue, for example. Day force for a few troubled American after day the poor guy gets pummeled by Washing- industries and products—tobacco for ton non-profits and mainstream media for doing one, but also banking, health insur- his job. He’s out there challenging health care ance, pharmaceuticals, firearms, coal, reform; suing the SEC to stifle the regulation of financial mar- and other fossil fuels. All were threatened by progressive idealists kets; lobbying Congress to reduce punitive damages in prod- and the excesses of federal regulation, according to a warning uct liability litigation; attempting to gut the Foreign Corrupt from corporate lawyer Lewis Powell. It was time, members of Practices and False Claims Acts; undermining carbon pollution Continued on page 6, COMMERCE standards; questioning the causes of climate change; opposing a federal minimum wage; defending high-salt processed foods; attacking “net metering” of solar Diverse and Perverse: the Coalition ALSO INSIDE: energy panels; interfering in the that Trump Built Editorial: election of state supreme court jus- 2 by Rick Perlstein The Chamber’s Bagful tices; shilling for American tobacco Exelon, and PNM Resources, who pulled out last fall, citing the of Cash overseas; opposing environmental chamber’s pro-fossil-fuel climate policy as their reason for leav- legislation; fighting paid maternity Cleveland ing. CVS Health Corporation, with its 7,800 retail drug stores, leave; persuading American businesses to fight campaign-finance he convention began with a prayer for God to followed, revolted by the chamber’s overseas promotion for disclosure; opposing net neutrality; defending high pharmaceu- Tbless his chosen political party, from a black preacher who another hazardous product, tobacco. tical prices; and laundering large “anonymous” donations from announced it was fitting and proper to do so “because we are More recently, the staffs of about half a dozen U.S. Senators the Koch Brothers’ Freedom Partners and Karl Rove’s American electing a man in who believes in the name of who were curious about the chamber’s selecting targets and tak- Crossroads Super PAC. Jesus Christ.” And because “our enemy is not other Republicans, ing positions contrary to the interests of many of its members, in Why should Mr. Donohue be rebuked for this very abbrevi- but is and the Democratic Party.” particular regarding tobacco, surveyed the 108 corporations with ated list if those tasks were handed to him in 1997, when he Rev. Mark Burns is a devotee of the “prosperity gospel.” At executive representatives on the U.S. Chamber Board of Direc- began serving as CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Trump rally in March, he had said: “There is no black person, tors. The Senate investigators found that approximately half the whose core mission was then, and still is, “to advance human there is no yellow person, there is no red person, there’s only corporate board members have anti-tobacco and/or pro-climate progress through an economic, political, and social system based green, people! Green is money!” positions. And not one of their CEOs explicitly supported the on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and The game Trump and Burns are playing is an old one. A chamber’s lobbying actions on tobacco or climate change. responsibility”? candidate, party, or movement can’t be racially divisive if black If the chamber’s board and funders don’t mind the slow but This would be a fair question were Donohue committed to people are out front spouting its praises. Early in the 1960s, steady exodus of state and local chambers, and the departure of that mission and doing what he does for all American enterprise, the John Birch Society toured a black former Communist Party some of the most distinguished corporations in American business, or even for the 150 members of the U.S. Chamber Board of member who affirmed that, yes, Moscowdid really intend to turn they will keep their consummate Washington fixer at the helm. Directors, or the 3 million small businesses, 7,000 state and local America’s Southern states into a black-run colony of the Soviet Yet only a handful the nation’s business and political leaders chambers, and 116 overseas American chambers he claims to Union—and that this whole civil rights thing was all a communist brought Tom Donohue to Washington. What can be done can represent in 103 countries. plot. In the 1970s, had a black loyalist on the be undone. But he’s not. He is, in fact, doing the bidding of a few Republican National Committee, Dr. Gloria Toote, to help him national politicians and their mostly anonymous corporate spon- make his case that the “Negro has delivered himself to those Mark Dowie is an author and investigative reporter. An sors who believed in 1996, and evidently still do, that a pragmatic, who have no other intention than to create a Federal plantation.” extended version of this report can be found at http://washing- staid national chamber, founded to be “in touch with business Continued on page 3, COALITION tonspectator.org.

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Editorial effort to hold off Russ Feingold, $375,150 sup- The COALITION, continued from page 1 The Chamber’s Bagful of Cash porting Johnson and the same amount in opposi- WASHINGTON tion to Feingold, suggests that chamber check SPECTATOR Even kept a pet Negro for the s the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, like writers have already concluded the race is a loss same purpose: Clay Smothers, a state legislator Editor Lou Dubose Ithe NRA, an ancillary to the Republican Party? for them and a win for Democrats.) National Correspondent from who once introduced a bill to ban homo- Consider. In Alabama, the chamber has contributed to Rick Perlstein sexuals from public university campuses. In 1977, Digital Editor James White At this point in the 2016 election cycle, the Republican Rep. Martha Roby’s defense of her safe Associate Digital Editor when the federal government sponsored a historic nation’s most powerful corporate lobby has Republican seat against Tea Party challenger Becky Hannah Gais national women’s convention in , chock spent $9,013,702 in support of Republicans Gerritson. Copy Editor Dave Denison full of feminist and gay rights activists, Smoth- Arts & Culture Editor and $7,639,325 in opposition to Democratic Chamber of Commerce spending in 2014 was Ava Kofman ers spoke at the massive counter-rally candidates. also aimed at electing Republicans, with, for exam- Contributing Editor Phyllis Schlafly organized across town. The largest recipient of chamber cash has been ple, $5,637,144 invested in Thom Tillis’s successful Alison Fairbrother “I have enough civil rights to choke a Circulation Management Senator Pat Toomey, the Republican campaign against Democratic Senator Kay Hagan Four Corners Media hungry goat. I ask for public rights. in a dead heat with his Democratic challenger Katie and $3,701,491 to defeat progressive Democratic Design Point Five, NY . . . Let’s do something about these Illustration Edel Rodriguez McGinty. The chamber has contributed $1,908,300 Senator Mark Udall in Colorado. misfits and perverts over in the Sam to Toomey, and put $1,797,950 into a campaign The chamber provided Senate Majority Leader Publisher and Editorial Houston Coliseum. I want to segregate my family Director Hamilton Fish attacking McGinty. Mitch McConnell $1,569,620 in 2014, and in the from them!” Subscription inquiries E-mail us at In New Hampshire, the chamber has spent money-to-burn category dumped $2,054,549 into subscriptions@washingtonspectator. In Cleveland, Pastor Burns had competition. Sher- $1,560,150 in an effort to thwart Democratic Scott Brown’s risible (and losing) Senate campaign org, call toll-free (866) 949-5290 iff David Clarke Jr. of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, M - F 9-5:30 EST, or write to P.O. Box Governor Maggie Hassan’s challenge to Republi- in New Hampshire. 241, Oregon, IL 61061. a black version of Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, took the stage

can Senator Kelly Ayotte, who is running slightly In this issue of The Washington Spectator, Letters to the editor E-mail to on the opening night. Dressed in full formal cop rega- behind her Democratic challenger in the polls. Mark Dowie documents the transformation of comments@washingtonspectator. lia, Clarke bellowed, “Ladies and Gentleman, I would org. Please include your full name In an effort to save the seat of Arizona Sena- the U.S Chamber of Commerce from a defender and postal address and whether like to make something very clear. Blue! Lives! Mat- tor John McCain, the chamber has contributed of Main Street business values into a muscu- the letter is intended for publication. ter!”—predictably dragging in Rev. Martin Luther Letters, if published, may be edited $1,050,150 to his campaign. lar and ruthless interest group representing a for clarity and space. Mailing King’s “seamless garment of destiny” to make the case. In the Nevada Senate race to replace retir- small cabal of corporate CEOs and congressio- address: 55 Fifth Avenue, 18th Floor, Clarke calls Black Lives Matter a “hate group,” and is New York, NY 10003. ing Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid, the nal Republicans. Its path to power was paved one of the rare law enforcement officials to ally with The Washington Spectator (ISSN chamber has put $665,587 into a campaign tar- by corporate cash spent electing Republicans to 0887-428X) is published monthly the National Rifle Association. geting former Democratic state Attorney Gen- Congress, where its lobbyists routinely get what by the Public Concern Foundation He likes riding in parades on horseback, wear- Inc, 55 Fifth Avenue, 18th Floor, New eral Catherine Cortez Masto, and contributed they have paid for. York, NY 10003. © 2013 in the U.S. ing a cowboy hat, and posing with rifles. In 2006 by the Public Concern Foundation Inc. $1,234,487 to her opponent, Republican Con- As the Chamber’s President Tom Donohue has President: Hamilton Fish. Assistant he forced his deputies to sit through mandatory gressman Joe Heck. (The chamber’s modest said: “People seem to listen to you more when Treasurer: Nicole Irvin. evangelization sessions from something called the

investment in Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s you’ve got a bagful of cash.” —L.D. Periodicals postage paid at New Fellowship of Christian Centurions. In a series of York, NY. Please allow 4–6 weeks radio advertisements in 2013 he advised residents of for receipt of your first issue and Inbox for all subscription transactions. Milwaukee that because the local constabulary could I confess that I did not get through more than POSTMASTER: Send address no longer protect them they should arm themselves. On “Cameron’s Folly” changes to The Washington Spectator, the first couple of paragraphs, so it is possible P.O. Box 241, Oregon, IL 61061. The He hosts a “David Clarke: The People’s Sheriff” pod- The “Cameron’s Folly” article in your June issue that the rest of the article contained some legiti- Washington Spectator is printed with cast on Glenn Beck’s “The Blaze” platform. union labor on recycled paper. informed readers more than a month in advance of mate commentary. If so, you should have told Mr. Clarke was such a hero in the House of Trump a crisis that never would have happened if David McCormack to refrain from the language in his that one of the biggest draughts of applause on the Cameron had not put his political career ahead of opening statement. If not, the article should have final evening of the convention came when his face his nation’s interest. I hope it’s a sign that there will been rejected. merely appeared in the film clip introducing the be more in-depth coverage of foreign affairs. candidate. Peggy Willis SPECTATOR But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We’re still Morris J. Weiss Flushing, New York on Night One. Let me tell you what else happened, Lancaster, Pennsylvania ALERT in case you couldn’t bring yourself to watch. Or, if Be the first to you did, some madness you might have missed. I am writing to protest the tone of Noah McCor- Editor’s note: We made an editorial decision not hear about There was the pimping out of grieving parents: mack’s article. I am a liberal and have no brief for to omit phrases that some of our subscribers might new features, three of them, all identified on the telescreen David Cameron, but what is this nasty, vulgar, find objectionable in the “Cameron’s Folly” feature multimedia, above a chyron that read: “VICTIM OF ILLEGAL irrelevant ad hominem attack doing in your pub- in our June print edition. events, and Spectator IMMIGRANTS.” lication? Don’t we get enough of this sort of thing news. Two of the three had lost children in car acci- from Mr. Trump? I have been a subscriber for sev- We regret that the language offended some readers, dents for which undocumented immigrants were eral years now, and I am used to a higher standard and we will take their objections into consideration SIGN UP responsible—and as everyone knows, red-blooded, from you. in the future. washingtonspectator.org native-born Yankees never are. “I call them illegal

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The COALITION, continued from page 1 aliens,” Sabine Burden said, to roars. The driver Positive WASHINGTON only got 35 days in jail for the accident. Because Thinking SPECTATOR Even George Wallace kept a pet Negro for the Obama. same purpose: Clay Smothers, a state legislator In Berlin, 80 years ago, the sign would have read, “I’m a religious person. Editor Lou Dubose National Correspondent from Texas who once introduced a bill to ban homo- “VICTIM OF JEWS.” It’s always someone. Shockingly, because Rick Perlstein sexuals from public university campuses. In 1977, On Tuesday I spent an emotional morning people are shocked when Digital Editor James White when the federal government sponsored a historic with my hosts, Henry Halem and Sandra Perl- they find this out, I’m Associate Digital Editor Protestant. Presbyterian. Hannah Gais national women’s convention in Houston, chock man Halem, who have lived for 48 years in Kent, And I go to church and I Copy Editor Dave Denison full of feminist and gay rights activists, Smoth- Ohio, where Henry was an art professor at Kent Arts & Culture Editor love God. And I love my Ava Kofman ers spoke at the massive counter-rally State University and was on campus church. Contributing Editor Phyllis Schlafly organized across town. “We are electing a on May 4, 1970, when four students Alison Fairbrother “I have enough civil rights to choke a man in Donald Trump at a Vietnam War protest were shot Circulation Management “And Norman Vincent Four Corners Media hungry goat. I ask for public rights. who believes in the to death by National Guardsmen. Peale, the great Nor- Design Point Five, NY . . . Let’s do something about these name of Jesus Christ.” Henry and Sandra relive the day like man Vincent Peale, was Illustration Edel Rodriguez misfits and perverts over in the Sam it was yesterday. my pastor. The Power of Publisher and Editorial Houston Coliseum. I want to segregate my family Sandra is a playwright and the oral historian Positive Thinking, every- Director Hamilton Fish from them!” for the Kent State Memorial. I studied Kent State body’s heard of Norman Vincent Peale. He would Subscription inquiries E-mail us at In Cleveland, Pastor Burns had competition. Sher- closely for my book Nixonland. On April 30, 1970, subscriptions@washingtonspectator. give a sermon, you never org, call toll-free (866) 949-5290 iff David Clarke Jr. of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, went on TV to deliver an Orwellian wanted to leave.…Dr. Nor- M - F 9-5:30 EST, or write to P.O. Box 241, Oregon, IL 61061. a black version of Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, took the stage argument about how he was shrinking the Vietnam man Vincent Peale, Frank

Letters to the editor E-mail to on the opening night. Dressed in full formal cop rega- War by expanding it, by invading neutral Cambodia. [Luntz], would give a ser- comments@washingtonspectator. lia, Clarke bellowed, “Ladies and Gentleman, I would He had no choice, he explained: “My fellow Ameri- mon. I’m telling you, I still org. Please include your full name remember his sermons, and postal address and whether like to make something very clear. Blue! Lives! Mat- cans, we live in an age of anarchy, both abroad and the letter is intended for publication. ter!”—predictably dragging in Rev. Martin Luther at home. We see mindless attacks on all the great it was unbelievable. And Letters, if published, may be edited what he would do is he for clarity and space. Mailing King’s “seamless garment of destiny” to make the case. institutions which have been created by free civi- address: 55 Fifth Avenue, 18th Floor, Clarke calls Black Lives Matter a “hate group,” and is lizations in the last 500 years . . . great universities would bring real life situ- New York, NY 10003. ations, modern day situ- one of the rare law enforcement officials to ally with are being systematically destroyed . . . If, when the The Washington Spectator (ISSN ations, into the sermon. 0887-428X) is published monthly the National Rifle Association. chips are down, the world’s most powerful nation, And you could listen to by the Public Concern Foundation He likes riding in parades on horseback, wear- the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, Inc, 55 Fifth Avenue, 18th Floor, New him all day long. When York, NY 10003. © 2013 in the U.S. ing a cowboy hat, and posing with rifles. In 2006 helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and you left the church, you by the Public Concern Foundation Inc. President: Hamilton Fish. Assistant he forced his deputies to sit through mandatory anarchy will threaten free nations and free institu- were disappointed that Treasurer: Nicole Irvin. evangelization sessions from something called the tions throughout the world.” it was over. He was the Fellowship of Christian Centurions. In a series of A few days later, to a gathering of employees greatest guy. And then he, Periodicals postage paid at New you know, passed away. York, NY. Please allow 4–6 weeks radio advertisements in 2013 he advised residents of in the halls of the Pentagon, Nixon sharpened the for receipt of your first issue and Milwaukee that because the local constabulary could contradictions between those Middle Americans But he was a great—he for all subscription transactions. wrote The Power of Posi- POSTMASTER: Send address no longer protect them they should arm themselves. and their sons fighting loyally in Vietnam—“I’ve changes to The Washington Spectator, tive Thinking, which was a P.O. Box 241, Oregon, IL 61061. The He hosts a “David Clarke: The People’s Sheriff” pod- seen them, they’re the greatest”—and “these bums, great book.” Washington Spectator is printed with cast on Glenn Beck’s “The Blaze” platform. you know, blowing up the campuses.” union labor on recycled paper. Clarke was such a hero in the House of Trump A politically opportunistic Republican governor —Donald Trump, Family that one of the biggest draughts of applause on the named James Rhodes barked out a briefing to vis- Leadership Summit, July final evening of the convention came when his face iting journalists: “They’re worse than the Brown- 18, 2015 merely appeared in the film clip introducing the shirts and the Communist element and also the candidate. night riders and the vigilantes. They’re the worst “Speaking as a Christian, SPECTATOR But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We’re still type of people that we harbor in America. And I I find the Apostle Paul on Night One. Let me tell you what else happened, want to say this: they’re not going to take over a ALERT appealing and the Apostle in case you couldn’t bring yourself to watch. Or, if campus.” That rhetoric set the table for Middle Peale appalling.” Be the first to you did, some madness you might have missed. America’s response to the wave of student protest hear about There was the pimping out of grieving parents: that followed. —Adlai Stevenson, 1952 new features, three of them, all identified on the telescreen Some veterans of Kent State, desperate to multimedia, above a chyron that read: “VICTIM OF ILLEGAL wrench meaning out of the meaningless, cling to events, and Spectator IMMIGRANTS.” an interpretation of what happened next as some news. Two of the three had lost children in car acci- sort of elite conspiracy: the president passing down dents for which undocumented immigrants were an order through his loyal janissary Rhodes, down SIGN UP responsible—and as everyone knows, red-blooded, through the ranks of the National Guard units he washingtonspectator.org native-born Yankees never are. “I call them illegal commanded, to stage a useful little massacre to

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show the homegrown dissidents who was boss. was a conservative,” she says. Chris Christie has wrapped up his campaign has focused on Target’s “invitation to predators”— by Sandy Halem, who has interviewed hundreds of witnesses already-infamous speech that had delegates braying for Hillary which she means the retail chain’s nondiscriminatory restroom on all sides of the tragedy, knows better. These scared, poorly Rodham Clinton to be hanged from the neck until she is dead. policy. She has, “long warned that increasing acceptance of gay trained weekend warriors were not crack cadres of centurions, For sins like once saying that Assad of Syria was a “reformer,” a rights will turn Christians into criminals who will eventually be but ordinary people who read their newspapers and watched common, bipartisan opinion at the time. Yet the Torquemada of rounded up and tossed in jail.” And she produced a documen- their Walter Cronkite and heard students preach- Trenton piled at her feet the 400,000 corpses who tary arguing that LBGTQ activists should be ing about revolution and anarchy. Saying things “He’s used the died “at the hands of the man Hillary defended.” criminally charged for “grooming” children like, as Jerry Rubin had on the Kent State campus word rapist. That’s “We must ask this question: Hillary Clinton, as an for homosexuality. a month earlier, “Until you are prepared to kill your a horrible word. awful judge of the character of a dictator-butcher And this was just someone I buttonholed parents, you aren’t ready for revolution.” Murderer . . . One in the Middle East, guilty or not guilty?” at random for a reaction to Chris Christie’s group has been The young protesters naively presumed the “GUILTY!” of course. speech. Throw a rock in this crowd, and you’re lowered; a different guardsmen’s guns could not possibly have been group has been Guilty of not overthrowing Assad in Syria; though likely to hit someone who pines for the days loaded (the black students, better schooled in the raised.” the mob had already also found her guilty of not not when justice was served by throwing rocks. ways of the world, knew they were, and had already overthrowing Qaddafi, rendering her responsible I sought out a moderate Republican state high-tailed it off campus). They threw rocks, tossed for “Libya’s economy in ruins, death and violence in legislator from I had interviewed the back tear gas canisters, and mocked the soldiers. The guardsmen the streets, and ISIS now dominating the country.” Then she was previous Friday and asked what he thought who loosed the volleys of 67 shots almost certainly believed they charged with personally arranging the kidnaping of “hundreds of about Chris Christie’s auto-da-fé. were acting in defense of their lives. They had been conditioned innocent young girls two years ago [who] are still missing today.” “The Democratic convention, the Repub- by their president and their governor to believe they were facing For haven’t you heard? The crimes of Boko Haram that hap- lican convention,” he responds, “let me tell down monsters. pened after Hillary Clinton was secretary of state are hers alone you, Rick, they come here and they drink the Recalls Halem: “The next day, when I returned to school, in to answer for, because she had complied with the request of the Kool-Aid.” That’s just the way it is. Akron, Ohio, a teacher came to me, and he swore that he knew Nigerian government and the pleas of academic experts on Nige- I ask if he was comfortable with the chants. somebody at Robinson Hospital who said, ‘Allison Krause had ria to refrain from designating Boko Haram a foreign terrorist He pauses uncomfortably. syphilis, and a knife on her leg.’ I was told that!” organization, in part because that would make it illegal for NGOs “It’s a political convention.” Allison Krause was one of the four students killed that day. to even communicate with members of the group to urge them I tell him about the chilling interview I just did with the “I said, ‘What are you saying? That that’s a crime? Because, if to renounce violence, or to conduct scholarly inquiry. minister. she did have syphilis, that was a reason to shoot her?’” And, of course, she was the one who planted the bomb that “You’re gonna hear some crazy stuff at both conventions. That’s Which is where Donald Trump comes in, Halem observed. killed Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi. just somewhat part of the game.” This is how political violence works. “You begin to take all kinds I observe to my interviewee that, as a historian, I’ve never I think of a quote from a wise old conservative that the only thing of ways of changing people’s perception: who the Other is. And observed this intense lynch-mob mentality at a political convention. necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. as soon as you can lower the Other—which, you know, Trump has “Well, you know, what’s interesting is, if we look at the facts, A few other acts were on the undercard on Wednesday: done wonderfully. He’s used the word rapist. That’s a horrible Hillary Clinton is really getting away with murder.” Laura Ingraham, always leading the party’s anti-immigrant word. Murderer . . . One group has been lowered; a different What does Rev. Porter mean by “murder”? crusade: “I asked, ‘Mom, why are people burning the American group has been raised. And the difference is that the one group “Well, look at our ambassador in Libya. And by the way, he flag?’ And she looked at me, and she answered, ‘Honey, because can tell the other group to leave. Put on buses and taken away.” was an open homosexual. She should be prosecuted for a hate their parents didn’t teach them about respect.’” The radio hate- “Those of us who understand what that kind of language did crime. . . . She turned her back on our American ambassador talker belies her panegyric on respect by describing Hillary Clin- in World War II are thrilled that the Germans gave up war— and let him die.” ton as “the woman who orchestrated America’s decline.” because they were good at it. They understood that ability to I ask her how this all compares to 1983, when during Leba- Phil Ruffin, a magnate in casinos, dog tracks, petroleum, lower the human threshold.” non’s civil war the Reagan administration ordered sentries at the convenience stores—and real estate deals like the Trump Inter- What she said next might make us wonder whether Trump U.S. barracks in Beirut to keep their weapons unloaded and the national Tower in Las Vegas: “If Donald tells you something, isn’t, in a certain respect, worse. gate wide open, and a truck bomb killed 241 U.S and 58 French put it in the bank.” “My concern today is that he has no understanding of the servicemen and six civilians. Attorney General Pam Biondi: “Lock her up—I love power of his words. My fear is that he doesn’t understand he I ask her about Reagan’s response—“Anyone who’s ever had that!” A phrase she would be wise to avoid after accepting a has a book of matches in his hand. And any time he dehuman- their kitchen done over knows that it never gets done as soon as $25,000 donation from the Trump family foundation four days izes a group—a group, not an individual—he allows people who you wish it would.”—after a second jihadist attack killed 24 at before announcing she would not be joining a probe of Trump are either in charge or are supposed to keep the peace, or the an embassy annex in Beirut the following year because security University. police, or whatever, he makes them afraid just enough that the precautions requested by Congress had not been completed. (I A Hispanic state senator from Kentucky: “Hispanics believe hair trigger pulls.” can be mean that way.) what Republicans believe.” (Did I hear a boo?) I ventured to the convention hall, to hear who would be dehu- She mumbled, “Well, you know, everyone makes mistakes.” Another black preacher, naturally. manized next. Then moved on to Clinton’s “pattern, of not mistakes, but actually A fracking magnate, lying about “American energy “You know, it used to be called ‘invasion.’ Now it’s called illegal things that are systematically costing American lives.” independence.” immigration.” I later do a little research. Rev. Porter’s rap sheet at People A pyramid scheme huckster. (I’m saving a whole article for I’m interviewing a minister of Christ’s Gospel from Cleve- for the American Way’s “Right Wing Watch” reveals that she her.) land, Janet Porter, who in the 1990s had been a spokesperson advocates for a law to outlaw abortion from the moment a fetal On Thursday, when Ivanka Trump introduced her father, I for John Kasich’s House Budget Committee. Back when “he heartbeat can be detected. Her “Don’t Target Our Daughters” returned to the most haunting thought that Sandra Halem left

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Spectator_layout_1.indd 4 8/8/16 4:19 PM September 1, 2016 washingtonspectator.org was a conservative,” she says. Chris Christie has wrapped up his campaign has focused on Target’s “invitation to predators”— by me with. already-infamous speech that had delegates braying for Hillary which she means the retail chain’s nondiscriminatory restroom “You have to be able to be willing to walk through sewage to Rodham Clinton to be hanged from the neck until she is dead. policy. She has, “long warned that increasing acceptance of gay go where these people are going,” she observed. “It scares me. For sins like once saying that Assad of Syria was a “reformer,” a rights will turn Christians into criminals who will eventually be It really gets scary.” common, bipartisan opinion at the time. Yet the Torquemada of rounded up and tossed in jail.” And she produced a documen- She had disappeared into a dark place then gathered herself to Trenton piled at her feet the 400,000 corpses who tary arguing that LBGTQ activists should be say, “I come from a family where there was died “at the hands of the man Hillary defended.” criminally charged for “grooming” children sexual abuse.” She recalls Donald Trump “We must ask this question: Hillary Clinton, as an for homosexuality. saying were Ivanka not his daughter, he awful judge of the character of a dictator-butcher And this was just someone I buttonholed would want to date her because she’s so hot. in the Middle East, guilty or not guilty?” at random for a reaction to Chris Christie’s “You don’t ever talk about your daughter “GUILTY!” of course. speech. Throw a rock in this crowd, and you’re sexually. Ever. . . . He is sexualizing her. He Guilty of not overthrowing Assad in Syria; though likely to hit someone who pines for the days is giving her away sexually. He is putting the mob had already also found her guilty of not not when justice was served by throwing rocks. her in a box.” overthrowing Qaddafi, rendering her responsible I sought out a moderate Republican state “Why does he do it? It makes you more for “Libya’s economy in ruins, death and violence in legislator from Illinois I had interviewed the powerful.” the streets, and ISIS now dominating the country.” Then she was previous Friday and asked what he thought You shudder when you hear something charged with personally arranging the kidnaping of “hundreds of about Chris Christie’s auto-da-fé. like that, when you write something like innocent young girls two years ago [who] are still missing today.” “The Democratic convention, the Repub- that down. For haven’t you heard? The crimes of Boko Haram that hap- lican convention,” he responds, “let me tell Donald Trump spoke. pened after Hillary Clinton was secretary of state are hers alone you, Rick, they come here and they drink the Then the Most Reverend Roger W. Gries, to answer for, because she had complied with the request of the Kool-Aid.” That’s just the way it is. auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, Nigerian government and the pleas of academic experts on Nige- I ask if he was comfortable with the chants. prayed. ria to refrain from designating Boko Haram a foreign terrorist He pauses uncomfortably. He began with a cackle: “You brought another championship organization, in part because that would make it illegal for NGOs “It’s a political convention.” to Cleveland tonight,” he said, in direct address to God and the to even communicate with members of the group to urge them I tell him about the chilling interview I just did with the Republican Party, which then received his benediction as God’s to renounce violence, or to conduct scholarly inquiry. minister. one true holy political vessel. And, of course, she was the one who planted the bomb that “You’re gonna hear some crazy stuff at both conventions. That’s He prayed for “those about to be born, and those about to see killed Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi. just somewhat part of the game.” You at the end of life.” He prayed for those present to be imbued I observe to my interviewee that, as a historian, I’ve never I think of a quote from a wise old conservative that the only thing with “the courage to bring the pro-life platform of this 2016 plat- observed this intense lynch-mob mentality at a political convention. necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. form of the Republican National Convention to fulfillment”—the “Well, you know, what’s interesting is, if we look at the facts, A few other acts were on the undercard on Wednesday: kind of right-wing homily Catholics hear at Mass every Sunday. Hillary Clinton is really getting away with murder.” Laura Ingraham, always leading the party’s anti-immigrant He prayed for “all our beloved safety forces.” He prayed for “all What does Rev. Porter mean by “murder”? crusade: “I asked, ‘Mom, why are people burning the American our men and women in uniform.” “Well, look at our ambassador in Libya. And by the way, he flag?’ And she looked at me, and she answered, ‘Honey, because Boilerplate, really. was an open homosexual. She should be prosecuted for a hate their parents didn’t teach them about respect.’” The radio hate- He sought God’s blessing for “all those who seek to serve the crime. . . . She turned her back on our American ambassador talker belies her panegyric on respect by describing Hillary Clin- common good by seeking public office, and especially Donald J. and let him die.” ton as “the woman who orchestrated America’s decline.” Trump and Michael Pence.” Then he prayed that “we will bring I ask her how this all compares to 1983, when during Leba- Phil Ruffin, a magnate in casinos, dog tracks, petroleum, America back to life, bring America back to work, and bring non’s civil war the Reagan administration ordered sentries at the convenience stores—and real estate deals like the Trump Inter- America together, one nation under God.” I wondered if he U.S. barracks in Beirut to keep their weapons unloaded and the national Tower in Las Vegas: “If Donald tells you something, meant that this Trumpian God he worships believes that America gate wide open, and a truck bomb killed 241 U.S and 58 French put it in the bank.” under is dead. servicemen and six civilians. Florida Attorney General Pam Biondi: “Lock her up—I love I told myself I was being ungenerous, and kept listening. And I ask her about Reagan’s response—“Anyone who’s ever had that!” A phrase she would be wise to avoid after accepting a recalled something I thought I heard earlier in his benediction. their kitchen done over knows that it never gets done as soon as $25,000 donation from the Trump family foundation four days I reviewed the tape. And there it was: a Catholic bishop had you wish it would.”—after a second jihadist attack killed 24 at before announcing she would not be joining a probe of Trump indeed beseeched the Almighty to make Donald Trump and an embassy annex in Beirut the following year because security University. Mike Pence “worthy to serve you, by serving your country.” precautions requested by Congress had not been completed. (I A Hispanic state senator from Kentucky: “Hispanics believe His country. can be mean that way.) what Republicans believe.” (Did I hear a boo?) God is a Republican. She mumbled, “Well, you know, everyone makes mistakes.” Another black preacher, naturally. America is his chosen land. Then moved on to Clinton’s “pattern, of not mistakes, but actually A fracking magnate, lying about “American energy Donald J. Trump is his prophet. things that are systematically costing American lives.” independence.” These thugs actually believe it. God help us that they might I later do a little research. Rev. Porter’s rap sheet at People A pyramid scheme huckster. (I’m saving a whole article for be stopped. for the American Way’s “Right Wing Watch” reveals that she her.) advocates for a law to outlaw abortion from the moment a fetal On Thursday, when Ivanka Trump introduced her father, I Rick Perlstein is The Washington Spectator’s national heartbeat can be detected. Her “Don’t Target Our Daughters” returned to the most haunting thought that Sandra Halem left correspondent.

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Weighing in on COMMERCE, continued from page 1 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. reflecting Donahue’s announcement that he planned “to build a Presidential Richard Lesher was a bright, conservative Penn- grass-roots business organization so strong that when it bites you Elections this corporate cabal argued, for “capitalists to carry sylvania gentleman who had been running the cham- in the butt, you bleed.” In less than two decades, with a chauf- the banner” of what Powell described as “confron- ber for 22 years, when in 1994 he decided to support feured Lincoln, a private jet, and a $5.5 million annual pay pack- Only in 2004 did the tation politics” and “not to hesitate to attack liber- the Clinton administration’s health care package. age, Donohue became the nation’s most generously compensated chamber suspend its als and push politicians for the support of the free Gingrich, Armey, and DeLay let the Chamber board American lobbyist. traditional neutrality in enterprise system.” know that Lesher had to go. Donohue started by expanding his lobbying team from two presidential elections. Powell made his argument in a “confidential” By 1997, Gingrich had consolidated his power as to 10. Today the chamber boasts 151 registered lobbyists, 87 of That was because one memorandum written in 1971 at the invitation of Speaker of the House, and identified a replacement them in-house. It spends more on lobbying Congress ($124 mil- candidate, John Ed- his friend Eugene B. Sydnor Jr., chairman of the for Lesher, Tom Donohue, a take-no-prisoners lob- lion in 2014) than the next four organizations combined, and pro- wards, was a trial lawyer. U.S. Chamber’s Education Committee. Powell, a byist for the trucking industry. The chamber, he told vides more election campaign support than either of the political “Trial lawyers are screw- former American Bar Association president, cham- Gingrich and The Wall Street Journal, was a “sleep- parties, almost all of it for Republican candidates, who receive ing up the business of pion of winner-take-all capitalism, and a member of ing giant, missing in action from many important carefully laundered money from donors seeking the political medical research and 11 corporate boards, warned that American busi- political battles.” cover a restructured chamber offers them. taking the vitality out of ness was “under broad attack” from political and The deal was sealed over a three-hour dinner Most of the money Donohue raises is kept dark and its donors American enterprise. We social interests and organizations that wanted to during which Donohue expressed his opinions on anonymous. “I want to give them all the deniability they need,” will deal with them in a institutionalize “socialism or some form of statism.” tort reform, workers’ rights, businesses’ bottom he declared as he began telling his donors that “people seem to tough and professional “We are not dealing with sporadic or isolated lines, and financial regulation. listen to you more when you’ve got a bagful of cash.” It was an way,” Tom Donohue attacks from a relatively few extremists or even from Donohue turned out to be a near-perfect choice. appealing pitch to businesses and industries with questionable said, before purchasing $3 million worth of ads the minority socialist cadre,” Powell wrote. “Rather, Not only has he quadrupled the chamber’s annual conduct to hide. Yet with public anonymity comes private dis- against Edwards through the assault on the enterprise system is broadly based budget by scaring billions of dollars out of the cor- closure. Recipients of dark money must eventually be told who a thinly disguised entity and consistently pursued. It is gaining momentum porations Powell said should be funding the coun- their donors are so they will know whom to reward with anti- called The November and converts.” The enemies of American enterprise ter-revolution, he has transformed the organization regulatory law, policy, and other favors. Fund. “When voters go he descried included, “not unexpectedly, the Com- into the largest business lobby in Washington, given Not long after Donohue placed a “show me the money” sign to the polls, they need to munists, New Leftists, and other revolutionaries who the tobacco industry a global reprieve, offered Wall on his desk, he quadrupled the chamber’s annual budget from know that lawsuit abuse would destroy the entire system, both political and Street protection from Elizabeth Warren, provided under $50 million to more than $200 million. He soon became destroys jobs, drives economic. These extremists of the left are far more Big Pharma some hope for its future. And he can be the nation’s largest political campaign contributor, created an doctors out of business numerous, better financed, and increasingly are more credited with creating and maintaining a Republi- entirely new internal legal subsidiary and expanded another. and forces companies into bankruptcy,” Dono- welcomed and encouraged by other elements of soci- can majority in both the House and Senate. He formed the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) to fight the hue later said of his ety than ever before in our history.” power of trial lawyers. The U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, an unusual decision to influ- Here was a memo from a man who had sought Biggest gorilla in town in-house, non-profit law firm, files more than 100 suits a year ence a presidential race. to keep the government from regulating cigarettes “My goal is simple—to build the biggest gorilla in against federal regulatory agencies, mostly the EPA, SEC, and long after it was known that they were killing this town—the most aggressive and vigorous busi- the Departments of Labor (including OSHA), Transportation, It was an illegal move at countless Americans and who one year later would ness advocate our nation has ever seen,” Donohue and Interior, whose regulations are perceived by Donohue and the time, but the Federal be elevated to the Supreme Court. Powell was wrote to Roy Marden, the Philip Morris exec who his clients to stifle profit. Election Commission whining at full volume. had described the chamber as a weak sister. He then But his major accomplishment has been the recruitment of chose to ignore it, which “Few elements of American society today have promised Marden to eliminate punitive damages in reliable, super-generous corporations. In 1997, only a quarter emboldened Donohue and his undisclosed cor- as little influence in government as the American lawsuits against tobacco companies, who by then, it of Fortune 1,000 companies were members, and most of them porate donors to pour businessman, the corporation, or even the millions was clear, were killing and debilitating millions of paid paltry annual dues. Today almost all 1,000 are members, and more soft money and of corporate stockholders. . . . Business must learn people around the world. many of them part with very generous sums. Yet only a handful of dark money into election the lesson, long ago learned by labor and other self- “If there’s one thing I know how to do it’s to donors provide the lion’s share of the chamber’s strategic assault campaigns. interest groups, that political power is necessary; provide great value to those who really step up to funds. In 2009 for example, 16 companies provided 55 percent that such power must be assidously [sic] cultivated; the plate. . . . By agreeing to be a strong supporter, of the chamber’s total budget, most of it targeting the Affordable —M.D. and that when necessary, it must be used aggres- you will always be heard here and always have a Care Act. sively and with determination.” To silence the voice,” he wrote to Marden. A check for $180,000 Health insurers like Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser, United- “disquieting voices” the national chamber “would from Philip Morris arrived on Donohue’s desk a few Health Group, and Wellpoint, stood to lose billions if the law require far more generous support from American days later, $100,000 of which immediately paid for passed. A retrospective examination of their charitable con- corporations than it has ever received in the past.” TV ads opposing a bill Senator John McCain had tributions shows they secretly handed the chamber a stunning The memo was leaked to investigative columnist introduced to increase cigarette taxes to pay for an $86.2 million in August 2009. Aetna alone ponied up more than Jack Anderson and widely circulated. anti-smoking program for children. $7 million. That money accounted for 40 percent of the cham- The pro-corporate movement it spawned would The new chamber president also threatened to ber’s $214.6 million expenditures in 2009. These companies are a few years later elevate men like Newt Gingrich, “make life miserable” for politicians he didn’t like capable of producing their own ads and PR. But they use the Tom DeLay, Dick Armey, and John Boehner to and promised anonymous deniability to America’s chamber as a convenient and compliant front group. national prominence. Powell’s thinking would ulti- most embarrassing industries. Of the 1,523 donations made to the U.S. Chamber in 2012, mately inspire Gingrich and his allies to transform The chamber’s culture changed overnight, more than 95 percent were small and inconsequential. But that

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Spectator_layout_1.indd 6 8/8/16 4:19 PM September 1, 2016 washingtonspectator.org the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. reflecting Donahue’s announcement that he planned “to build a year more than half the chamber’s income came from 64 anony- Richard Lesher was a bright, conservative Penn- grass-roots business organization so strong that when it bites you mous donors giving $121 million. To its campaign to rewrite the sylvania gentleman who had been running the cham- in the butt, you bleed.” In less than two decades, with a chauf- nation’s financial regulations Prudential contributed $2 million. ber for 22 years, when in 1994 he decided to support feured Lincoln, a private jet, and a $5.5 million annual pay pack- Goldman Sachs followed suit with an undisclosed eight-figure the Clinton administration’s health care package. age, Donohue became the nation’s most generously compensated donation. When the chamber promised to attack tighter security Gingrich, Armey, and DeLay let the Chamber board American lobbyist. requirements at chemical plants, Dow contributed $1.7 million. know that Lesher had to go. Donohue started by expanding his lobbying team from two Another donor, to this day anonymous, gave more than $15 mil- By 1997, Gingrich had consolidated his power as to 10. Today the chamber boasts 151 registered lobbyists, 87 of lion. Donations of that size are not membership dues, they’re Speaker of the House, and identified a replacement them in-house. It spends more on lobbying Congress ($124 mil- protection money. for Lesher, Tom Donohue, a take-no-prisoners lob- lion in 2014) than the next four organizations combined, and pro- The chamber claims to represent the “interests of more byist for the trucking industry. The chamber, he told vides more election campaign support than either of the political than three million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions.” Gingrich and The Wall Street Journal, was a “sleep- parties, almost all of it for Republican candidates, who receive Although that may be accurate, the claim is often made to ing giant, missing in action from many important carefully laundered money from donors seeking the political sound as if three million firms are dues-paying members. While political battles.” cover a restructured chamber offers them. the chamber will not reveal membership numbers, or identi- The deal was sealed over a three-hour dinner Most of the money Donohue raises is kept dark and its donors ties, it has admitted in the past to having fewer than 300,000 during which Donohue expressed his opinions on anonymous. “I want to give them all the deniability they need,” dues-paying members, many of them loosely affiliated through tort reform, workers’ rights, businesses’ bottom he declared as he began telling his donors that “people seem to membership in state and local chambers that pay dues to the lines, and financial regulation. listen to you more when you’ve got a bagful of cash.” It was an national organization. Donohue turned out to be a near-perfect choice. appealing pitch to businesses and industries with questionable Donahue values his alleged small-firm members because Not only has he quadrupled the chamber’s annual conduct to hide. Yet with public anonymity comes private dis- some in Congress are more likely to listen to them than to big budget by scaring billions of dollars out of the cor- closure. Recipients of dark money must eventually be told who business. They’re real people rather than “corporate personhood” porations Powell said should be funding the coun- their donors are so they will know whom to reward with anti- fictions that possess free speech and the right to make unlimited ter-revolution, he has transformed the organization regulatory law, policy, and other favors. contributions but can’t vote. Moreover, they “provide the foot into the largest business lobby in Washington, given Not long after Donohue placed a “show me the money” sign soldiers, and often the political cover, for issues big companies the tobacco industry a global reprieve, offered Wall on his desk, he quadrupled the chamber’s annual budget from want pursued,” Donohue explains. Street protection from Elizabeth Warren, provided under $50 million to more than $200 million. He soon became Big Pharma some hope for its future. And he can be the nation’s largest political campaign contributor, created an A bagful of cash credited with creating and maintaining a Republi- entirely new internal legal subsidiary and expanded another. But it’s the money that provides the leverage. By 2010 the can majority in both the House and Senate. He formed the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) to fight the chamber was raising five times what it was before Donohue power of trial lawyers. The U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, an arrived, almost $250 million in contributions and grants. Most of Biggest gorilla in town in-house, non-profit law firm, files more than 100 suits a year the new money has been spent on lobbying, electoral campaigns, “My goal is simple—to build the biggest gorilla in against federal regulatory agencies, mostly the EPA, SEC, and and fighting trial lawyers through the ILR, which also contrib- this town—the most aggressive and vigorous busi- the Departments of Labor (including OSHA), Transportation, utes dark money to campaigns, mostly to candidates opposing ness advocate our nation has ever seen,” Donohue and Interior, whose regulations are perceived by Donohue and state supreme court justices with an affection for punitive dam- wrote to Roy Marden, the Philip Morris exec who his clients to stifle profit. ages against corporate defendants. had described the chamber as a weak sister. He then But his major accomplishment has been the recruitment of While one might expect that amount of money to produce con- promised Marden to eliminate punitive damages in reliable, super-generous corporations. In 1997, only a quarter sistently impressive election results, some cycles are better than lawsuits against tobacco companies, who by then, it of Fortune 1,000 companies were members, and most of them others. The 2010 elections did bring a Republican majority to the was clear, were killing and debilitating millions of paid paltry annual dues. Today almost all 1,000 are members, and House, thanks largely to chamber support of Tea Party candidates. people around the world. many of them part with very generous sums. Yet only a handful of The 2012 election didn’t turn out too well for the chamber, “If there’s one thing I know how to do it’s to donors provide the lion’s share of the chamber’s strategic assault which spent nearly $24 million to defeat several high-profile provide great value to those who really step up to funds. In 2009 for example, 16 companies provided 55 percent Democrats in Senate races, including Senator Sherrod Brown the plate. . . . By agreeing to be a strong supporter, of the chamber’s total budget, most of it targeting the Affordable in Ohio, former governor Timothy Kaine in Virginia, Claire you will always be heard here and always have a Care Act. McCaskill in Missouri, and Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, voice,” he wrote to Marden. A check for $180,000 Health insurers like Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser, United- all of whom are still in office. Of 15 Senate races to which the from Philip Morris arrived on Donohue’s desk a few Health Group, and Wellpoint, stood to lose billions if the law chamber contributed that year, only two went its way. The days later, $100,000 of which immediately paid for passed. A retrospective examination of their charitable con- results were not much better in the House, where $7 million TV ads opposing a bill Senator John McCain had tributions shows they secretly handed the chamber a stunning was pumped into 22 races and only four of Donohue’s chosen introduced to increase cigarette taxes to pay for an $86.2 million in August 2009. Aetna alone ponied up more than candidates won. anti-smoking program for children. $7 million. That money accounted for 40 percent of the cham- Chamber spending in 2014 was again aimed at electing The new chamber president also threatened to ber’s $214.6 million expenditures in 2009. These companies are Republicans, with, for example, $5,637,144 invested in Thom “make life miserable” for politicians he didn’t like capable of producing their own ads and PR. But they use the Tillis’s successful campaign against Democratic Senator Kay and promised anonymous deniability to America’s chamber as a convenient and compliant front group. Hagan and $3,701,491 to defeat progressive Democratic Senator most embarrassing industries. Of the 1,523 donations made to the U.S. Chamber in 2012, Mark Udall in Colorado. The chamber’s culture changed overnight, more than 95 percent were small and inconsequential. But that Donohue promises to commit $100 million to candidates in

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Spectator_layout_1.indd 7 8/8/16 4:19 PM September 1, 2016 The WA S H I N G T O N washingtonspectator.org The Washington Spectator PERIODICALS CLASS VISIT washingtonspectator.org P.O. Box 241 Postage Paid at New York, NY Oregon, IL 61061 SPECTATOR The WASHINGTON SPECTATOR Give a gift today — just $10 each!

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I am renewing my subscription ($18 for 12 issues) RHG311A by Mark Dowie Check enclosed, payable to The Public Concern Foundation Please bill me hy do we criticize people for Call toll-free (866) 949-5290, code GHG311A, or mail this coupon and your doing what they were hired to do? Take payment to: The Public Concern Foundation, P.O. Box 241, Oregon, IL 61061 W Thomas J. Donohue, for example. Day after day the poor guy gets pummeled by Washing- ton non-profits and mainstream media for doing his job. He’s out there challenging health care reform; suing the SEC to stifle the regulation of financial mar- kets; lobbying Congress to reduce punitive damages in prod- uct liability litigation; attempting to gut the Foreign Corrupt Practices and False Claims Acts; undermining carbon pollution standards; questioning the causes of climate change; opposing a federal minimum wage; defending high-salt processed foods; attacking “net metering” of solar energy panels; interfering in the election of state supreme court jus- tices; shilling for American tobacco 2016. He rarely spends as much as he promises, but even half Exelon, and PNM Resources, who pulled out last fall, citing the overseas; opposing environmental that amount, strategically spent, could keep both houses of chamber’s pro-fossil-fuel climate policy as their reason for leav- legislation; fighting paid maternity Congress in his camp. Three million has already gone to replace ing. CVS Health Corporation, with its 7,800 retail drug stores, leave; persuading American businesses to fight campaign-finance retiring Senator Harry Reid in Nevada, and $10 million to sup- followed, revolted by the chamber’s overseas promotion for disclosure; opposing net neutrality; defending high pharmaceu- port Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), another hazardous product, tobacco. tical prices; and laundering large “anonymous” donations from and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.). More recently, the staffs of about half a dozen U.S. Senators the Koch Brothers’ Freedom Partners and Karl Rove’s American who were curious about the chamber’s selecting targets and tak- Crossroads Super PAC. Eroding Support ing positions contrary to the interests of many of its members, in Why should Mr. Donohue be rebuked for this very abbrevi- In 2015, the Council of State Chambers of Commerce com- particular regarding tobacco, surveyed the 108 corporations with ated list if those tasks were handed to him in 1997, when he missioned Republican consultant Frank Luntz’s firm to poll 1,000 executive representatives on the U.S. Chamber Board of Direc- began serving as CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, local, state, and national senior corporate executives who are tors. The Senate investigators found that approximately half the whose core mission was then, and still is, “to advance human current or prospective chamber members. The survey revealed corporate board members have anti-tobacco and/or pro-climate progress through an economic, political, and social system based that chamber members nationwide overwhelmingly support pro- positions. And not one of their CEOs explicitly supported the on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and gressive social and business policies the U.S. Chamber is fighting. chamber’s lobbying actions on tobacco or climate change. responsibility”? For example, 80 percent of current or prospective members If the chamber’s board and funders don’t mind the slow but This would be a fair question were Donohue committed to support raising their state’s minimum wage; 73 percent support steady exodus of state and local chambers, and the departure of that mission and doing what he does for all American enterprise, paid sick days; 72 percent support increased maternity leave some of the most distinguished corporations in American business, or even for the 150 members of the U.S. Chamber Board of time; and 82 percent support increased paternity-leave time. they will keep their consummate Washington fixer at the helm. Directors, or the 3 million small businesses, 7,000 state and local In response, Luntz’s firm prepared a web seminar hosted by Yet only a handful the nation’s business and political leaders chambers, and 116 overseas American chambers he claims to the Council of State Chambers in February of this year, provid- brought Tom Donohue to Washington. What can be done can represent in 103 countries. ing “a few helpful hints on how to combat these reforms in your be undone. But he’s not. He is, in fact, doing the bidding of a few states.” Several local chambers had already left the national national politicians and their mostly anonymous corporate spon- organization. Luntz’s insulting response to his own survey will Mark Dowie is an author and investigative reporter. An sors who believed in 1996, and evidently still do, that a pragmatic, almost certainly lead to the exodus of others. And corporations extended version of this report can be found at http://washing- staid national chamber, founded to be “in touch with business could follow Apple, Mohawk Paper, Pacific Gas and Electric, tonspectator.org.

8 1 Illustrations by Edel Rodriguez

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