Each year, the national organization Jobs with Justice gives an 'award' to the greediest, most cold-hearted company or person to be its "Scrooge of the Year." This year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found itself in the final five for the National Scrooge Award, and, after thousands of voters were counted, the Chamber won by a large margin. www.jwj.org/scrooge/.

As Jobs with Justice says, "This Scrooge likes you to think it is the voice of American business. But in reality, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- and its CEO Tom Donohue -- are pushing a narrow, radical agenda. It's becoming increasingly clear that the Chamber has become a front group for a few narrow interests, not a membership association that represents the voice of mainstream American businesses. And it is increasingly at odds with both small and green businesses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce often says it speaks for 3 million members, businesses both large and small. What it doesn't promote as readily is that 19 supporters last year provided a third of the trade group's total revenue. The bottom line? The Chamber is the ultimate Scrooge. Not only will Tom Donohue fight hard to put a lump of coal in your stocking at taxpayer expense, but it will claim that the lump of coal represents the voice of American business and is good for you."

"There was plenty of competition for the award this year," said Jobs with Justice Executive Director Sarita Gupta, "but the similarities between Scrooge and the Chamber of Commerce were hard to beat. The ghost of years past would show that the policies they've promoted including deregulation and maximizing profits at the expense of workers are directly connected to the destruction of America's middle class."

Tom Donohue has been palling around with the president of China in order to promote the outsourcing of American jobs. http://www.gov.cn/misc/2009-01/13/content_1204588.htm As Mr. Donohue told the publication Venture Outsource, outsourcing is good for business and the Chamber is "fighting to preserve their right to [outsource]." http://www.ventureoutsource.com/contract-manufacturing/executive-interviews/2007/tom-donohue-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-on-outsourcing-and-offshoring?page=0%2C0

Stop The Chamber, www.stopthechamber.com, a campaign by VelvetRevolution.us, is working to expose the extremist agenda of the Chamber and its CEO. "Congress should investigate their claim that the Chamber represents the views of American business owners," said Stop The Chamber spokesperson Kevin Zeese. "The vast majority of small and large businesses do not support the Chamber's radical polices against health care for all, environmental protection, and financial regulation. In fact, Chamber polices are determined by a select few big business insiders without any board or membership approval. And we know that those insiders are controlled a mere handful for the worst polluters, robber barons, and failures in modern history. With millions of Americans out of work, it is outrageous that the Chamber is going to Communist China to outsource jobs and spending $100 million to oppose initiatives that will help every American citizen."

Stop The Chamber urges every concerned American to join our call for a federal criminal investigation into the actions of the Chamber and the Chamber CEO, Tom Donohue. People who sign on at www.stopthechamber.com will also ask member companies to quit the Chamber and Congress to hold hearings on the Chamber's misrepresentations, controlling donors, and unethical conduct.

Source:  http://www.auto-mobi.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12740&Itemid=50