The U.S. Chamber has just wrapped up another very successful meeting of our Board of Directors which concluded with the election of Robert Milligan (on the left) as its new chairman. Milligan, who also serves as chairman of M.I. Industries, had this to say: "I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the new chairman of the U.S. Chamber. I look forward to working with other business leaders and the professional team at the Chamber to help advance sound policies that will allow American businesses to grow and prosper—providing jobs and sustainable economic growth for our nation. The Chamber, particularly during these challenging global economic times, must be the solid voice of reason to effectively advocate for our business community." 

There were frank and honest discussions around many issues. On top of everyone's mind was, of course, the economy, but the big -- and very positive -- buzz was about the Chamber's embarkation on a new campaign in the coming months to defend free enterprise -- as profiled by Jeanne Cummings this morning in the Politico:

"Dire economic circumstances have certainly justified some out-of-the-ordinary remedial actions by government," said Chamber President Tom Donohue, referring to the bank bailouts and the $787 billion economic stimulus program. "But enough is enough," he added in a statement to POLITICO...Taken together, the government could soon determine who gets a mortgage, which cars consumers can buy, the type of treatments patients will get and how many credit cards a person can carry.

Donohue said the new campaign, which he’s dubbed the Campaign for Free Enterprise, could become the most important project the Chamber has embraced in its nearly 100-year history. "We have got to go out in a big-time way and remind all Americans that it was a free enterprise system based on the values of individual initiative, hard work, risk innovation and profit which built our great country"