Charlie Sheen has nothing on Transwestern when it comes to winning. $200,000 a year and 250 workers! That’s the savings annually to Transwestern for making their Washington, DC, building more energy efficient; and the amount of jobs created in doing so. It’s a win-win-win: energy efficiency, savi
Today in Honolulu, the U.S. and Hawaii Chambers of Commerce will co-host First Lady Michelle Obama for the 68th Hiring Our Heroes jobs fair of 2010. Today's event at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickman, HI, will bring more than 500 veterans together with 50 employers from across Hawaii includin
The 30th floor of the Plaza Club in downtown Honolulu -- where Tom Donohue addressed the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii yesterday -- offers an incredible view of Mamala Bay.
After five years of debate over the job-creating trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, it’s not always easy to find new, creative ways to say “pass these deals! They’ll create jobs.” So when the Chamber’s President and CEO Tom Donohue spoke with Larry Kudlow on CNBC last nig
by JP Fielder
Hitting one out of six in the MLB Playoffs might get you cut, or at least bring the boos from the fans (we’re looking at you, ARod!). But when Washington hit the first of six items on the Chamber’s ‘jobs agenda’ this week, it was a home run. The president sent the pending trade ag
by J.P. Fielder
The summer humidity finally gave way to the cooler fall air in DC, but this doesn’t mean a number of heated debates are dying down. The trade debate is plodding forward, with the Senate passing GSP and TAA and sending them back to the House where the free trade agreements are lik
It's Christmas in August for those who understand the job-creating opportunities that come from expanding trade. Frank Vargo, one of the deans of the trade world, alerted us today over at ShopFloor, that the Commerce Department is now listing exports, imports and trade balances with our FTA par
Well isn’t this rich: from the beaches of Maui, Clyde Prestowitz, founder and President of the Economic Strategy Institute, phones in a column to the Foreign Policy blog blasting… what?! Well, just about every job-creating policy that was discussed at the Chamber’s Jobs for America Summit 2011 on
by: JP Fielder
Ducking away from the negotiations today, President Obama heads to Iowa. The White House says it’s not to talk politics but to talk up American manufacturing during a trip to an Alcoa plant. But the reality is that Obama’s political advisers are concerned that as Republican pres
As the House begins its Independence Day recess, budget negotiations will hit high gear in Washington today. In what the AP is calling “one of the most severe tests yet of Obama’s presidency,” the President will take direct control of the discussions by meeting with Majority Leader Reid this m
The work week started on Sunday when the Chamber’s Chief Economist, Dr. Martin Regalia, joined the economic roundtable on ABC News’ This Week to talk about why new jobs are slow in coming. He pointed out that, “A lot of noise in the system is detracting from momentum,” and said that it’s tim
from BCLC
The boss is wheels down in Japan this morning – at least for the next +/- 24 hours – for what can only be described as a whirlwind trip around the world to lend the Chamber’s support for one of the worst natural disasters in history. Tom Donohue dropped into the Land of the Rising Sun to meet wit
Another hard fought week in Washington, as Congress continued its battle over the budget, the federal government closed in on its debt limit, and the Chamber continued its efforts to put Americans back to work. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from the week that was.
In a front pa
Shifting gears from his meetings with business leaders, diplomats, and lawmakers, Tom Donohue met with one of America’s most distinguished groups today by heading 50 miles north of New York City to speak with the cadets at West Point.
After joining more than 4,000 cadets for their daily lunch
Our top brass – Tom Donohue and Bruce Josten – joined about 20 reporters for breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor this morning. In a rare twist inside the Beltway, The Monitor encourages in-depth, civilized conversation among reporters and newsmakers at these events. As t
Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan slams Dodd-Frank in a Financial Times’ op-ed this morning, saying that, “Regulatory agencies will ... be bedevilled by unanticipated adverse outcomes as they translate the .. broad set of principles into a couple of hundred detailed regulations. The financial sy
Don’t tell Scott Pelley, but the letters section of this week’s Economist finally clarifies the real victim when an Ecuador court slapped Chevron with a $9.47 billion fine last month. In a joint letter, the Chamber, ECAT, and NAM teamed up to point out that “A quick review of the case shows that
After yesterday’s press rollout of the Chamber’s six recommendations to improve the development of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Jess Sharp, executive director of the Center for Capital Markets Competiveness, took the message to Capitol Hill today, testifying before the House Financial
After the success of last month's advocacy effort in support of the Korea US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) in Los Angeles, the Chamber's grassroots outreach headed to Philadelphia today to tout the job-creating benefits of the deal with businesses, labor leaders and local lawmakers.
In a press con
There’s a great international shakedown taking place south of the border with this week’s $8.6 billion judgment against Chevron by a provincial court in Ecuador. The suit, filed in an Ecuadorian court in 2003, charges that Texaco (since merged with Chevron) failed to clean up oil spills from wells
While deficits are rising and hiring is stagnant, Washington has a deficit-neutral way to spur job creation: passing the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and Korea. But only inside the Beltway could a wrench be thrown into the gears of moving these deals forward expeditiously.
U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue took a quick timeout from meetings Davos this week to chat with French 24 this afternoon. He repeated his message from the recent State of American Business address, that there are many unanswered questions that must be addressed before companies will start aggres
(Photo Credit: Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times / January 25, 2011)
With the President expected to again call for action on the pending free trade agreements in his State of the Union Address, today's Los Angeles Times has a nice front page story on the kickoff event of our nationwide grassroots ca
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Ambassador Han Duk-soo, Korean Ambassador to the United States, launched a nationwide, grassroots lobbying effort to promote the job-creating benefits of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) by touring the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with politic
by JP FielderCNBC kicked off Chinese President Hu's state visit to Washington today by discussing with Myron Brilliant the opportunities and challenges of trade relations between our countries.
President Hu's visit is "the most significant visit by a Chinese leader to the United States in decades,"
Tom Donohue is in Minneapolis today, where he’s taking the Chamber's jobs plan from last week's State of American Business address on the road. In a keynote address to more than 200 members of the Economic Club of Minnesota, he'll remind these business leaders that "Minnesota begins 2011 in a lot
Further to the post below about the press coverage from Tuesday’s State of American Business event, we wanted to single out a few for special attention because they seemed to get it right.
The first was from Jim Kuhnhenn of the AP:
"The president of the US Chamber of Commerce straddled the Democ
A great turnout for yesterday’s State of American Business address. Not only was the crowd big in the Hall of Flags where the speech was delivered, but there were over 138 reporters next door when the press conference began immediately after the speech. We’ll be posting more here over the next
Next Wednesday, at 9am EST, U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue will deliver the annual State of American Business address, highlighting the business community’s priorities for growing the economy and putting millions of Americans back to work in the year ahead.
Following the speech, Donohue
Ross Eisenberg, the Counsel and Committee Executive for the Chamber's Environment and Energy division, competes against his Chamber colleagues in the game This Way To Jobs. Ross is maneuvering by "Energy Edge" where he confronts a flawed permitting process for energy projects that is responsible fo
Michael Eastman, Executive Director, Labor Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, plays This Way To Jobs in downtown Washington DC. Michael is currently stuck at "Labor Lagoon" where the Labor Department issues burdensome record-keeping regulation policies and the National Labor Relations Board makes s
James Gelfand, the Chamber's director of Health Policy, and Katie Mahoney, the Chamber's director of Health Care Regulations, were spotted this week playing This Way To Jobs in Lafayette Park.
James and Katie are competing to see who can make it past "Health Care Hill" where they face thousands of
So Senate Democrats have a new jobs bill, the "Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act." Sound good? No, not at all. Derek Thompson explains:
Senate Democrats have put together a new Jobs Bill. It's essentially a temporary payroll tax holiday for new employers who hire in the next two mon
Maria Medrano has an op/ed in The Hill on the need to get U.S.-Cuba policy right:
This week, Cuba announced the release of 6 more political prisoners bringing the total released in the last month-and-a-half to 32. This move follows reports that the Obama Administration will announce plans to expa
The Dallas Blog quotes Christopher Wenk regarding the fact that South Korea is preparing a free-trade deal with the European Union- "everybody is moving forward except for us right now." As the Washington Post pointed out yesterday, that's not a good thing:
The message may have been familiar recent
The U.S. Chamber launched a major issue advocacy program in California today by releasing a new report that highlights the state’s spiraling deficit, rising taxes, and growing regulations, and offers a state economic growth plan.
Titled The Golden State Action Plan, the report calls for the removal
Last week we sent a letter to the SEC expressing concerns with CalPERS’s plans to influence boards of directors should the SEC move toward a “proxy access” regime. Dubbed the Diverse Director Database (3D program), their plan is to recruit a pool of individuals who satisfy certain undisclosed crite
CNN's Jill Dougherty talks with Myron Brilliant about the decades-old travel ban to Cuba.
A six-decades-old U.S. embargo on Cuba has failed to produce results. Now it's time for a change.
Our Jobs Summit has just wrapped and already many are taking off with the stale narrative that the event was somehow the U.S. Chamber versus the White House. While conflict makes for easy reporting, what is going on here is much more important. It is about jobs.
And it’s not just the Chamber who i
Tom Donohue on MSNBC this morning from the 2010 Aspen Ideas Festival:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Maura Donahue, vice president of business development for DonahueFavret Contractors, and former U.S. Chamber Chair, has this op/ed today on the Politico:
Here in the Gulf, where Washington policy decisions have a real impact on the people and businesses most affected by BP’s Deep Horizon spill, we
From the New York Times (excerpt): Stephen M. Sweeney, the president of the State Senate here, glowered with disgust as he described how one New Jersey town paid out nearly $1 million to four retiring police officers for their unused sick days and vacation time. Mr. Sweeney, a Democrat, also scowle
by JP Fielder
Chris Van Hollen represents Maryland's 8th Congressional District, but the Maryland Chamber doesn't think much of his latest effort:
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce signed on to a multi-industry letter opposing HR 5175, the “DISCLOSE Act.”
This legislation would place onerous restri
The SF Chronicle has an excellent editorial today on the benefits of trade and the TPP talks:
Bringing down trade barriers could create millions of new jobs, tied to everything from aircraft to almonds. But the idea is demonized by certain Democratic interest groups as a domestic job destroyer and
The Chamber's Christopher Wenk, in San Francisco for a week-long trade meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, talks with KGO-TV at the :58 mark:
The Chamber's Ron Somers, president of the U.S. India Business Council, has a good piece in The Hill today:
India is booming. A recent visit to this billion-person economy reveals stunning opportunities for U.S. companies. In part, this can attributed to the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation In
On Monday the U.S. Chamber announced the five finalists in the "I am Free Enterprise video contest:
A Delicious Free Enterprise Contest Entry (Meredith Bragg, Alexandria, VA)
Fall Stop…Move STRONG (Celeste Carlucci and Julie Kardachi, New York, NY)
Tracy Foster is Free Enterprise (Tracy Foster,
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued two statements today on the introduction of The DISCLOSE Act, one by U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue and one by U.S. Chamber counsel and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Partner Theodore B. Olson.
Tom Donohue:
What’s most in need of disclosure is the rea
The U.S. Chamber honored 230 lawmakers with its annual Spirit of Enterprise Award today on Capitol Hill for their support of pro-growth legislation during the first session of the 111th Congress.
Eligibility for the award is based on how Members of Congress vote on key business issues, which the C
Tom Donohue writes in the USA Today:
America's broken financial regulatory structure contributed to the loss of 7 million jobs in the current recession. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading the effort to create more than 20 million jobs in the next 10 years, and we're urging Congress to pass fi
Some reports from Tom Donohue's visit to India:
The US Chamber of Commerce Tuesday pitched for greater US-India partnership in technology innovation, infrastructure development and production of cleaner energy. 'Let's collaborate on innovation. Let's partner on infrastructure. Let's jointly develo
As reported in this morning's Playbook U.S. Chamber President Thomas Donohue is speaking before the Confederation of Indian Industry today to "highlight opportunities for U.S. businesses to expand and create jobs by targeting India’s emerging economy, notably the $1 trillion infrastructure build ou
Fred Hiatt sat down with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak last Wednesday and published this report today, some clips:
In a world of dangerously failed states and willful challengers to American leadership, South Korea is an astoundingly successful democracy that wants to be friends. But will A
On March 20th Governor Bob Riley outlined:
...Alabama’s trade strategy that will focus on increasing opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses to export products to growing markets overseas. Growth in exports from Alabama companies has increased nearly 60 percent since 2004 and now total
Yesterday the U.S. Chamber joined forces with the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET) to launch a multi-year partnership to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. This is what Stan Anderson, managing director for the Campaign for Free Enterprise had to say:
For years Washington has been tryi
Chris Buckley, writing for Reuters, had a great talk with Myron Brilliant about China and trade:
China's yuan stance is just part of a tide of assertive policies from Beijing that have unsettled American companies and risk stoking tensions, said the senior executive of a major U.S. business group.
"The chamber plans to spend at least $50 million on political races and related activities this year, a 40 percent increase from 2008."
The above is from this Washington Post article on the Chamber's planning for the upcoming mid-term political season, and yes, it's true. This year the Chamber wil
John Murphy, coming in at the 4:32 mark in the CNBC clip below, talks about our plan for doubling exports. And yes, we can do this.
With Congress out this week, much of the town is preparing for major events next week, including the president's bipartisan health care summit on Thursday. Ahead of the event, President Obama will take matters into his own hands and put forward a comprehensive health care bill on Monday that's inten
By J.P. Fielder
The New York Times is reporting that the Senate and the administration are nearing agreement on forming a council of regulators, led by the Treasury secretary, to identify systemic risk to the financial system. From the article:
Assigning the Treasury Department the job of spottin
by J.P. Fielder
On the one year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today released a report highlighting the consequences of Buy American provisions. The Chamber's executive vice president of Government Affairs Bruce Josten had this to say:
Whil
Today marks the one year anniversary of the stimulus bill and with gridlock in Washington, the massive spending bill may come to define the president's first term. This week White House officials are fanning out across the country to tout its results, hitting 35 communities and more than half the st
In his weekly DealBook column, Andrew Ross Sorkin looks back at Davos two years ago – just weeks before Bear Stearns’ collapse – when there were calls for a "global sheriff." Today we are no closer to any sort of global financial regulator, let alone serious cooperation among countries about reform
While much of the pundit attention yesterday focused on David Plouffe's inside baseball op-ed in the Washington Post, likely Senate candidate Harold Ford went real world in the NY Times with this four-point agenda:
The message [Massachusetts] voters sent was clear. With one out of five Americans
In his inaugural address President Obama stated "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works..." NBC and the Wall Street Journal ask again:
Last week's NBC/Wall Street Journal survey asked whether voters thought that "government should do m
Bruce Josten discusses President Obama's plan for jobs creation on CNBC:
U. S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Dr. Martin Regalia this morning on C-SPAN's Washington Journal:
That's the second part of the subhead of a Washington Post editorial today, the first part states a fact "Trade is big in Asia" and the headline itself some advice "Deal with it." Now some from the body:
U.S. trade policy, or the lack thereof, is the other major threat to American economic compet
From Dow Jones Newswires:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Monday filed a civil suit in a federal court against the group called the "Yes Men" for a fake press briefing the group held last week at the National Press Club. The Chamber alleges in the complaint the Yes Men used its copyrighted emblem for
Tom Donohue today on RealClearPolitics:
With the economy slowly returning to form, we must now focus on a new challenge--putting America back to work. It won't be easy--the economy has shed 7.2 million jobs since the beginning of the recession, and unemployment is at its highest level in more than
Continuing our focus on trade today, the Wall Street Journal looks at the dangers of abandoning trade:
The modern free-trade era began during the Great Depression, after the catastrophe of the Smoot-Hawley tariff of June 1930. Hoover also thought he was shrewdly playing tactical politics by adopti
Tom Donohue starts off our focus on trade today with a piece in The Detroit News today -- have a look:
Michigan's workers and businesses are facing one of the harshest economic storms we've seen in nearly a century. These winds have blown away 800,000 jobs and left thousands of shop doors shuttere
Standing next to Canadian Prime Minister Harper yesterday, President Obama noted that the "single payer" system in Canada is not suitable for the United States, which he noted has widespread employer-provided coverage.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate are signaling a willingness to compromise o
The US Chamber's role in the health care and regulatory reform fights is profiled in an AP story. The wire service says, "The Chamber has emerged as a multitasking, multimillion-dollar defender of the private sector against presidential initiatives." The article looks at our grassroots and adverti
Was the topic on CNBC today for the Chamber's chief economist Marty Regalia, and James Paulsen, of Wells Capital Management
by JP Fielder
Tom Collamore spoke with Bloomberg Radio about the Chamber's Campaign for Free Enterprise. Have a listen:
In May the U.S. Chamber released a study by Navigant which looked at 166 shareholder proposals key-voted by the AFL-CIO. As Tom Quaadman noted: "This study showed that these proposals did not increase shareholder value in the short-term or long-term. A fundamental truism of investing is to make a r
Quickie legislation for quickie elections? From Roll Call:
As Senate Democrats struggle to hammer out a compromise bill on union organizing, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is sketching a process for railroading the bill through the floor as quickly as possible to prevent Republicans from rall
On Wednesday Patrick Kilbride gave some examples of Ecuador rather shaky commitment to the rule of law and concluded:
Unfortunately, these are not new developments in Ecuador. Rather, they follow a pattern over a number of years of extra-judicial takings, and authoritarian encroachment on the inst
From the Wall Street Journal (my italics):
About 177 million people—or 62% of those under age 65—get insurance today through their jobs, and while rising costs are a problem, according to every survey most employees are happy with the coverage. A major reason for this relative success is a 1974 fe
During a meeting with the President yesterday, Big Labor elicited another promise to pursue passage of card check. Never ones to miss a chance to make business less competitive, union leaders also demanded an employer mandate in health care reform. Randy Johnson was on the NewsHour last night with
Randy Johnson on Washington Journal talks about employer mandates, government run universal health care and other health reform issues.
On Monday the U.S. Chamber submitted, via comments, a proposed compromise to the OMB as they are preparing the final rules on how to implement Buy American. More from the FT:
Business groups, trade unions and the US’s trading partners are fighting a tug-of-war over "Buy American" rules as the Oba
A week ago, in Roll Call, Thomas Kochan and Arnold Zack made an argument for the compulsory interest arbitration provisions in the Employee Free Choice Act. This week Ted Clark responds:
Kochan and Zack argue that compulsory arbitration of first contracts is necessary because a recent study found
From the AP, as noted by Carter Wood:
Mexican truckers have filed a lawsuit against the United States seeking $6 billion in compensation for losses they claim to have suffered since Washington banned them from crossing the border in violation of a trade pact, an attorney said Tuesday.”
Commerce S
One word found on the front page of every major daily today: Oversight. The administration is moving forward with a plan to oversee the fast-growing derivatives market, the financial instruments seen by many as being at the heart of the financial meltdown last year. The proposal, sent by the Treasu
by JP Fielder Yesterday the U.S. Chamber hosted the U.S.-China Trade Cooperation Forum at which Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, Acting U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce Michelle O’Neill, and senior American and Chinese business executives spoke about the importance of U.S.-China cooperation
Moore Hallmark, the Chamber's Southeast Regional Director, spoke Thursday on the Employee Free Choice Act in Carrollton, Georgia, as reported:
“In essence, the union could use every means possible to get the necessary amount of signatures,” Hallmark said. “At the end of the day, the beauty of secr
Bill Kovacs, the Chamber's vice president of Environment, Technology, and Regulatory Affairs, in batting cleanup today in testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment. His complete testimony is available here. Before heading up to the H
As support for Card Check continues to fall in Congress the U.S. Chamber is keeping up the pressure with ads in Colorado, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Virginia highlighting the binding arbitration provision in the bill which will lead to a breakdown in collective bargaining and contracts
Sandy Stimpson, from the Mobile Chamber, in the Mobile Press-Register:
You wake up one morning, eat breakfast and go to work as usual. About mid-morning, a union official walks into your office and informs you that your employees have successfully unionized your company. ...Possibility? Absolutely
Today's Wall Street Journal looks at a fight between the business community and the White House over Obama's proposal to raise taxes on overseas profits. At issue is allowing multinationals to avoid U.S. taxes on much of their overseas earnings, as long as the money remains invested offshore. Eve
The optimism that had been cropping up on Wall Street for the last few weeks turned into a full-fledged rally yesterday. The Dow rose 216.84 points - after spending much of the day up 300 - to end at 7978.08. The Dow is up over 20% over the last four weeks, the best four-week rally since 1933. The
As world leaders officially launched the G20 summit this morning, the head of the IMF warned they must act more decisively to clean up the toxic assets poisoning the global banking system or they risk prolonging the worst global recession in generations. This came after a day of dizzying diplomacy
While the President is facing a big test in Europe from various international leaders about how to jumpstart the global economy, the "major" takeaways from the G-20 summit could be lesser, arcane diplomatic agreements. While much has been discussed about agreements on international banking regulati
The fallout from the White House's decision to push Detroit to the brink is rippling across the country. With the automakers at the edge of a cliff, stocks fell off, reaching three week lows.
With attorneys at both Chrysler and GM devising plans to split their companies in two for several months, h
The cover of today’s Washington Post looks at the renewed momentum in Washington for reexamining the severe limitations on economic exchanges between the U.S. and Cuba. The article mentions the Chamber’s efforts to loosen the travel restrictions, which Obama is expected to do by the time he goes t
The President will spend his week juggling plans to address the domestic auto crisis and global financial meltdown. Things started off with a bang yesterday when administration used the threat of withholding more bailout money to force out GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and offered some harsh med
In his first address to Congress, President Obama opened with a hopeful tone for the future of America. In a significant departure from the Bush years, Obama barely mentioned foreign policy and focused squarely on the economy and other domestic priorities. The President promised to act with the "fu
Even as the Obama administration tried to quell fears about the viability of major banks, the markets plummeted yesterday. After rallying at the opening bell, stocks slid to their lowest closing levels since 1997, with the Dow ending down 250.89 points, at 7114.78. Throughout the past week, investo
President Obama will pivot this week and outline a plan to halve the current $1.3 trillion deficit. The plan includes reviving rules on any new tax cuts or spending and will be highlighted in three marquee events:
1. Today’s ‘fiscal summit,’ which will focus on reducing the deficit by raising taxe
Ahead of tomorrow's mark-up of the tax provisions in the Senate stimulus package, the Chamber sent a letter to Finance Committee Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley this morning. Serious concerns have been raised by Members, the media and the public over the immediate or near-term stimulati
The Chamber released a study today by Dr. Everett M. Ehrlich, renowned economist and former Clinton Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs. The study highlights the significant stimulative effects that a temporary waiver of business' income tax related to the cancellation of indebtedness
From the wires
The Bush administration signed a nuclear cooperation agreement on Thursday with the United Arab Emirates...The deal sets the legal groundwork for U.S. commercial nuclear trade with the UAE, which has foresworn nuclear arms as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
At a
As the reports start coming in from Japan, some more articles about the USCC's trip to China and Korea:
USCC Head Rules Out FTA Renegotiation
In China, Bush remains a popular president
Sino-US trade falls in second half of 2008
China's top legislator vows to boost Sino-U.S. ties
China-US trade gap
The U.S. Chamber received good news last week when Harris Interactive released their yearly poll "on organizations that have considerable influence on public policy, business and are frequently covered by the media."
Of the 2,126 U.S. adults surveyed in the poll, 80% of those familiar with the U.S
The title is from the headline of a Wall Street Journal op/ed today from five Latin American leaders, but the sub-head tells the story "Free trade is one way to help prevent the resurgence of autocracy in the region."
I would amend that just a little (my bold below) and the contributors agree:
Po
Contrasting editorials run in today’s New York Times and Washington Post about the direction of the auto loans. The Post insists Congress should not use this crisis to pile new mandates on car companies, such as fuel efficiency targets. The paper supports the "car czar" – or "autocrat," as they pre
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue issued the following statement on the announcement of President-elect Barack Obama's economic team:
President-elect Obama has chosen a strong, experienced economic team. Restoring the nation's economic health must be our top priority an
Today at the U.S. Chamber we are pleased to co-host, with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the "U.S.-Canada Partnership: Strengthening our Economies."
The U.S.-Canada business dialogue is an annual event focusing on growing the economies of our two countries and deepening the U.S.-Canada bilateral
Congress has passed the U.S.-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, a major step toward cementing a strategic partnership between the world’s two largest democracies. India plans to invest $150 billion in its nuclear energy sector by 2030, and the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) estimate
Addressing our financial markets is deservedly in the spotlight, but it is not the only thing going on Capitol Hill. Yesterday, Myron Brilliant, Vice President of Asia in our International department, gave testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee. Brilliant highlighted how the current automobile
I had the chance today, at the convention, to watch U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue talk to Fox Business, now you can too.
It was a hot and humid day outside the Sugar Land City Hall, but a sizable crowd gathered around the bus. Pete Havel, Executive Director of the U.S. Chamber’s South Central Regional Office drove down from Dallas to open the festivities. He talked about the importance of business to America, and the
I am back in D.C. after a stint on the Bandwagon to Denver, and I am switching teams. The Bandwagon to Minneapolis officially launched today from the U.S. Chamber's headquarters at 1615 H Street.
As seen in the picture above (middle-right), Bill Miller, the U.S. Chamber’s Senior Vice President fo
We took I-10 into Texas, after the Lake Charles energy event yesterday, passing mile marker 880, the highest mile marker on the Interstate Highway System. A simple reminder coming from the East Coast of just how big Texas is. We weren’t going the whole way to El Paso though, just a hundred miles o
Amanda Ward, from KPLC 7 in Lake Charles, had this report about our Lake Charles event today:Since 1990, electricity demand has risen about 25 percent while construction of transmission lines has fallen roughly 30 percent.
"The demand for energy is growing, the demand is actually growing by 30% in
As mentioned this morning it's energy day here in Lake Charles, Louisiana for the VoteforBusiness Bandwagon. Karen Harbert spoke to a sellout crowd at the Southwest Louisiana (SWLA) Chamber about energy, stating that Louisiana should be a model for other states to emulate.
Sitting in the middle of
Lake Charles, Louisiana, is home to more than 70,000 people. Located between Houston, Texas, and New Orleans, the city is on the shore of the Calcasieu River, just 30 miles upstream from the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Charles has a lot to offer, including everything from glitzy nightclubs and casinos, to
This morning finds the VoteforBusiness Bandwagon in Lake Charles, LA. where Karen Harbert, the executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for 21st Century Energy will take the region "back to school." She's participating in a panel discussion to educate the SW Louisiana Chamber abou
At a time when our demand for energy is rising and we face outrageous prices at the pump, the need for increasing exploration of oil and gas reserves is a topic of critical importance. To advance this objective and bring more urgency to the debate, the US Chamber recently joined with other key asso
Nearly three years post-Katrina the commercial neighborhoods of New Orleans are back on their feet and teeming with life. But this morning the VoteforBusiness Bandwagon rolls out of the French Quarter and heads toward the Upper Ninth Ward - site of the storm's greatest devastation - to support Hab
We had already posted trade statistics for Georgia and Alabama on the blog, so Ian and I took a pass the last few stops, but here are the numbers for Mississippi, courtesy of TradeRoots.org.
73% of the 1,600 companies that exported goods in 2004 were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer th
Just a quick report from the Hattiesburg's Wal-Mart.
It remained a humid, hazy day here, but being from D.C., where hot and humid is the norm, we knew what to do. Crank up the A/C.
Moore Hallmark stayed outside entertaining the masses with our giveaways - ONLY available to those who registered
Moore Hallmark, Executive Director of the Chamber's South-East Regional Office introduced Senator Roger Wicker outside the Structural Steel plant in Meridian, Mississippi this morning. It was a great crowd of plant employees who took a break from the grindstone - some quite literally - to shake ha
Good morning America - remember I'm on central time here. It is an overcast, humid morning in Meridian, Mississippi - birthplace of the father of country music Jimmie Rodgers, and everyone's favorite "Sister", Sela Ward. A friend of the Chamber told us that Meridian got it's name because it was th
Last evening the U.S. Chamber’s Vote for Business Bandwagon rolled into Regions Park, home of the Birmingham Barons and site of Michael Jordan’s brief – and hapless – attempt to hit a curveball.
Unlike His Airness, we had some success today. Amidst a light rain and even lighter crowd, the Chambe
by J.P. Fielder
Over the past three days the mood has become decidedly uncertain and anxious. Geneva is nice, but how long can you really keep 30+ trade ministers, such as Ambassador Schwab, away from tasks in their home countries. But qualms over the timing of an agreement on the Doha Round pale
Word on the picturesque banks of Lake Geneva is that world trade negotiators broke a little after 10 p.m. - after starting at 3 p.m. today.
The good news? No major blow-ups or walk-outs, notably from the “advanced developing countries” (see - Brazil, India and China)
The bad news? No breakthroughs
While trade ministers working to jumpstart the Doha round face enormous hurdles this week in Geneva, it’s striking to consider how much more dignified world trade negotiations have come over the past century.
Seventy-five years ago in the London Geological Museum, world leaders failed miserably to
You have to hand it to our chief trade negotiator Ambassador Susan Schwab; in the face of increasingly protectionist headwinds at home (see Colombia TPA held in legislative purgatory on Capitol Hill) she and her staff at the US Trade Representatives office (USTR) and other U.S. government officials
In a speech before the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce today, U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue announced the Workforce Freedom Initiative. From the speech.In the past two elections, unions spent a combined $560 million to help elect anti-business candidates. That’s nearly a 50% increase fr
Some have compared this week's trade negotiations here in Geneva to a game of chicken: Which country will move first in the effort to lower global trade barriers? Well, the EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson jumped first today by offering to slash Europe's average agriculture tariffs by 60 perc
Since the end of World War II, negotiations among nations have gradually removed tariffs and other barriers to commerce, with huge benefits to the world economy. The latest round of these talks, known as the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), was launched in 2001 in Doha, Qatar and offers the opportun
The Chamber’s Director of Immigration Angelo Amador was on Capitol Hill this morning testifying about the economic importance of efficient, secure border management.
Of course the Chamber considers securing our borders a top priority, but it’s imperative to also consider the economic consequences
While much of America's attention - and that of our national media - will focus on Tuesday's Pennsylvania Primary, big news is actually developing in the Big Easy. Today, Tom Donohue joins President Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the North Ame
Earlier tonight, in New Orleans for the North American Competitiveness Council Summit, President Bush talked about trade and its benefits: (Their crowd reactions, my bold)This is an important summit. It gives three friends a chance to come together to discuss our commitment to security and prosper
I am in New Orleans this week where Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue and other members of the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) will meet with President George W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss the opportunities and ch
