Chamber of Commerce Muzzled

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Monika Bauerlein,
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The backlash continues against the Chamber of Commerce’s right-wing smear campaigns. Late last month, leaders of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said they would not be participating in the US Chamber’s $50 million campaign to unseat members of Congress who supported health reform. “We get nowhere by fighting with our guys,” San Antonio Chamber president Richard Perez told the San Antonio Express-News. “They have been very good to us.” And today, the LA Times reports that the California Chamber of Commerce is pulling a TV ad against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown after four members of its board complained that “this is nothing more than a typical political attack ad.”

Meanwhile, the US Chamber has launched a quixotic advertising campaign urging businesses to join “America’s most powerful grassroots force.” As recent events make clear, it’d more accurately read, “America’s most powerful corporate astroturfer.”