Yesterday, R. Bruce Josten, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official, penned an op-ed in the Onion the Hill newspaper, ostensibly attempting to salvage what's left of the U.S. Chamber's fading credibility on health care reform.
To read Josten's article first requires an athletic suspension of disbelief. That's because his thesis is built around this bold, history-revising statement:
For nearly two years, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been working with members of Congress on a bipartisan basis to develop reform legislation that will lower the skyrocketing cost of care, improve quality and expand access to more Americans.
Josten continues in his defense of the Chamber's actions, with what sounds to us like, I know it seems like we're against meaningful reform, and that we're profiting off the status quo, but we're not! You can pass reforms, so long as it's on our own terms.
Lucky for us, we have a little time machine called the INTERNET.
To read Josten's take on it, the U.S. Chamber sounds like a well-meaning peace broker for health reform. Kind of like Jimmy Carter and the Camp David Accords. But to believe that would be to ignore the Chamber's own public statements of intent in the media this past summer. Reports the Associated Press:
"A chamber vice president, Randy Johnson, told The Associated Press that business groups have been largely restrained to date about voicing opposition, but it might be time for that to change. ... "I would say it's time to unload the powder and fill the musket," Johnson said. [Associated Press, 6/11/2009]
Mr. Josten, at what point in a good-faith negotiation do you start talking about gun powder and muskets? Does the gun part happen before or after you pledge to find common ground with your opponents?
The U.S. Chamber's "musket and gun powder" campaign involved the works--a never-before-seen, multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed entirely at killing reform. The U.S. Chamber spent, according the National Journal, somewhere between $70 to $100 million on advertising alone. They also acted as a kind of legal money-launderer for health insurers, who were too radioactive to fund their own attack ads. Insurers funneled between $10 to $20 million dollars for television ads through the Chamber.
And in the fall, the U.S. Chamber was caught fishing around for an economist who'd accept $50,000 to say that health reform was bad for the economy. No word on what ever happened to that inquiry.
And finally, let's not forget the U.S. Chamber's long, illustrious history in opposing reforms of any kind, in favor of that pesky-but-profitable status quo.
- The U.S. Chamber opposed the creation of Social Security in 1935, then sought to delay it from going into effect as Americans were in the midst of the Great Depression.
- The U.S. Chamber opposed now-essential health and safety regulations for American workplaces.
- The U.S. Chamber opposed equal pay laws for American women.
- The U.S. Chamber opposed the establishment of a fair, minimum wage for American workers.
- The U.S. Chamber defended outsourcing jobs to foreign lands, on the backs of American workers and our nation's economy
- The U.S. Chamber opposed President Harry Truman's attempt to provide health insurance to all Americans in 1947.
After railing against special interest groups (are we in the twilight zone here?) and backroom deals (whereas the U.S. Chamber is a beacon of transparency and trust), Josten concludes with this doozy:
It's time for everyone to come back to the table and work on a healthcare reform package that's good for families, good for businesses and good for America.
No word yet on whether Josten will be bringing the Chamber's musket to that meeting.
