Had a Tea Party person throw this one at me. I am running for a seat on the City Council and have been associated with the local Chamber of Commerce for years. While I am a conservative Republican, I am up against a Democrat, a Tea Partier, and a guy who claims to be a Conservative Republican, but who we have on good report voted for Obama, twice.
Anyway, the accuser was quite vexed when I pointed out that the local Chamber of Commerce has absolutely no affiliation with the national Chamber of Commerce. His mouth silently opened and closed like a codfish a few times and he turned and walked away.
Seems the local Tea Party has ginned up opposition to the local Chamber based on the stupid positions the national chamber occasionally takes. Forget that the vast majority of the members of the local chamber are conservative Republicans.
Idiots.
“Anyway, the accuser was quite vexed when I pointed out that the local Chamber of Commerce has absolutely no affiliation with the national Chamber of Commerce.”
To say “the local Chamber of Commerce has absolutely no affiliation with the national Chamber of Commerce” is inaccurate and false in many cases. Each local Chamber of Commerce decides whether or not it chooses to affiliate itself with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by seeking membership and accreditation with that organization.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says:
About the U.S. Chamber
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions. Our members range from mom-and-pop shops and local chambers to leading industry associations and large corporations. They all share one thing in common—they count on the Chamber to be their voice in Washington, D.C.
https://www.uschamber.com/about-us/about-us-chamber
Join the Chamber
Chamber Online Membership Application
Membership Levels for Local and State Chambers of Commerce
https://www.uschamber.com/chambers/join
So it can be seen that any local Chamber of Commerce can and they often do affiliate themselves with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by becoming members of that organization.
It may be an appropriate time to persuade each local Chamber of Commerce it is time to withdraw their membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce until such time as the attacks upon the TEA Party, its members, and its political planks are ceased or reversed to support.
I would suggest that the local COC’s make it perfectly clear they do not approve of the National COC’s sellout, otherwise based on name alone they will be lumped in with the fascist at the national level.