Free Republic

Tax documents for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and for a major foundation funded by leftist billionaire George Soros show the organization that purports to represent the U.S. business community has turned hard left in recent years.The Tides Foundation’s public filings from 2018 to 2022 show the Soros-funded organization has given more than $12 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation over that five-year span. In 2018, the Tides Foundation gave the Chamber’s foundation $450,000. In 2019, Tides gave the Chamber group $1,450,000. It gave another $100,000 in 2020, followed by $10 million in 2021 and another $175,885...

That's why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it.“

The nation’s most influential business lobby urged President-elect Donald Trump on Monday to take a “balanced” approach to immigration and to expand international trade, two areas where the Republican has promised to upend traditional party orthodoxy. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce told Mr. Trump that U.S. companies need to attract immigrants to grow.

I am hearing some support for Donald Trump coming from fellow travelers — tea partiers, constitutional conservatives, and even a few libertarians — in my grassroots community. So I have to ask: What's up with that? At a superficial level, I get it. I get the economic anxiety and a belief, completely justified, that insiders in Washington, D.C. are really all about themselves, not the rest of us. I also get the profound political paradigm shift that is taking control from party bosses and shifting it back to the voters and activists that participate in the political process. This democratization...

Some of the largest and most influential trade unions in the country are calling out Democrats for boosting guest worker programs and open borders policies. North America's Building Trades Unions--an umbrella organization representing three million workers and 15 major unions, including the Laborers and Teamsters--sent outgoing Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.) a letter Thursday accusing her of selling out workers by importing foreigners to work for "Close to Slavery" wages. Mikulski pushed for increasing the number of temporary H2B visas that allow companies to bring guest workers to the United States to fill seasonal jobs. "We wanted to express to...

CVS Health is leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, saying the trade group’s position on tobacco products is incompatible with CVS’ focus on health. The Chamber of Commerce said its position on tobacco products is being misinterpreted and it’s unfortunate that a company is leaving the organization over the issue. A New York Times article published June 30 said the Chamber of Commerce is fighting anti-smoking laws around the world at the behest of the tobacco industry, which is facing increased regulation aimed at reducing smoking. …

Rob Engstrom, the US Chamber of Commerce's national political director, recently told a gathering of trade association executives that the Chamber planned to endorse Louisiana Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu in her reelection bid this year. The endorsement, reported by the New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, could decide the balance of power in the Senate and preserve Sen. Harry Reid as majority leader. Landrieu, running in crimson-red Louisiana, is one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection this November. In the RealClearPolitics average of polls, she trails her leading Republican challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy, by one point. An endorsement...

In my years working in the computer industry I have encountered many workers on H-1B visas. The most highly skilled among them were of average skill. On H-1B labor condition applications, employers using skills-based prevailing wage claims classified 56 percent of the H-1B workers at the lowest skill level (of four). For those not familiar with the industry, this creates an apparent contradiction. Why do employers crave below-average workers?

Politics: President Obama has doubled down in his attack on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, continuing to call its ads foreign-funded. His charges are false and he knows it. If this isn't beneath his office, what is? One needs to look hard to find any head of a major democracy as openly at war with his country's Chamber of Commerce as Obama is. His charge that the Chamber's $75 million ad campaign ahead of elections is funded by foreign sources is both false and an unprecedented smear, an accusation of a crime. It's deeply disappointing coming from a country's elected...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched a new television advertisement attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown. The 30-second spot targets Brown's performance as state attorney general, suggesting his office's approach to enforcing state regulations has driven jobs out of the state.

America's borders -- land, sea and air -- are our primary ports of entry for billions of dollars in goods and services, along with millions of tourists, business visitors, workers, and other foreign nationals who contribute to our national economy. The events of September 11 also indicate that some have used our borders as an entryway for these evil and malicious attacks. As a result, many have called for increased checks and "tightening" of our borders. While such proposals are understandable, and improvements are clearly needed, difficult questions remain about the potential severe impact to our economy of any improperly...

Sometimes, silence is golden. Silence should be the American policy as Iran takes the first steps toward becoming a member of the World Trade Organization. Next month, when the WTO reviews Iran’s request to have its membership application considered, the Bush Administration should not raise any objections. Considering our history of conflict with Iran, keeping mum on its WTO application might appear, on first thought, to be an unnatural reaction. But having Iran join the WTO waiting list is in the best interests of the United States, the global community, and Iran. How does the U.S. benefit from Iran’s WTO...