From USA Today:
Liberal groups are slamming President Obama for speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce later this morning, and one progressive group says he must challenge business leaders to support his agenda for investing in infrastructure and innovation.
The Agenda Project, which describes itself as a "New York-based public policy organization," said Obama shouldn't even be meeting with Chamber officials.
"The Chamber claims to speak for American business, but half of the Chamber's budget is paid for by 45 big corporations. The President is well aware that the Chamber is in actuality just a high priced lobbyist for a small number of corporations. I hardly think the President will restore our faith in government by fawning over the banks at the center of the financial crisis, oil companies like BP who destroyed the Gulf and insurance companies who secretly funneled $10 million through the Chamber to fight insurance reform," said group founder Erica Payne.
Discussion of the pre-emptive strike after the jump.
Nothing wrong with pointing out that the US Chamber is a group that claims (falsely) to speak for America's entire business community. Nothing wrong with pointing out the US Chamber's hypocrisy and its tendency to speak for big business without truly supporting pro-market, pro-jobs policies.
It's an open question whether or not using terms like "white flag of surrender" are helpful, or if it makes sense to criticize a speech before it's given. The benefits are that you get to stay ahead of the news cycle. The drawback is that, if you are inaccurate in your criticism, you are likely to appear less credible, more reactive, and less reliable.
I think the US Chamber of Commerce deserves a lion's share of blame for the political mess we're in today. Their "corporations are people too" approach makes me physically ill. Their "profits before people" policies are destroying the fabric of our American tapestry and creating a self-destructive pattern of globalization and policies that kill people, not just jobs. (And they kill jobs too.)
I'm not a big fan of the "Obama eats with sinners" style of attacks. I didn't agree with guilt-by-association attacks in the 2008 primaries and I still don't like them today.
I found Obama's message today to be significant, important, clear, direct, and collaborative. Rich white people are going to be a key part of the success or failure of the American experiment, and the US Chamber consists of a large majority of rich white people.
I think Obama spoke sympathetically to the challenges facing big business in America today, but did so without pandering or overlooking the competitive advantages that US Chamber members have over the rest of us.
Update 2:15 PM CST: Fabulous discussion on outsourcing in this diary regarding the launch of the Boeing 787. Outsourcing can frequently substitute expediency, wage deflation, and regulatory avoidance for real productivity gains or quality improvements.