A Focus on Jobs

by Brad Peck

The U.S. Chamber's number one focus is to promote policies that promise greater economic growth and more jobs. You would think given the state of the economy and unemployment that this would be something everyone could rally behind and yet we are still getting opposition in this endeavor from groups out there who are more interested in their own special interests than the good of the country.

Like a rather dim parrot the entirety of these groups’ message is the repetition of the words “CEO” and “status quo” -- but far from being the force of reaction we are the ones calling for revolutionary changes to prepare our workers and markets for the dynamic economy of the 21st century

Our small business owners are the ones calling for a productive partnership between business and government; instead we get demagoguery and class warfare against businesses.

We need real health-care reform; instead we get bills which will not bring health care costs down while increasing both health and compliance costs for America’s small business job creators.

We need a thorough and careful response to the oil spill in the Gulf to clean up the environment while protecting jobs; instead we have seen proposed policies --twice rejected by Federal court-- that will both increase our dependence on foreign oil and increase the economic damage to small businesses in the Gulf States.

We need a complete overhaul of our outdated financial regulatory system; instead we get a massive dose of regulation heaped on top of a broken foundation that will raise costs for smaller financial firms and reduce credit for small businesses.

We need policies to reduce unemployment by creating jobs; instead we see "beggar thy neighbor" trade policies which cost American jobs, inaction on trade agreements which create jobs, and a bizarre call to fund unemployment benefits by taxing the very people who create jobs.

The American people are calling on Congress to change these failed approaches; but rather than change or defend their policies they have instead are trying to pass legislation to abridge the free speech rights of anyone who would question them.

Our Strategy for New American Jobs offers a road map to greater economic growth and more jobs. We don’t care who gets the credit, we just want the jobs.  And we will work with anyone to get them.

Comments

[Nick]

As someone who has frequently opposed your positions in the past, I would like to give some feedback.

Your claim is that you're being unfairly attacked as opposing many critical policies of the day, but even in clarifications like this, your messages are mixed. Your messaging spends far more time focusing on what is the wrong thing instead of what the right thing is.

I see your link to your strategy at the bottom of this post, but it comes after a long post saying "no" to everything on the table. Additionally, you say no to the concrete solutions offered, without offering concrete solutions back. Instead, most of what I see from you guys is vague terms such as "certainty for businesses" (which is good) and "healthy credit markets" (also good). However, these terms mean nothing without concrete actions and you are saying no to everything concrete without saying what you would support.

Please start incorporating some constructive criticism of policies into your outreach. That's the kind of organization businesses need to represent them.