That Frightening Chamber

Barack said recently that the Chamber of Commerce spent half a billion dollars over the past 10 years on lobbying. He was so impressed with that number that he said it twice, for emphasis. As if to say, "in case you didn't hear me the 1st time, and as shocking as it may sound, yes, I meant it: half a billion dollars."

Now, the U.S. Chamber represents over 3 million businesses and organizations. Just doing a little math for ya, but if you take 500 million divided by 10 (for the 10 years) that's 50 million a year spent on lobbying. 50mil/3mil is 16.666, so we can estimate that the Chamber spends about $17 per member on lobbying per year.

I'd like you to take a look at another number, and I'm plunking in a pie chart courtesy Open Secrets
of the campaign expenditures for the Barack Obama 2008 campaign:

 

How about that? Half a billion doesn't even cover the cost of Barack Obama's campaign in just one year alone, 2008. His media spend alone was almost half a billion. Yes, you heard me. Nearly half... a... BILLION... dollars.  <* pause for dramatic effect *> So I guess that Barack Obama knows what he's talking about when he starts droppin' numbers out there such as half a billion dollars. Wow, that's a lot.

Now I'll grant you that the Chamber is a powerful organization. Small business, after all, drives our economy and ignoring them in times of a recession could lead to higher rates of unemployment. Seems they have been  as of late (Barack loves his union boys, whose campaign giving leans Democrat for over 95% of all dollars given) and we are experiencing severe unemployment.

Wow. Those boys are not exactly in favor of Republicans, are they? Take a look at AFSCME to see an even greater partisan bias. (In the last 20 years they have never once given more than 2% of their contributions to a Republican. ) Hmmm. You see, a small business person might be a former laborer who decided one day that, hey, this here's a free country, and maybe I'll just start my own business, or invent my own product. But once you make that jump out of the big union, or mega-corporation, you don't have a lot of sway with the government. The Chamber of Commerce represents small businesses, and while they are the number one spending lobby, they are just one organization. Large companies also spend a great deal of money, and if you were to add the top 100 corporations, they would greatly dwarf the Chamber's influence.

But let's return to Barack. These were the expenditures of one man. In one year. And he has the audacity to attack the Chamber for spending 1/10th as much money to lobby for all small businesses in America! I hope America is gradually tuning in to the sarcasm and double-speak of our current President. His campaign spent 3/4 of a billion dollars in 2008, outspending his opponent in some states over 4 to 1. And once he was elected he promptly passed legislation amounting to close to a trillion dollars, most of which has gone to benefit those who helped get him elected, and almost none of which went to help small business.

Not surprisingly, the unemployment rate is through the roof, and the dollar is a shambles. Such is the plight of the fool who ignores small business. Much like FDR, Obama seems on the course of crippling the economy, while managing to convince people he's doing the right thing. It took 15 years to pull ourselves out of the FDR pit (thanks small business), although much of that socialistic junk-law still plagues us today. How many years will we have to spend to extract ourselves from the "great programs" Obama is trying to pass?

Half a billion may be a lot spent on lobbying by the Chamber, but apparently it is not enough. I don't see them being able to take over all major media outlets during prime time, or buy a 24/7 TV channel full of infomercial propaganda. No, it seems half a billion is not nearly enough.