K Street Files: Beware the Chamber
| March 23, 2009 |
| Roll Call |
| Anna Palmer and T.R. Goldman |
| The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the most powerful trade groups in the country, is ramping up its grass-roots efforts so it can go head-to-head against President Barack Obama's vast campaign network. The chamber, which opposes Obama's budget, started a massive grass-roots and grass-tops lobbying campaign Friday. The trade association reached out to its Friends of the U.S. chamber network, asking them to get involved. In its first day, about 5,000 individuals contacted Capitol Hill noting their opposition to the budget, according to Bill Miller, senior vice president at the chamber. The group's action is in response to Obama's decision to mobilize his extensive network of grass-roots support from the presidential campaign. "It is clear that this budget is threatening to our members of all sizes," Miller said in a media conference call Friday. "The reaction we have gotten as we talk to chambers, company members, individuals, and small businesses is they want to engage on this issue.' The group isn't stopping there. The chamber intends to press lawmakers as they go back into their Congressional districts, according to Miller. The issue has also breathed new life into the LIFO Coalition, a group of about 50 trade organizations that banded together to fight the repeal of the last-in, first-out method of accounting for inventory costs, according to Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the chamber. The chamber is keeping a watchful eye on its competition. "It will be an interesting test whether you can transform what worked so very effectively in a campaign," Josten said. |
