Steven Perlstein's op/ed in today's WaPo, "U.S. Chamber of Commerce Reaping the Whirlwind," nails the cheese balls at the Chamber, starting with its head(cheese) Tom Donohue. Saying "the world is finally catching on to his game" of anti-tax, anti-regulation, anti-government Rethug rhetoric, Perlstein reviews Donohue's / the Chamber's pattern of disingenuousness on health reform, climate change, financial market reform, etc., as they work hand-in-glove with the Rethugs. While one shouldn't be surprised that the Chamber and Donohue love them some Rethugs, the worrisome thing is the tactics being employed - more of the same fear-mongering and false information that characterizes other Rethug operations (the NRA, astroturfing tea baggers, the birthers and deathers, etc. etc.).
You don't necessarily expect that from an institution like the Chamber. Conservative positions, yes; outright lying and distortions, no. The lying has even come into the Chamber's own self-puffery. Perlstein (and others) note that the Chamber's claim of 3 million members is wildly exaggerated - it's actually 300,000. And many of those members aren't eager to be associated with the Chamber's reactionary world view (witness the recent defections of Apple, Nike and PG&E over the Chamber's climate change position). Yet another Rethug disinformation operation that needs some daylight shed into its operations and tactics.
