I’ve said it before, but this quote floored me. Never expected this much transparency from one of the world’s most opaque organizations, the US Chamber of Commerce.
From the Washington Monthly:
[A] large part of what the Chamber sells is political cover. For multibillion-dollar insurers, drug makers, and medical device manufacturers who are too smart and image conscious to make public attacks of their own, the Chamber of Commerce is a friend who will do the dirty work. ‘I want to give them all the deniability they need,’ says Tom Donahue, the US Chambers President. That deniability is evidently worth a lot. According to a January article in the National Journal, six insurers alone—Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, UnitedHealth Group, and Wellpoint—pumped up to $20 million into the Chamber last year.
So what can we do? Support the business organization that’s committed to justice, equity and sustainability, American Sustainable Business Council.
Amazing that the business news cycle passed without this getting magnified. Right under our noses. Guessing the election had something to do with burying this, and in fact, I’m wondering if the timing was intentional.