(Originally published on September 28, 2009)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s opposition to climate-change legislation has cost it another member. Exelon, one of the biggest utilities in the U.S., said this morning it will leave the business lobby because of the latter’s increasingly strident opposition to climate legislation.

(Originally published on May 25, 2011)

Apple is the latest corporation to exit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, citing its opposition to climate change legislation.

(Originally published on November 30, 2009)

Nike will step down from its position on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's board of directors, reports Politico.

The company will not, however, drop its membership in the chamber entirely, saying that it plans to "advocate for climate change legislation" from within the organization.

Answer: Both aren't above killing people to attain their goals.

(Originally published on December 7, 2010)

Local chambers are angry with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its aggressive ad campaign to elect Republicans in the midterms, with some groups taking the radical step of officially ending their affiliation with the national chamber, Politico's Jeanne Cummings reports. The $75 million push for GOP candidates was a sharp contrast to the traditional bipartisan approach of the U.S. Chamber.

In 1971, Lewis Powell, a well-connected corporate lawyer, wrote a confidential memo to an official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The American economic system is under broad attack,” Powell warned, by everyone from “New Leftists and other revolutionaries” to academics, the media, and politicians. It was time for the right, and the Chamber itself, to fight back.

What if there was a really smart, knowledgeable, innovative guy who had dreams of curing cancer or writing a bestselling novel or recording an acclaimed album, but couldn't do any of the above because of a crippling cocaine addiction? Similarly, Congress' deadly addiction to corporate cash is the main reason Washington is unable to solve the myriad problems affecting our economy, environment and politics. If only we could help Congress kick the habit, our government could work for us again.

As lawmakers pushed a bill to tighten U.S. security standards on chemical factories, fertilizer depots and water-treatment plants in 2009, they faced a formidable opponent: the U.S. business community.

An unsettling trend appears to be underway in Arizona: the use of private prison employees in law enforcement operations.

The state has graced national headlines in recent years as the result of its cozy relationship with the for-profit prison industry. Such controversies have included the role of private prison corporations in SB 1070 and similar anti-immigrant legislation disseminated in other states; a 2010 private prison escape that resulted in two murders and a nationwide manhunt; and a failed bid to privatize nearly the entire Arizona prison system.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday called a proposal to repeal tax breaks for five major oil and gas companies "misguided" and said that such a move could result in higher energy prices. The Chamber of Commerce's objection helps to solidify Senate Republican opposition to the bill. In a letter sent to members of the U.S.