Schumer rips Chamber of Commerce

DSCC Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) came out swinging Wednesday against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, saying the business lobby was no longer nonpartisan and “has turned into a wing” of the GOP. 

In a press conference at Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) headquarters, Schumer said the path and pattern of the contributions indicate that the Chamber is afraid of the Democrats winning the critical Senate threshold of 60 seats — a goal he said is within reach now more than ever.

{mosads}A Chamber official refuted the accusation, firing back by defending the group’s “pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda” and support for candidates of both parties.

Democrats already have 51 seats in the Senate, and Schumer said the party’s candidate is significantly ahead in five races and even in seven others — meaning a 63-seat majority is possible in 2009.

The Chamber’s contributions have come almost wholly in Senate races, Schumer said, not House elections or the presidential race. The sole exception to the Republican favoritism, he argued, was donations in Louisiana, where Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu is seeking reelection.

Schumer distributed a chart showing the Chamber has donated $16.28 million to Republican candidates this election cycle, and only $329,000 to Democrats. The ads funded by the contributions have all come in 2008, said DSCC spokesman Matt Miller, and have included Chamber affiliates like the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and the Employee Free Action Committee.

Schumer said the Chamber is “supposed to be nonpartisan, and they’ve turned themselves into a wing of the NRSC [National Republican Senatorial Committee]. They’re running attack ads on issues unrelated to the issues the Chamber stands for, they’re taking partisan stands, and their ads almost dovetail with the campaign ads of the NRSC — in some cases, they use the exact same slogan.”

Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s executive vice president of government affairs, responded with an extensive statement that said it was Schumer who was choosing partisanship.

"It's a shame that Sen. Schumer would try to turn our pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda into a partisan issue for his campaign purposes — especially at a time when our nation needs leadership and unity in Washington,” Josten said.

“Last week was a clear example of how the U.S. Chamber, representing over 3 million businesses of all sizes, worked with both Democrats and Republicans to pass the rescue legislation and take an important step toward getting our economy back on track. It's clear that for some that spirit of bipartisanship was quickly lost,” he added.

Representatives for the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and the Employee Free Action Committee also rejected Schumer’s statements.

“We have absolutely no affiliation with the Chamber of Commerce and have received no money from them,” said EFAC spokesman Tim Miller. “For Sen. Schumer to criticize any institution for partisanship, when the DSCC has received so much contributions from labor unions and has pushed legislation as payback to the labor unions, really makes his claim rather comical.”

Rhonda Bentz, spokeswoman for the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, said her organization and the Chamber of Commerce are simply co-members of a coalition that is working to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act.

“We’re focused on this one issue and defeating the Act, but that’s the only focus of this coalition,” Bentz said. “We are waging a massive public information campaign in key states, but that’s our only focus. The Chamber is a member, but there are many members.”

Schumer specifically blamed the Wisconsin Right to Life decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last year — a ruling in which the court said issue-based ads were allowed within 60 days of a general election. That decision “changed the rules” and allowed little-known special interest groups to funnel undisclosed amounts of money into political advertising, the senator said.

“The justices should be embarrassed of this decision,” Schumer stated.

(Click here to download a PDF chart detailing Chamber of Commerce donations)