Salon: How the Chamber of Commerce Became Toxic

Rep. Kerry Bentivolio is a freshman House Republican who’s facing a primary challenger on Aug. 5. Yesterday afternoon, he pulled what some might call a “campaign stunt.” He returned, and made a big fuss about returning, a Chamber of Commerce “Spirit of Enterprise” award given by the top business lobby earlier this year. Not that it’s much of an award — the Chamber gave them to 205 members this year, and Bentivolio got one even though the Chamber has endorsed his primary opponent.

Bentivolio announced that “it is with great pride that I reject their award, and call on them to stand on the side of America, instead of on the side of China and corporate interests seeking to exploit people for profit.” His chief of staff was even more efficient: “The US Chamber is in the pocket of Communist China and big companies seeking cheap labor in the United States.” Bentivolio, according to the Washington Post, also “criticized the Chamber for supporting the comprehensive immigration bill that passed the Senate last year.”

Invocations of “Communist China” are a time-tested sign that a close election is down the home stretch. What’s newer, though, is the toxicity of the Chamber of Commerce, one of the GOP’s most traditionally loyal allies.

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