The following editorial from the Ocala Star Banner last weekend is a reminder that The Miami Herald really, really neglects points of view that are critical of the Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries. These two lobbying groups may be formed of many well-meaning and civic-minded individuals, but their leadership is misguided. Putting it mildly. Here's a thumbs up, for The Ocala Star-Banner. Herald, are you paying attention?
OTHER VOICES
Chamber's ‘Six Pillars' not what you think
By Bruce Seaman
Special to the Star-Banner
Published: Sunday, July 3, 2011
Much of the damaging legislation approved by the Florida Legislature is due to lobbying by the Florida Chamber of Commerce. The local "Awake the State" effort joins statewide partners in exposing the Florida Chamber as nothing more than the lobbying arm for Big Business interests with scant interest in local communities or businesses.
Awake the State began as a series of rallies on March 8, the start of the Florida Legislative session, and involved over 10,000 participants at over 30 locations statewide. The work to challenge the "anti-middle class, anti-local community" agenda continues among concerned residents of Marion County.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce claims to be a "grassroots organization" representing local chambers and their small-business members. An agenda in dogged pursuit of teacher merit pay, union gag rules and a public worker pension/payroll tax has nothing to do with helping "Main Street" businesses. It's pure political hack-work to give power and profits to its masters, big multi-state and multi-national corporations.
Few local businesses realize that the pension tax alone affects 10,000 local paychecks, erasing far more than $10 million in wages, just in Marion County. Local jobs will be lost in the process. These taxed public employees are the customers of local businesses who count on their purchasing power.
These middle-class families might have contracted a home improvement, bought a better car, dined out once in a while, or made other optional expenditures, but now, less $50, $100 or more per month in pay, they'll cancel such plans and guard what funds remain. Next year, the Chamber may want more.
This is money taken from our community. It won't create jobs or help the local economy. And that's just one example. Quite simply, "Main Street" businesses are being hurt by the Florida Chamber's legislative agenda for Big Business.
Do local businesses realize that their membership in the Ocala-Marion Chamber of Commerce is used by the Florida Chamber to justify an agenda that actually hurts their businesses and customers, and reflects no appreciation of the local community?
The Florida Chamber promotes its "Six Pillars" as an economic development strategy. In fact, it's a scandalous disguise for its purely political agenda. For example, its 2011 Legislative Summary interprets . . .
-- "Infrastructure and Growth Leadership" to mean ending decades of common-sense growth planning, concurrency requirements for developers and needed environmental oversight.
-- "Business Climate and Competitiveness" to mean gagging public employee unions, cutting unemployment benefits, doling out more corporate tax breaks, freeing property insurers to skyrocket rates and ending corporate income taxes so residents and communities can have key services slashed.
-- "Civic and Governance Systems" to mean taxing public employees unnecessarily for a pension system that's among the best in the U.S. and not "broken" as fraudulently claimed, plus squelching resident ballot initiatives while the Legislature freely manipulates ballots with a politically motivated referenda.
-- "Quality of Life and Quality Places" to mean privatizing Medicaid so that the poor can be exploited and denied services by profit-taking HMOs.
This is no "Main Street" community agenda, just political cover for exploitation.
Awake the State challenges local chambers to end their tacit support of the Florida Chamber. This challenge was made to the Ocala-Marion County Chamber of Commerce and rejected. One must conclude that the Ocala-Marion Chamber is fully supportive of the Florida Chamber and its agenda damaging local communities, however inexplicable and self-defeating such misplaced allegiance may be.
Did the Ocala-Marion County Chamber forget that local consumers are key to many member businesses and the local economy? Awake the State is asking those victimized and aggrieved by Chamber-supported legislation whether they should continue supporting businesses that approve of hurting their families and communities. Customers should ask if a local business is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. If so, they may want to do business elsewhere.
Awake the State activists seek to inform residents about the grave harm being caused by the Florida Chamber and the tacit endorsement of their anti-community agenda by the Ocala-Marion Chamber.
The primary focus is on the Florida Chamber. However, since the Ocala-Marion Chamber feels it's more important to support the Florida Chamber than local businesses and the local community, so be it. That's their choice. For honesty's sake, they ought to change their name to "Florida Chamber of Commerce-Ocala office" so that their allegiance is unambiguous.
Bruce Seaman is the coordinator for Awake the State — Ocala/Marion.
4 comments:
Google, "florida chamber resigns" and you will see a whole slew of local Chamber directors who have either resigned or been ousted. One because the local board did not like all the campaign signs seen in the yard and on the building of the local chamber office.
Also, one of the FL Chamber's partners in crime, Associated Industries of Florida, recently ousted their long-time Director, Barney Bishop.
Any truth to the rumor that AIF's ousted director, Barney Bishop was offered a high-level position at FP&L?
I called over at AIF-- Barney Bishop is still there.
Finally, a newspaper willing to tell it like it is about the chamber. They are a nasty bunch supported by clueless small business owners and big ones like FPL who get the spoils. I wish all business owners woud leave the chamber. I never joined because I could see what they are doing. I sure did not want my dues or name to be used to support bad politicians and legislation.
Come on major papers, do an investigation!
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