US Chamber Of Commerce Looking For An Economist To Sell B.S.

12:57 am EST November 16th, 2009 | News | 4 Comments

This is the right’s modus operandi, it’s just unusual that they get caught before the “research” is plastered on the front pages and on Fox News.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an assortment of national business groups opposed to President Obama’s health-care reform effort are collecting money to finance an economic study that could be used to portray the legislation as a job killer and threat to the nation’s economy, according to an e-mail solicitation from a top Chamber official.

The e-mail, written by the Chamber’s senior health policy manager and obtained by The Washington Post, proposes spending $50,000 to hire a ‘respected economist’ to study the impact of health-care legislation, which is expected to come to the Senate floor this week, would have on jobs and the economy.

Step two, according to the e-mail, appears to assume the outcome of the economic review: ‘The economist will then circulate a sign-on letter to hundreds of other economists saying that the bill will kill jobs and hurt the economy. We will then be able to use this open letter to produce advertisements, and as a powerful lobbying and grass-roots document.’

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4 Responses to “US Chamber Of Commerce Looking For An Economist To Sell B.S.”

  1. Dennis says:
    November 16, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    Hmm, I wonder if the US Chamber of Commerce paid the 50 Grand to ABC News.

    ABC News Exclusive: Obama Admin Slashed 60,000 Jobs From Recent Stimulus Report

    he Obama administration, under fire for inflating job growth from the $787 billion stimulus plan, slashed over 60,000 jobs from its most recent report on the program because the reporting outlets had submitted “unrealistic data,” according to a document obtained by ABC News.

    The Office of Management and Budget document shows that before an Oct. 30 progress report on the program the administration asked the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to remove information from 12 stimulus recipients that contained “unrealistic data,” including “unrealistic job data.” (Read the document here.)

    One recipient – Talladega County of Alabama – claimed that 5,000 jobs had been saved or created from only $42,000 in stimulus funds.

    Hope and Change.

    And Transparency.

    The Truth Gone Rogue.

  2. Sean D. Martin says:
    November 16, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    In other words: “Look, look over there. Look what he did over there. Thataway.”

    Which was, BTW, to remove data that was unrealistic and thereby LOWER the estimates of job growth. That is, over there Obama’s administration provided more accurate info even though it was less supporting of their cause.

    Meanwhile, over here, Dennis avoids any comment on whether the Chamber of Commerce is trying to cook the books.

  3. Sean D. Martin says:
    November 16, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    From the link Dennis provided:

    “The administration committed from the start to be upfront with the American people about the impact of the Recovery Act. Overall, the recipients provided good information on the impact of the Recovery Act across the country,” Rob Nabors, deputy director at OMB, told ABC News Monday. “The test that we used when examining the data for accuracy was, ‘Is that reasonable?’ When the answer was no, we acted accordingly.”

    Sure you’re not actually Farris posting as Dennis?

  4. Duros62 says:
    November 16, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    “US Chamber Of Commerce Looking For An Economist To Sell B.S.”

    What, Ben Stein is busy?