 |
Eliot Spitzer, the Chamber of Commerce, and 'libertarian'
By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
10/15/09 1:11 PM EDT
Eliot Spitzer, who lost his job as governor of New York because he cheated on his wife with a high-priced prostitute, has a column in Slate, despite not providing any new facts, original thoughts, or compelling arguments (you see, you can criticize Spitzer now without fear of the State coming after you).
In this week's column, attacking the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Spitzer makes this claim, "The chamber remains an unabashed voice for the libertarian worldview that caused the most catastrophic economic meltdown since the Great Depression.'
Let's set aside arguments about the meltdown and concentrate on Spitzer's claim that the "chamber remains an unabashed voice for the libertarian worldview."
Now, let's compare that to the Chamber's actual lobbying record. The Chamber lobbied for the Great Wall Street Bailout, lobbied for the $787 billion stimulus bill, and supported a bigger Cash-for-Clunkers.
The Chamber is pro-business, not pro-liberty, which is fine. You just need to understand that by their definition of "pro-business," Barney Frank is better than Ron Paul, and Jim DeMint is the worst Senator.
[I first saw this Spitzer piece and some of these posts at Reason.com's excellent "Hit & Run" blog, but before I link to the post, be warned, it's not work-suitable. Here it is.]
Follow The Examiner
