In 2009 Roy Beck of NumbersUSA.com questioned the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as to whether, if we had another Great Depression, they would continue to lobby for more foreign workers, using the excuse that there was a shortage of American workers. He found that yes, they would. Now, over five years later, here we are with an unemployment rate of over 5 percent. Have they repented and reversed their stance in the slightest? The answer is “no.” Since 1998 they’ve spent $650 million on federal lobbying, more than any organization, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Part of that lobbying, as stated on their website, is that they “strongly oppose legislation that cripples the current worker visa systems and fails to include a mechanism that would ensure businesses’ ongoing access to immigrant workers to fill jobs in response to labor market need.” I ask you, are they really paying attention to — or do they care one iota about — not just our country’s “labor market needs,” but our country? If they did it would take them no more than a nanosecond to realize that it’s Americans who are in need of employment. Their view is this: You can never get enough cheap labor and you can never get it cheap enough. They’re pushing us to the bottom — a lowered standard of living for all of us. In short, the position of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is all about greed. Their position is treasonous.

 

Paul Westrum 

Albert Lea