The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is every working person's worst nightmare. Its lobbyists have been working around the clock for years to screw the average working person. And it just so happens that its sleazeball lobbyists have actually been consulting with the White House and Paulson over how to craft the bailout bill:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aihGl_Boz2eM&refer=home
Lobbyists Sprint in Round-the-Clock Race to Shape Rescue Plan
Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- (snip)
``I'm doing Blackberry or on the phone until 11:30 p.m. or midnight,'' said Bruce Josten, top lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ``This has got to be the single biggest seat-of- the-pants exercise I've ever been in.''
(snip)
The starting gun fired the afternoon of Sept. 19. In a conference call with White House officials, business lobbyists were briefed on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposal to spend as much as $700 billion to relieve financial companies of bad debt, Josten said. On the call, Josten raised objections to provisions rumored to be in the package, such as changing bankruptcy laws to help homeowners who can't afford their mortgage payments.
Tell me again why it was a tragedy the bill failed today?