Why does the US Chamber of Commerce hate employees?

by: Clem Guttata

Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 04:33:46 AM EST

The US Chamber of Commerce apparently wants to have it both ways-- blocking any national solution to the health care crisis while tying the hands of state governments to solve the problem as well.
The Chamber recently announced its health care agenda for 2008. While it touts "providing health care and retirement security for every American", the Chamber promotes health savings accounts and consumer-driven health care, all favorites of the Right's anti-family health care agenda, but also rails against a Washington solution to the health care crisis.  At the same time, however, the Chamber wants to preserve "the ERISA preemption" of state health care laws, standards often cited to beat back state laws regulating health care benefits and requiring employers to pay their fair share of employee health care costs. As the decision upholding the San Francisco employer responsibility measure under ERISA shows, the Chamber is likely to lose that legal shield, but their hypocrisy in opposing federal solutions while depending on federal law to block state reforms reflects their opportunistic hypocrisy on the health care issue.