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SW: →The Chamber and large corporations: - add section
==The Chamber and large corporations==
The Chamber claims to represent 3 million businesses, 96 percent of which are small, defined as having fewer than 100 employees. But the Chamber arrives at this figure by counting all businesses that are members of state and local chambers, which are independent organizations that pay a few hundreds dollars a year to affiliate with the U.S. Chamber for discounts and other programs and have no say over the national group's political activities, its lobbying, or endorsements. The U.S. Chamber's membership is actually about 300,000 businesses, and the Chamber's boardroom is mostly representatives of large corporations. Its 125-member board includes representatives of just two local chambers and a handful of small businesses. The rest are primarily from large corporations, like [[Pfizer]], [[Alcoa]], and [[JP Morgan Chase]]. In 2008, one-third of the $147 million the group raised came from just 19 companies. (Exactly which companies is unknown. U. S. law requires the Chamber to list amounts given on its annual tax return, but it is not obligated to disclose names.)<ref name=sm>Stacy Mitchell, [http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/will-the-real-voice-of-small-business-please-stand-up "Will the Real Voice of Small Business Please Stand Up?"] Yes! Nov. 2, 2010.</ref> In 2010, U.S. ChamberWatch used one of the last disclosure laws still in existence and asked to see The Chamber's [[IRS 990]] form. It showed that 55 percent of its funding came from just 16 companies, each of which gave more than a million dollars.<ref>Bill McKibben, [http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-22-the-u.s.-chamber-of-commerce-darkens-the-skies "The Chamber of Commerce is darkening our skies"] Grist, Feb. 22, 2011.</ref> (Exactly which companies is unknown. U. S. law requires the Chamber to list amounts given on its annual tax return, but it is not obligated to disclose names.)<ref name=sm/>
In 2010, chambers in San Antonio, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut began publicly moving away from the U.S. Chamber, disavowing the 2010 political attack ads that the U.S. Chamber had been broadcasting in their communities. Newer chambers, like the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, have declined to affiliate with the national group and have been among its most vocal critics: "They get the majority of their funding from big businesses. That's who drives their decisions," explains Executive Director Frank Knapp, noting that, unlike the U. S. Chamber, his group supported the health care bill and financial reform, and favors legislation to curb [[global warming]].<ref name=sm/>
