May 7, 2021

From Our Archives, the US Chamber of Commerce Is Not Your Friend

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Each Friday, we bring you an article from our archive to propel you into the weekend.

Well, looks like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went ahead and did my job of pulling something from the Mother Jones archive to dig into. After a new jobs report indicated somewhat weak growth, the US Chamber of Commerce pulled out its austerity klaxon and called for the end of unemployment benefits. The argument is that the $300 a week is making people lazy. They won’t go back to work. AOC tweeted that the real problem is that many businesses still do not “actually pay a living wage.” And then she included our old article on the US Chamber of Commerce.

So, yes, you should go read our story from 2010 on the group. It outlines how the group parades as the arbiter of Main Street while cashing out for the most elite of businesses. As the Chamber moves to stop UI, it is relevant.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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