The context, in the end, remains that the Chamber is either too extreme or out of touch -- certainly for a economy where health care costs are crippling companies, CEOs have environmental consciences, and the president remains resoundingly more popular than the titans of Wall Street. Recounting a conversation she had with the Chamber's president, Tom Donohue, when he first mentioned the organization's free enterprise campaign several months ago, Jarrett summed up the friction succinctly.
"He came in and we chatted and he said, 'I think that, for example, your financial regulatory reform might have a chilling effect on business growth.' So I said well you supported the Recovery Act, yes. You support the federal taxpayer subsidy going to the banks, yes. You supported the subsidy going to the auto industry, yes. So now suddenly you want the free market system? I couldn't reconcile those two positions."
"He said, 'Well, I don't think we need those checks and balances.' And I said, 'Yes you do, we have concrete evidence that you do because without them the taxpayers ended up carrying the burden.'"
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