The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is building a large-scale grass-roots political operation that has begun to rival those of the major political parties, funded by record-setting amounts of money raised from corporations and wealthy individuals.
The chamber has signed up some 6 million individuals who are not chamber members and has begun asking them to help with lobbying and, soon, with get-out-the-vote efforts in upcoming congressional campaigns.
See the link to the Friends of the U.S. Chamber
Those who welcome this development would say that it encourages active citizenship and grassroots deliberation. Skeptics would say that it strengthens business at the expense of unions and consumers.
