Dole and Chamber of Commerce Fought Deregulation, Transparency in Markets

October 1, 2008

GREENSBORO, NC- A new ad by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce against state Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan (D-Guilford) ignores Elizabeth Dole and the Chamber’s own efforts to fight for deregulation of the financial markets, at a time when our economy is on the brink, and the Bush-Dole team increased our national debt to nearly $10 billion.

“It’s no surprise that the group trying the hardest to deregulate the markets to help the greedy Wall Street titans, and hurt working families, would team up with Elizabeth Dole, who, at every juncture, has put the special interests before the best interests of North Carolinians she was elected to represent,” said Hagan Communications Director Colleen Flanagan.

Repeatedly named one of the ten most effective Senators, Kay has worked to enact more than $840 million in tax cuts, supported cuts to the income and sales taxes, and balanced five straight budgets while making record investments in education and putting North Carolina on the map as one of the best states for business.

Yesterday it was reported that Elizabeth Dole, a reliable Bush rubberstamp Republican, spoke out against the regulation provisions in Sarbanes-Oxley for several years, and as recently as March of this year, introduced legislation to make CEO/CFO and outside auditor verification of accounting practices voluntary, instead of mandatory.

But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was also trying to push for deregulation of financial institutions, receiving $23 million from now-defunct AIG to lobby against Sarbanes-Oxley reforms, such as the mandatory outside auditor provision that Dole was also working to roll back.

According to a BusinessWeek article, “Thomas J. Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, isn’t backing off a campaign against what he views as regulators run amok. Amid the allegations of corporate wrongdoing, the combative lobbyist continues to lash out against the enforcers, warning of a dire threat to U.S. business. ‘Government agencies have gone overboard’ in implementing the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance law, Donohue says. ‘An accounting error should never be seen as a crime.‘”

###

Back to The Press Shop