Valentin Flauraud/ReutersJulian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, plans to release the secrets of a big American bank. DealBook has been admiring our Times colleagues’ State’s Secrets series, a collection of articles about the trove of American diplomatic cables that were originally obtained by WikiLeaks, the organization devoted to exposing state secrets. We’ve found a way [...]
The White House and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are continuing their rapprochement by considering a speech by President Obama to the business group.
Mr. Obama had clashed repeatedly with the national Chamber, which vigorously opposed his highest-profile priorities – health care and banking reform – and then raised millions of dollars during the 2010 campaign for Republicans.
But since the election, the rhetoric has been noticeably more gentle. Tom Donohue, the president and CEO of the Chamber, said in a speech last week that his group will not campaign against Mr. Obama’s reelection.
“This is not personal with us,” Mr. Donohue said.
Now, White House officials have confirmed a report by CNN’s Ed Henry that the business group is interested in hearing directly from Mr. Obama. Officials said the group had previously invited the president to speak on December 2 for an event that was later canceled. Now, the group has expressed interest in a January speech, White House officials said.
“Economic recovery is the most important goal for the president and working with all of the stakeholders, including the Chamber of Commerce, on export promotion, free and fair trade to grow the economy and create jobs is an important part of achieving that goal,” said Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the president.
Tom Collamore, the senior vice president for communications at the Chamber, said in an email this weekend that the December 2 event was designed to focus on jobs, but was deleayed for “internal logistical reasons unrelated to Obama.”
Mr. Collamore said the president “would always be welcome at the chamber to talk about jobs, economy, etc.” White House officials said the request for a January speech by the president is being considered to see if it will work into Mr. Obama’s schedule.
For Mr. Obama, better relations with the business group could help him with business leaders, some of whom have concluded that his administration is pursuing policies that are not friendly to businesses.
But it could also prompt objections from Mr. Obama’s liberal supporters, who see the influential group as a proxy for the corporate interests who have resisted the main tenents of the president’s agenda.
Liberals became enraged during the election cycle at the Chamber’s participation in raising money for candidates without having to disclose its donors. The president helped drive that anger by accusing the Chamber, among other groups, of illegally raising money from foreign countries.
The organization heatedly denied that allegation and responded that Mr. Obama and his administration were trying to take away the group’s First Amendment rights.
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