Chamber’s Donohue pushes business priorities as GOP convention starts

A leading business group outlined half a dozen economic priorities for the rest of the year as the Republican National Convention kicked off in Cleveland.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue on Monday called for expanding global trade, deploying U.S. energy resources, and reducing regulation.

{mosads}Donohue, in a post on Medium, urged leaders “to get back to the business of spurring our economy, creating jobs and spreading opportunity far and wide.”

“The business community will have a powerful voice this election year,” Donohue said.

“We are committed to getting the right people elected and the right policies in place to grow our economy and create jobs,” he said.

The Chamber doesn’t endorse presidential candidates but does pick sides in House and Senate races. 

“This will be the presidential candidates’ and their parties’ big chance to establish their platforms and show the American people what they really stand for,” Donohue wrote.

“Will they promote an agenda to support jobs, growth, and prosperity? Or will they advance more of the same failed policies that have delivered slow growth, the lowest labor participation rate ever and falling incomes?” he said.

Trade has become a massive issue with both parties denouncing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a deal between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

Both presumptive presidential nominees, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, are opposed to the TPP. 

Trump said he would renegotiate the TPP or withdraw the United States from the agreement entirely.

Clinton, who supported the TPP while she was secretary of State, reversed course after the deal’s completion in October and is lobbying against the agreement, arguing that U.S. workers need a better deal.

The Democratic National Convention begins next week in Philadelphia.

The Chamber, which is a powerful advocate for trade and the TPP, said “forget what the isolationists claim.”

“In a global economy, trade supports U.S. jobs, expands consumer spending power and helps America compete. We need more of it, not less,” he said. 

In a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Sunday, a majority of voters said they support free trade, even with all the negative rhetoric from the presidential candidates.

The poll showed that 55 percent of voters agree with the statement that “free trade with foreign countries is good for America because it opens up new markets and because the United States can’t avoid it in a global economy.”

Sixty percent of Democrats, 54 percent of independents and 51 percent of Republicans agree with that statement, the poll said. 

Meanwhile, 38 percent of voters say free trade is bad for the nation because it hurts manufacturing and they see no proof it creates jobs. 

The National Association of Manufacturers supports the TPP and has called on Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, to change presumptive GOP nominee’s mind on trade.

Donohue also defended banks and other financial institutions, which have become “a popular punching bag” in the presidential campaigns, arguing that they play a critical role in the functioning of the economy.

The Chamber leader also urged the United States to step up energy production to “create good paying jobs, attract manufacturing and investment to our shores, generate billions in revenue and strengthen national security.”

On another front, the Chamber has been steadfast in their argument that the Obama administration needs to reduce not increase business regulations.

“A tsunami of regulations are strangling business growth, investment and hiring,” he said. 

Outside of the presidential election, the Chamber noted its support for House and Senate candidates who support their pro-business agenda.

Donohue also expressed concern that U.S. businesses, which drive economic growth, are coming under attack from the left and the right.

“It’s businesses that create jobs, offer benefits, drive the economy and lead innovation,” he said.  

“Business is not the problem. It’s a big part of the solution to our nation’s challenges — and we’re going to stand up and say so.”