Extremists on the left and right are teaming up against business, the head of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce says.
Chamber president and CEO Chris Clark sounded an alarm Wednesday at a regional luncheon meeting in Savannah.
His remarks were part of a wide-ranging overview of the programs, goals and concerns of the chamber, Georgia’s largest business group.
“It used to be,” Clark said in reference to state government, “ ... we could stand in the background and whisper and nudge our friends and we could move the business agenda along.
“But the world’s changed. It’s not like that any more. We have folks on both ends of the political spectrum that are anti-business.”
Clark cited a recent group of regional referendums on proposed penny sales taxes for transportation projects. Voters in most of the state, including Chatham County, rejected them.
“We saw incredible coalitions of the Sierra Club and extreme environmental groups and far right groups ... working against it. ... Because of that, we had to become stronger.”
Various tea party groups represented the most vocal conservative opposition to the measure.
Clark said the chamber has beefed up its already vigorous advocacy and lobbying effort at the state capital.
In addition, a chamber political action committee supports legislative candidates — usually Republicans.
But “if you’re pro-business, we’re going to work with you,” regardless of party, Clark said.
The committee recently reported to the state that it had doled out $7,845 to candidates this election cycle as of Sept. 30 and had about $70,000 left for the Nov. 6 elections.
Clark said 85 percent of chamber-backed candidates won in this year’s primary elections.
Clark also cited the chamber’s legislative scorecard, which he said is used to inform voters — not to punish or reward lawmakers.
He noted that State Rep. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, who was at the meeting, earned an A.
“It wasn’t always popular the first year we did that,” Clark said concerning the scorecard. “I had many legislators hang up on me. ... Some of them are not there any more.”
Then he added, perhaps mostly in jest, “That’ll show ‘em.”
Recently, Clark said, the chamber also has stepped up its lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.
One ongoing effort is helping to win federal funding for deepening Savannah’s harbor.
A more immediate concern, he said, is heading off the impact of provisions in a federal debt limit increase measure Congress approved in late 2010.
Unless they’re changed, massive tax increases and spending cuts will be imposed at the beginning of 2013.
That, Clark said, would mean “the largest single tax increase in the nation’s history.”
Moreover, he added, “you’ll have a military cutback to a size the smallest it’s been since World War I.”
That would leave Georgia bases and the economies of surrounding communities vulnerable.
He praised Georgia’s Republican U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson for backing bipartisan efforts to find a solution.
Without commenting directly on Clark’s claim that extremists on the right and left are ganging up on business, Watson lauded his overall presentation.
“He had a good historical perspective and talked about the future,” Watson said. “I think he was right on the mark.”