Business Roundtable

Chamber of Commerce Sues FTC to Block Non-Compete Ban, Challenging Agency Authority

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, joined by the Business Roundtable, the Texas Association of Business, and the Longview Chamber of Commerce, filed a lawsuit in Tyler, Texas federal court against the FTC and Chair Lina Khan over the commission’s vote to ban noncompete clauses used to block …

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan Business Roundtable antitrust ftc chamber-of-commerce corporate-lobbying labor-rights +2 more
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Trump Signs Tax Cuts and Jobs Act - Corporate Rate Permanently Slashed from 35% to 21%, Pass-Through Deduction, Estate Tax Exemption Doubled, $1.9 Trillion Added to Deficit

| Importance: 10/10

On December 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) into law, enacting the most sweeping tax reform package in 30 years and permanently slashing the corporate tax rate from 35% to a flat 21%—a 40% reduction representing the largest corporate tax cut in American …

Donald Trump Paul Ryan Mitch McConnell Kevin Brady Orrin Hatch +5 more tax-policy trump-administration corporate-corruption wealth-transfer deficit-spending +5 more
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Employee Free Choice Act Abandoned Despite Democratic Supermajority, Corporate Lobbying Victory

| Importance: 8/10

Senator Arlen Specter announces on March 24, 2009, that he will not support the Employee Free Choice Act, effectively killing labor’s top legislative priority despite Democratic control of the presidency and both houses of Congress. EFCA would have allowed workers to form unions through …

Barack Obama U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Roundtable AFL-CIO U.S. Senate +1 more labor labor-law-reform corporate-lobbying card-check filibuster +1 more
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$25 Million Corporate Lobbying Blitz Drives NAFTA Passage Despite Labor Opposition

| Importance: 8/10

U.S. businesses and the Mexican government launch a $25 million coordinated lobbying and public relations campaign to secure Congressional approval of NAFTA, overcoming fierce opposition from labor unions and environmental groups. The Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and National …

Business Roundtable U.S. Chamber of Commerce National Association of Manufacturers American Express Mexican Government +2 more nafta corporate-lobbying trade-policy labor-opposition business-roundtable +2 more
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Wage Stagnation Era Begins: Productivity-Pay Gap Opens as Union Power Collapses

| Importance: 10/10

After three decades of wages rising in tandem with productivity (1948-1979), the fundamental relationship between worker productivity and compensation breaks down completely beginning in 1979, marking the start of 45+ years of wage stagnation despite continued productivity growth. Between 1948-1979, …

American workers Corporate management Federal Reserve Business Roundtable labor-suppression wage-stagnation productivity-gap union-decline inequality +1 more
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Business Roundtable Coordinates First Major Corporate PAC Election Strategy

| Importance: 7/10

The Business Roundtable, representing Fortune 500 CEOs, coordinated the first systematic corporate PAC strategy for the 1978 midterm elections. Corporate PACs contributed $9.8 million to federal candidates, with 75% going to business-friendly Republicans. This marked the beginning of coordinated …

Business Roundtable Reginald Jones Corporate PAC Committee Republican Party business-roundtable corporate-coordination electoral-interference systematic-corruption
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Labor Law Reform Act Killed by Filibuster After Business Roundtable Lobbying Blitz

| Importance: 9/10

After six cloture attempts fail to break a Senate filibuster, the Labor Law Reform Act of 1978 dies on June 22, marking the most significant corporate lobbying victory since Taft-Hartley and demonstrating that even with Democratic supermajorities and a Democratic president, business interests can …

Business Roundtable U.S. Chamber of Commerce National Association of Manufacturers AFL-CIO U.S. Senate +1 more labor labor-law filibuster corporate-lobbying business-roundtable +1 more
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Corporate PAC Explosion: 433 New Corporate PACs Formed in Post-Buckley Era

| Importance: 8/10

Following the Buckley v. Valeo decision, corporations rapidly established Political Action Committees to influence elections. The number of corporate PACs grew from 89 in 1974 to 1,206 by 1980 - a 1,254% increase. This represented a systematic corporate mobilization to capture political influence, …

Corporate America Business Roundtable Chamber of Commerce FEC corporate-pacs campaign-finance systematic-corruption institutional-capture
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