The "core mission" of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce "is to fight for business and free enterprise." It is also "to advance human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity and responsibility."

These stirring words appear on the chamber's Web site. Sounds like a political philosophy, doesn't it?

"Don't tell me about philosophy," declared Thomas Donohue, president of the national chamber, during a visit to Denver this week. "If we let this thing go under, we are looking at millions and millions of unemployed people."

Donohue was explaining to his Denver audience why the chamber is so gung-ho about flushing tens of billions of federal dollars into the U.S. auto industry rather than fight, say, for free enterprise. Maybe it's time the chamber revised its mission statement so that it is more in line with its apparent role as a mere favor-seeking lobbyist.

Does Donohue believe that a federal bailout can actually stanch the hemorrhaging of cash and jobs at General Motors given the nature of that automaker's crisis? Does anyone think that a single injection of taxpayer money will suffice, or that Congress will impose sufficient conditions to turn that automaker around? According to Paul Ingrassia, a former Detroit bureau chief with The Wall Street Journal, necessary conditions include "tearing up existing contracts with unions, dealers and suppliers, closing some operations and selling others and downsizing the company."

How unlikely. The single requirement that congressional leaders and President-elect Barack Obama seem most interested in imposing - besides compensation limits for top executives - is that the automakers produce more fuel-efficient cars!

If GM and Ford are "too big to fail" then the government's share in them will probably grow and grow until taxpayers effectively own them.

Yet as Daniel Howes, business columnist with The Detroit News, reminds us, "The simple, uncomfortable fact is the auto industry in America that has prospered, grown, built plants and created jobs across the country is foreign-owned - Japanese, Korean and German. It has employed American workers operating in American plants which, until very recently, were routinely profitable. And those companies claimed more market share each month as Detroit surrendered more."

Now that, Mr. Donohue, is how free markets work.

Surely he remembers free markets. They're at the core of that "philosophy" he doesn't want to talk about any more.

The front end

Three times in the past two years business leaders have risen up to defeat what they considered threats to economic freedom and prosperity in this state.

The first occurred in the spring of last year, when they pressured the governor into a veto of House Bill 1072, which would have repealed part of the Colorado Labor Peace Act.

The second and third examples occurred in the recent election. In a controversial move to get several union-backed measures off the ballot, some business leaders agreed to help finance a campaign to defeat three other ballot amendments. Meanwhile, the energy industry pumped millions of dollars into a campaign that crushed Amendment 58 - which would have hiked oil and gas severance taxes.

When their interests are directly threatened, in other words, industries readily jump into the political fray to defend themselves. Meanwhile, ironically, political candidates who are interested in promoting economic activity in this state rather than merely taxing and regulating it are now routinely outspent when they run for the legislature.

Just imagine what effect business people could have if they chose to spend more of their money on the front end of the political process instead of waiting until the next grenade is lobbed into their tent.

Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.