Has anyone ever heard of the "National Federation of Independent Businesses"?

[Stinky The Clown]

They're running radio ads calling for affordable health care for small businesses.

That sounds good, but they're also pushing for tort reform and repeal of the estate tax.

Anyone know anything abut them? I read their wiki entry ..... not much there. I do NOT trust any unknown entity's web site.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Looked up nfib on WHOIS...

...nothing for .com or .biz.

But, info gave me anaddress in Nashville and http://whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=nfib.net">.net gave the name "Andrew francis".

Checking Andrew Francis at opensecrets.org shows nothing. Wiki*pedia only shows a page for a voice over artist.

That's all I got.

Maybe someone else can find something?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

2. They're idiots

A consortium of small business owners who drink the GOP koolaid and actually support politicians and policies that help WalMart put them out of business. Every once in a while they pull their heads out of their asses and advocate something that helps the little guy (themselves), but usually they shill for crap like what's in the ad you cite. Single payer health care would be a tremendous boon to them, but they won't advance it. Repealing the estate tax won't do anything for the vast majority of small biz owners, but they think it will. Ditto for tort reform.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Well tort reform and the estate tax were the giveaways for me ........

..... anyone who supports those crap ideas is not on the same side I am.

Their pushing 'affordable' health care caught my ear, though.

[Elwood P Dowd]

3. I was a member for a few years in the 1980s.

Told their rep to not let the door hit him in the ass his last visit. He was bragging about old man Bush
and all the wonderful trade deals, tax breaks for the rich, and other plans to fuck us in the ass. It was a
total waste of money on my part. They didn't do shit for families and small businesses like mine. I imagine
they are even worse today.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

13. They are much, much worse.

I made the mistake of considering a membership too. But I noticed that, here in AZ, they endorsed every corporatist shitstain, and NO candidates who were talking about actually doing things to help small business. I honestly think they've become an astroturf front for Big Biz. Which is sad because I know a lot of small business owners who belong and think they are some kind of authority on their issues.

[KT2000]

4. affordabe healthcare for

small business usually means they want to be exempted from the stricter state insurance laws. Basically it means less healthcare, non-coverage of pre-existing conditions an other loop holes.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. They endorse GOP candidates and they gave Elaine Chow a standing ovation

Here's an example of one of the candidates they endorse:

http://www.rtoonline.com/Content/Article/Feb08/NFIB-EndorsesWidenerOhioSenate021508.asp

And here's an article in the Puget Sound Business Journal describing them as very pro Republican:

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2002/06/24/editorial2.html

NFIB WALKS ARM IN ARM WITH GOP

Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao earned a standing ovation from National Federation of Independent Business members when she outlined steps her department will take to help small businesses understand and comply with its hundreds of pages of regulations.

"In the past, some parts of our department viewed you as 'competitors' - as if you somehow stood in the way of achieving worker protection," Chao told NFIB members. "But today our culture is changing to one where NFIB and other employer groups are viewed as allies."

The new compliance assistance initiative was announced at NFIB's National Small Business Summit because the group represents the "target audience" for the new policy, a department spokeswoman says. NFIB, with 600,000 members, is the dominant voice for small businesses in Washington and ranks among the most powerful lobbying groups in D.C. (...)

[Stinky The Clown]

8. And they sounded like such nice folks.

Bait and switch radio ads.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. Their leadership is all GOP

Here's the resume of their Senior Vice President Dennis Whitfield. It looks like he's served in Republican Administrations and has held posts with the RNC including their national voter registration program. I'd suggest that Democratic candidates try to court their members, as ChimpCo policies haven't been too great for small businesses. But with leadership like the one they have, I don't think Obama or Clinton will be invited to address their conventions. They're probably pretty anti-union, too, I'll bet.

http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-advice-guests/dennis-whitfield_302.html

Dennis Whitfield is presently Senior Vice President of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the largest small business advocacy group in the U.S. As Senior V.P., he is responsible for media communications and political communications. He develops and directs the media and political strategy and implementation, which has played a major role in NFIB being named the most effective business advocacy group in Washington, DC, by Fortune magazine. Prior to joining NFIB, Mr. Whitfield was managing partner of The Brock Group, a Washington, DC-based international trade, consulting, and governmental affairs firm, which he co-founded with former U.S. Sen. William Brock. Before organizing The Brock Group, Mr. Whitfield served in both of President Ronald Reagan’s Administrations; first, as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Trade Representative; and, later, as Chief of Staff of the Secretary of Labor. In 1985, President Reagan nominated Mr. Whitfield to the post of Deputy Secretary of Labor. He was confirmed by the Senate and served until March 1989. Before joining the Reagan Administration, Mr. Whitfield held several positions at the Republican National Committee (RNC), beginning as the Regional Political Director for the southeastern U.S.; then as Director of Education and Training; and, finally, as the National Political Director. During 1980, Mr. Whitfield managed the RNC’s national voter registration program and was Director of Commitment ’80, the Reagan-Bush national volunteer effort. Mr. Whitfield received a degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia in 1972.

[Mabus]

7. John McCain is giving their next keynote address and they're backing Norm Coleman in MN

(from their politics page)

Sen. McCain to Keynote Summit
Come hear Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican Party nominee for president, speak at the NFIB 2008 National Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C.

more

NFIB/MN Members Get Involved
NFIB members recently gathered in Minnesota to support a true small business ally--U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. At the event, NFIB member Bill Gullickson announced the NFIB SAFE Trust's endorsement of Sen. Coleman for reelection in November.

http://www.nfib.com/page/politicsHome

They also back Boehner.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. "They also back Boehner."

That's about all ya need ta know, huh?

[Mabus]

10. I almost said that exact thing

Then I thought it might be construed as either stating the obvious or overkill.

[ColbertWatcher]

12. Leave John Boner alone!