U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Launch 'Free Enterprise' Campaign

At a major event Wednesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will launch a multi-year, multimillion-dollar grass-roots campaign to promote free enterprise as a solution to the country's rising unemployment rate. The effort, called the Campaign for Free Enterprise, aims to create 20 million jobs in the next 10 years. The chamber, which lobbies for business interests, has said that it hopes to remind Americans of free-market values in the face of growing government "interference" in the economy.

"There are growing concerns about interference with the private marketplace and the private economy, and it's a ripe opportunity for reinforcing the importance of free enterprise," Tita Freeman, the organization's vice president for communications, told Politico earlier this week. "People view free enterprise very positively, but they don't necessarily understand the benefits of free enterprise to them personally in their everyday lives."

Details about the campaign have been sparse since it was first announced earlier this year. Officials have only said that Wednesday's kickoff has been preceded by months of intense ground work, including "listening sessions" across the country.

The Chamber of Commerce made headlines last week when five of its member companies, including Apple, left the organization over its opposition to climate-change legislation. The organization also strongly opposes the Obama administration's proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would tightly regulate financial products such as mortgages and credit cards. Staffers say the new campaign is a way to shift focus from the chamber's oppositional stances and highlight the values -- namely free markets, low taxes and lax regulation -- it supports.