Chamber’s Donohue Says Obama ‘Suffocating’ U.S. Business Spirit

President Barack Obama’s administration is imposing regulations that are “suffocating the enterpreneurial spirit,” the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said.

Tom Donohue, president of the largest U.S. business group, cites rules on health care, finance, the environment and labor in prepared remarks for a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, today.

The Chamber has said it will spend $75 million backing pro- business candidates in the November elections and has led growing business criticism of Obama in recent months. The organization said it is launching a new website tracking rules it views as stunting economic growth and will run advertisements on the theme.

“The regulatory impact on the business community is pervasive, insidious, and needs to be exposed,” Donohue said in the prepared remarks. “It is suffocating the entrepreneurial spirit.”

The Chamber listed a series of regulations being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency as causing businesses to curtail new investments or expand. Among them were radon rules for drinking water, lead-paint rules in building renovation and revisions to regulations on underground storage tanks.