Strange bedfellows: U.S. Chamber and AFL-CIO may team up against House GOP infrastructure cuts

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Strange bedfellows: U.S. Chamber and AFL-CIO may team up against House GOP infrastructure cuts

By Greg Sargent

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO -- two powerful players that are often at each other's throats -- are considering teaming up for a campaign against the House GOP's planned cuts to infrastructure spending, spokespeople for both groups tell me.

The two groups rarely agree on anything, and frequently target each other in the harshest of terms, but one thing they agree on is that they don't want the House GOP to make good on its threat to subject highway and mass-transit programs to budget cuts. GOP leaders announced earlier this week that such cuts could not be taken off the table in the quest to slice up to $100 billion in spending.

The prospect of deep infrastructure cuts may now lead to the unlikely sight of the Chamber and the huge labor federation, both of which boast powerful and well-funded political operations, teaming up to campaign against the House GOP's plans. The Chamber -- a staunch ally of House Republicans that spent millions in the 2010 elections -- has already been pushing back against cuts to highway spending because it could lead to more job losses in the construction industry.

"We'd welcome the AFL-CIO joining us in those efforts," Janet Kavinoky, the executive director of the Chamber, tells me.

Eddie Vale, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO, is also on board for a collaborative effort. "The Republican's current proposals to slash investments in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure will cripple our economic recovery and we look forward to the Chamber helping us to protect these jobs," he says.

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1. No comment?

This is definitely an interesting and strange alliance.