Decius:

Yahoo did not quit the chamber because of a list of silly liberal causes. They quit the chamber because of SOPA.

I think these pro business lobbying groups are pretty close to the root. If their unbalanced approach to technology issues put them in a position where they are losing membership, that directly undercuts their message and their funding.

1) Schmidt was pretty ambivalent about the Chamber. His best example of how they've helped Google was when they silenced some squabbling over whether he ought to meet a Chinese political leader. On issues they deem important, Google advocates directly, as was seen in the recent SOPA hearings. As the only witness speaking out against the proposed legislation, Google has already made its position abundantly clear, both to Congress and to the Chamber.

2) Schmidt openly says he disagrees with the Chamber's position on "plenty of things." Isn't some of this concern more appropriately directed at the organizations comprising the Chamber's Board of Directors, including AT&T, IBM, and Verizon? They could do more than Schmidt to influence the Chamber's official position on SOPA.

3) If Google and Yahoo weren't funding this advocacy in any meaningful way, their departure is unlikely to shift the Chamber's position. Even if all of the top 25 tech firms distanced themselves from the Chamber over this issue, it's not clear their position would change -- rather, it would make the SOPA advocates more representative of the Chamber's membership, thereby reinforcing their position.

4) Members give the Chamber money to advocate on their behalf. Barring some conspiracy theory, their support is in direct response to large contributions from (possibly a small number of) its members, not the absence of contributions from the likes of Google and Facebook. It would be more interesting if major tech firms were to flood the Chamber with donations asking it to advocate against SOPA. If AT&T, IBM, and Verizon each donated $10M accompanied by a "kill the bill" cover letter, that might have an impact.

RE: SOPA: Put your money where your mouth is