IJ Reilly
Nov 8, 2004, 10:14 AM
The best government money can buy.
After a hefty push for Republican candidates, industry organizations form their wish lists.
WASHINGTON — Lobbyists for the nation's leading business groups have been toasting the success of what they describe as an unprecedented effort this year to help elect President Bush and Republican congressional candidates. Now they plan to collect on that investment.
"With his victory and better numbers in the Senate and the House, we hope we would get to some things we believe are long overdue," said Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors and a leader of this year's effort to mobilize the business community behind the Bush candidacy.
Business was generally pleased with the first four years under Bush, but Tuesday's victory now brings within grasp some of the things it was unable to secure in his first term.
The list, according to interviews with lobbyists and trade associations, includes making tax cuts for capital gains and dividends permanent, limiting liability lawsuits, changing bankruptcy laws and opening previously restricted land in Alaska and elsewhere for energy exploration.
Business groups also count on more narrow shifts, such as changing health insurance rules in a way that benefits some of the GOP's most ardent allies, easing corporate government reform measures at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and making specific adjustments to the tax code.
Assembling interest group wish lists and agendas is a postelection rite in Washington, a modern-day spoils system in action. For businesses, spending time and money on a campaign is a practical and tactical decision, literally an investment.
Bush's first term brought tax cuts, loosened rules on clean-air standards and workplace safety sought by business, and Medicare reforms emphasizing private sector solutions.
...
Banking and investment houses are excited about the president's plan for social security reform and health savings accounts that include private investment accounts. In addition, banks and credit card companies list bankruptcy reform on the priority list. Bankers also want legislative and executive branch action allowing them to move into real estate, a move opposed by realtors, another major group of donors.
Coal and utility companies continued to be a significant source of support for Republicans. Their wish list includes an energy bill and a market-based plan to control mercury and other pollutants.
Oil and gas companies that have been loyal benefactors of the Bush-Cheney ticket are likely to see immediate results. The Interior Department is expected to announce decisions in the next few weeks that would permit some oil and gas drilling on once-protected land on Colorado's Roan Plateau and New Mexico's Otera Mesa.
The business trade associations that advocated most strongly for Bush have as a top item on their list a new kind of health insurance that the groups could offer their members. Association health plans would allow small businesses to pool together to offer greater health insurance options than they could on their own.
The associations say such plans would provide health coverage for uninsured small-business employees, a group that suffers because small firms often cannot afford to offer health insurance. The sale of such insurance could yield substantial revenue for trade associations themselves, which would in some cases become the marketers of these plans.
The president publicly backed association health plans in the final days of the campaign.
"We are fresh from having proved to ourselves that we can change the outcome of elections," said Michael Baroody, executive vice president of the National Assn. of Manufacturers. "Using the same tools — employee involvement and education — we can change the outcome in policy terms across the wide spectrum of issues from legal reform to tax relief."
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-invest8nov08,0,5478723.story
After a hefty push for Republican candidates, industry organizations form their wish lists.
WASHINGTON — Lobbyists for the nation's leading business groups have been toasting the success of what they describe as an unprecedented effort this year to help elect President Bush and Republican congressional candidates. Now they plan to collect on that investment.
"With his victory and better numbers in the Senate and the House, we hope we would get to some things we believe are long overdue," said Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors and a leader of this year's effort to mobilize the business community behind the Bush candidacy.
Business was generally pleased with the first four years under Bush, but Tuesday's victory now brings within grasp some of the things it was unable to secure in his first term.
The list, according to interviews with lobbyists and trade associations, includes making tax cuts for capital gains and dividends permanent, limiting liability lawsuits, changing bankruptcy laws and opening previously restricted land in Alaska and elsewhere for energy exploration.
Business groups also count on more narrow shifts, such as changing health insurance rules in a way that benefits some of the GOP's most ardent allies, easing corporate government reform measures at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and making specific adjustments to the tax code.
Assembling interest group wish lists and agendas is a postelection rite in Washington, a modern-day spoils system in action. For businesses, spending time and money on a campaign is a practical and tactical decision, literally an investment.
Bush's first term brought tax cuts, loosened rules on clean-air standards and workplace safety sought by business, and Medicare reforms emphasizing private sector solutions.
...
Banking and investment houses are excited about the president's plan for social security reform and health savings accounts that include private investment accounts. In addition, banks and credit card companies list bankruptcy reform on the priority list. Bankers also want legislative and executive branch action allowing them to move into real estate, a move opposed by realtors, another major group of donors.
Coal and utility companies continued to be a significant source of support for Republicans. Their wish list includes an energy bill and a market-based plan to control mercury and other pollutants.
Oil and gas companies that have been loyal benefactors of the Bush-Cheney ticket are likely to see immediate results. The Interior Department is expected to announce decisions in the next few weeks that would permit some oil and gas drilling on once-protected land on Colorado's Roan Plateau and New Mexico's Otera Mesa.
The business trade associations that advocated most strongly for Bush have as a top item on their list a new kind of health insurance that the groups could offer their members. Association health plans would allow small businesses to pool together to offer greater health insurance options than they could on their own.
The associations say such plans would provide health coverage for uninsured small-business employees, a group that suffers because small firms often cannot afford to offer health insurance. The sale of such insurance could yield substantial revenue for trade associations themselves, which would in some cases become the marketers of these plans.
The president publicly backed association health plans in the final days of the campaign.
"We are fresh from having proved to ourselves that we can change the outcome of elections," said Michael Baroody, executive vice president of the National Assn. of Manufacturers. "Using the same tools — employee involvement and education — we can change the outcome in policy terms across the wide spectrum of issues from legal reform to tax relief."
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-invest8nov08,0,5478723.story
