WSJ' s Alan Murray: Business Presses for Government Activism

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

August 3, 2005

BUSINESS
By ALAN MURRAY


Business Presses for Government Activism
August 3, 2005; Page A2

(snip)

These are good times for business in Washington. President Bush's first term was a mixed bag for his corporate constituents. They got the tax cuts they wanted and some easing of environmental regulations, but also a massive increase in securities regulation and a war that threatened to undermine the appeal of American brands abroad.

Term two is turning out to be very different. The Indian agreement is just one of a long list of pro-business actions that got significantly longer last week. Congress passed a Central American Free Trade Agreement eagerly sought by business, as well as an energy bill and a transportation bill that had been stalled for years. Add to those the new bankruptcy law and the changes in class-action lawsuit rules approved this year, and you have got what the lobbying group Business Roundtable's John Castellani calls an "unprecedented string of accomplishments to help drive the America economy."

(snip)

In the past, business groups in Washington have often played a defensive game, fighting to stop measures they thought would hurt their interests. The less government did, they figured, the more business prospered. That isn't true today. At a time when the AFL-CIO labor federation is engulfed in infighting and the two political parties prefer bickering to bargaining, business has emerged as the leading advocate for government action. Others may be content with shadow boxing. Business wants things done.

(snip)

If anyone thinks this business push for government activism is a temporary phenomenon, well, think again. The elephant in this smoke-filled room is health care. Health care has become a migraine-intensity cost headache for any company that acts responsibly toward its workers. In the coming years, you can bet that the fiercest lobbying for change won't come from labor or liberal social groups, which have been pushing health-care reform for three decades. It will come from the companies -- and perhaps state governors -- that are footing the bills.

(snip)

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112301718977502968,00.html (subscription)

Write to Alan Murray at [e-mail]

[papau]

1. We lose new car plants to Canada because they have Universal Health

and we do not.

It is a jobs issue and a business issue.

It will be interesting to see how the SOB's running Health Insurance Companies will screw us again via stopping Universal Health.