On Jul 29, 2011, at 4:39 AM, SA wrote:
> [The best thing about the debt ceiling thing is how it tends to throw into relief certain underlying dynamics in American politics. It's like when the tide goes out and suddenly you can see the ocean floor, which was there all along but invisible.]
>
> http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/28/whos-missing-from-debt-talks-corporate-america/
Yesterday's FT had a somewhat different take:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6a2695fc-b86f-11e0-b62b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1TV8v507K
A prominent business lobbyist who asked not to be named told the FT shortly before last year’s election that many of the dozens of new Tea Party candidates formed an unknown quantity in Washington, but there was confidence that, on big issues like tax and regulation, there was a kinship between the business community and the emerging Tea Party movement.
That bet has paid off in many respects, not least by putting pressure on Obama administration regulatory agencies. But there have also been areas of disagreement between business and the new Tea Party right, about trade and the need for more government spending on infrastructure. Another business lobbyist, who also requested anonymity, said that in private meetings with new Tea Party members, lobbyists were not getting the reception they once had – especially in areas in which lobbyists were seeking greater government spending.
Jim Himes, a moderate Democratic congressman from Connecticut, took on the issue in a tweet on Wednesday, saying: “Thought as US Chamber contemplates default by Congress they helped build: when the gods wish to punish us, they listen to our prayers.”
Today, with less than one week to go before a possible default, the cracks in the relationship between anti-government Tea Party conservatives and the business community has grown into a gaping division.