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Republicans, K Street Plot Tax Cuts And Deregulation For 2011 (VIDEO)
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
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As promised, House Minority Leader John Boehner, along with Reps. Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Peter Roskam (R-IL), huddled this morning with representatives of the most powerful conservative business and trade groups in the country to field policy ideas and build a legislative agenda ahead of the November elections, when Republicans could retake the House. If what they discussed in any way resembles the coming GOP platform (and, of course, it does), then get ready for more tax cuts and deregulation.
Dan Danner of the National Federation of Independent Businesses spoke up, outraged about "a whole host of new proposed regulations that are going to add costs to...business."
All the invitees, which also included the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and several others, were in broad agreement over steps they hope the government takes if Republicans regain power. Many of them once supported President Obama's stimulus plan, but now want to go back to the way things were.
"Whether it's OSHA, EPA, Wage and Hour," Danner said, "they see all those as new costs and new hindrances to them as a business owner."
Marlene Colucci of the American Hotel and Lodging Association complained that "auditors can come in, look at your workplace, and if they find, let's say, an OSHA violation, then they can go and find what other violations might exist."
Yes, law enforcement officers investigating companies' legal violations were part of the complaints lobbyists brought to the GOP.
"It's almost, like, you know, the police are in front of the building that's being looted but they're worried about expired meters, and giving parking tickets, while we're being looted," Colucci said to a receptive Boehner.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association advocated for a lower corporate tax rate, while warning against replacing it with a value-added tax.
Last week, Republicans were caught with their pants down when news of today's meeting was first reported. Democrats howled and pressed Republicans to let cameras into the room. Republicans agreed. That undoubtedly added to the scripted nature of the event. But the attendees weren't shy about their prescriptions, and the hosts were happy to continue soliciting them.
"We'll continue to stay in touch with all of you," Boehner said.
You can watch the entire roundtable discussion below.
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libdevil
July 16, 2010 12:46 PM
They just don't get it. Regulations do not, unless they are completely arbitrary, add to the cost of doing business. They force businesses to take those costs upon themselves, rather than externalizing them. If we let a company dump toxic waste in a river, and then we clean it up, they've passed the cost of doing business onto the public. Both in the cost of the cleanup, and in the cost of damaged ecosystems, sickened residents, and so forth. Those costs are real, and when we make a regulation that says the company can't dump its waste in the river, we're not imposing a cost on a business, we're making it pay its own way instead of passing the cost off to the rest of us. Further, most regulations of this nature are likely to reduce the cost business, since preventing damage to people or the environment is usually less expensive than fixing it, if fixing it is even possible.
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davewtf
July 16, 2010 1:09 PM in reply to libdevil
This is the same party that still fights against regulations for the very financial industry that - due to deregulation - caused our current financial meltdown. The Republican party is most definitely the party of teenagers, lacking any insight as to how their behavior is dangerous to themselves and others and completely unconcerned with the fallout. Just look at the oil spill in the gulf.
But of course, we are talking about a party of people more concerned with whether they will go to heaven when the die rather than whether or not they are making our planet inhospitable for human - or other - habitation.
Don't look for the Republicans to become responsible any time soon.
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tinsk
July 16, 2010 1:56 PM in reply to libdevil
I'm not defending the GOP by any means and certainly yours is a way to look at it. However, the point they make is also valid. A business needs a minimum margin in which to operate. Of course, most don't operate at the minimum but there has to be a floor.
Their argument is that if you place a tax or an expensive regulation on a business and thus increasing their operational costs, the business must raise its prices in order to maintain their operating margins. The GOP defines any passed on cost increase to the consumer as a result of government intervention upon the business, as a "tax increase" on the consumer.
To your point, virtually all businesses make cost:benefit analysis'. Take BP for example. Is the cost of doing things right and safely more or less expensive than the cost of covering the containment and clean-up. You multiply that times the number of rigs and platforms and the probability of a disaster. If the cost of safety is greater than risk, they side with the risk. It is simply more profitable.
And THAT is why we need tough regulation and more important, tougher enforcement.
Consumers also make these same choices. I'll give you an example: What is the true driver behind illegal immigration? The true driver is the American consumer. Ask any tea bag type person you know if they'd be willing to pay $9/lbs. for tomatoes and $10/head of lettuce if they knew the product was illegal immigrant labor free. From seed to store shelf it is guaranteed that only American citizens being paid a living wage with/health benefits handled the produce. Because that is the minimum that those products, domestically grown, would cost under those conditions. And the answer is a flat NO. They would never pay the price. But by the same token, they don't want the brown skin people here either. They need to make a choice in the cost to benefit calculations.
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condew
July 16, 2010 2:41 PM in reply to tinsk
I suspect that if you eliminated cheap, illegal immigrant labor that may of the things they now do by hand would see increased automation. If you can get somebody to wash dishes cheap, you don't invest in a dishwasher. If you have cheap labor to put in the fields at harvest time, you don't buy or develop farm equipment to do the job efficiently. So I kind of doubt it would come to $9 tomatoes or $10 lettuce.
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tinsk
July 16, 2010 2:59 PM in reply to condew
Actually, that's completely false. Restaurant dishwashers (the people kind) use industrial mechanical washing and drying equipment. Dishwashers (people) do what the machines cannot. They scrape food scraps, load and unload the equipment and stack the items for reuse.
In the case of harvesting crops such as tomatoes, berries, lettuce, fruits, etc. where not all the produce ripens at the same time, must be harvested daily until the plant no longer produces. It can only be done by human hand.
You can trust if there were an automated way of harvesting such crops, it would already exist just like with corn, wheat/grains, cotton, tobacco, etc. A machine is ALWAYS cheaper than a human being.
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tinsk
July 16, 2010 3:11 PM in reply to tinsk
I forgot to mention one thing. You are right that we would never see $9 tomatoes and $10 lettuce. And that is because the very same people who are complaining about a lack of US jobs AND complaining about illegal aliens will be the first people in line buying tomatoes and lettuce grown in foreign countries with no labor laws or safety regulations and imported into the US. Thus, putting the American farmer out of business. The tea party people are not driven by racism. They are driven by self centerism.
My avatar is their true rallying flag. I've got mine... screw you!
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Silence
July 18, 2010 1:41 PM in reply to tinsk
The TEA party is behind some sinister plot to employ illegal farm labor.....because they're all racists?
LOL. This one takes the cake. TEA partiers pride themselves on being self-sufficient. Most own enough dirt to grow their own fruits and veggies. Hell, one acre can provide more than enough potatoes for a large family to survive.
Liberal city folk are the most dependent on illegal labor for their food.
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Barry Ragin
July 16, 2010 3:07 PM in reply to condew
With unemployment at 9.5% (and U5 at 11%) i don't think getting rid of "cheap, illegal immigrant labor" would make all that much difference.
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cwnidog
July 16, 2010 3:41 PM in reply to tinsk
Take BP for example. Is the cost of doing things right and safely more or less expensive than the cost of covering the containment and clean-up.
That just means the penalties are too low. They should be high enough to make a corporate board blanch at the idea of operating in significant disregard of applicable regulations.
It's high time to resume revoking charters of corporations whose management can be shown to have caused a death while operating in violation of existing laws and regulations. A corporate death penalty, so to speak.
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tinsk
July 16, 2010 5:34 PM in reply to cwnidog
You are right. That's exactly what it means. Remember, the liability cap in place on April 21 was a paltry $75 million. The cost to simultaneously drill a relief well along side a primary well bore is $100 million. One really doesn't need to be Einstein to do that math.
However, regardless of how high the penalties are, it is far better to have good regulation and exceptional oversight and enforcement to avoid the catastrophic possibilities. Sort of like the crazy thought process that because I have good insurance I don't have to care if I have open containers of highly combustible chemicals in my basement sitting right next to my boiler. I'd still rather act responsibly and not lose my house to fire regardless of how much insurance I have.
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cwnidog
July 16, 2010 6:06 PM in reply to tinsk
Yup.
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Bribes
July 17, 2010 11:07 AM in reply to tinsk
Cite for the $100 figure?
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Bribes
July 17, 2010 11:07 AM in reply to Bribes
Oops. $100 million.
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go2goal
July 16, 2010 12:50 PM
Boehner needs to get his head out of the martini glass and realize the US goes as the middle class goes....and middle class has about had it with the policies of the past 20 years which have been defined by Republicans and fat cat businessmen.
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Hussein Stemper
July 16, 2010 12:52 PM
And even if it does add to the cost of doing business, tough shit. You do not have a Constitutional right to pollute the river or lake next to my house. I would love the tea baggers who supposedly worship the Constitution to show us chapter and verse where James Madison and co. said Paul Revere's blacksmith shop could pollute Boston Harbor.
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humble_liberty
July 16, 2010 12:58 PM
"Whether it's OSHA, EPA, Wage and Hour," Danner said, "they see all those as new costs and new hindrances to them as a business owner."
Hindering them from what, employees that are safe, healthy, and paid fairly? Do they really think business owners or their spouses don't hold other jobs?
And with so many businesses taking losses or having very low taxable income, why do they need a tax cut?
I hope this is their platform. "In 1999, we were choked by oppressive taxes and regulation. Banks were banking. Houses were affordable, mortgages were usually fixed rate. It truly was an age of darkness and despair. Behold, the vision of our economy in Sept. 2008, with great profiteers like Madoff and Goldman Sachs doing their darndest without cumbersome regulation."
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condew
July 16, 2010 2:44 PM in reply to humble_liberty
That's a really good point; if a business is so close to not turning a profit that one more regulation would break them, why do they need a tax cut?
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Sniffit
July 16, 2010 1:07 PM
""We'll continue to stay in touch with all of you," Boehner said."
Personally, I found this one to be the funniest:
"Marlene Colucci of the American Hotel and Lodging Association complained that "auditors can come in, look at your workplace, and if they find, let's say, an OSHA violation, then they can go and find what other violations might exist.""
Two words: Housekeeping staff.
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Sniffit
July 16, 2010 1:10 PM in reply to Sniffit
wierd...should've read:
""We'll continue to stay in touch with all of you," Boehner said."
...and out of touch with reality.
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Redshift
July 16, 2010 1:08 PM
There's a shock. The fundamental "principles" of the GOP for the past thirty years can be summed up as "tax cuts and deregulation are the answer; what was the question?" Everything else is packaging and PR.
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thepeoplechoose
July 16, 2010 1:09 PM
Tax cuts and deregulation is what brought us to the mess we have now. We've had about three decades of tax cuts and deregulation. How in the hell does Boehner and the GOP think that is the remedy. These guys are insane. I'm old enough to remember decades ago when this country really got things done. What was different then vs now? We had high corporate taxes and government set the agenda and ran all the major infrastructure constuction. Ever since we've changed the model and let corporate America do that we've haven't kept up at all and we're getting our asses handed to us by our global competitors. There is all this noise that government is the problem. That is a load of BS. Near as I can tell it's the greed of the private sector. All they've done is have MBAs finagle numbers and haven't done anything that is real. This nation needs a lot of major public investment in all kinds of stuff that would put people back to work and get us on a footing so we have a public infrastructure that enables us to compete. Government has to take the reins if we have any chance and take away the power congress has so blindly handed to Wall Street and corporations. Anyone who thinks corporations will fix one damn thing ain't been watching.
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Matt Jones
July 16, 2010 2:27 PM in reply to thepeoplechoose
Exactly - can you imagine building the Interstate Highway system under the current political climate? Damn thing wouldn't ever get done...
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libdevil
July 16, 2010 3:59 PM in reply to Matt Jones
Are you kidding. It wouldn't even get started. Building public infrastructure is scary socialism.
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An Outhouse
July 16, 2010 1:26 PM
Dear Mr Boner,
Pink and orange do not go together.
Thank you.
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ADad
July 16, 2010 1:41 PM
Dear Mr. Boner:
Do remember when tax cuts and deregulation didn't lead to insatiable greed, massive deficits, far-reaching damage to the U.S. economy, redistribution of wealth to millionaires, pathetic job growth, and extreme damage to the environment? 'cuz I don't.
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calbearinillinois
July 16, 2010 1:50 PM
Sure sounds like the GOP wants to go back to the '90s.
The 1890s, that is.
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cwnidog
July 16, 2010 3:24 PM in reply to calbearinillinois
That's what the baggers mean by "Take Our Country Back".
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July 16, 2010 2:00 PM
Regulation evens the playing field and allows good corporations who treat their communities and employees well and have long term plans to continue to do so without being undercut by the bad corporations who grind people up, pollute the environment and wreck the economy for a quick profit.
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Lucieann
July 16, 2010 2:23 PM
Businesses wouldn't be complaining if they didn't have anything to hide, or if they were legitimately playing by the rules, instead of trying to run rough-shot over their employees and customers. It seems the Repubs want to channel Ronald Reagan at every turn....sorry folks the channeler has left the building....it's time to behave like grown-ups now.
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SteinL
July 16, 2010 2:48 PM
Boehner's ties, individually, have a significantly higher IQ than he does. Seriously, a review of Boehner's statements would make Spiro Agnew seem to be incandescently bright.
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condew
July 16, 2010 2:51 PM
Many of them once supported President Obama's stimulus plan, but now want to go back to the way things were.
In other words, a couple trillion when they really needed it only rented their friendship, it didn't buy it. Now they want to go back to business as usual, building another economic bubble, abusing the workforce, and, of course, rapeing the environment.
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jeffgee
July 16, 2010 2:53 PM
Here's where it pays off when their best buddy John Roberts greased the Citizens United skids for their bidness friends to have their money talk for loudly them. Karl's all aquiver about the chances of floods of money being spent by corporations on behalf of Republicans
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inniss326
July 16, 2010 3:20 PM
Sounds like the GOP wants to eliminate to minimum wage....roll back wages to the 1950's.
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Forrest
July 16, 2010 3:32 PM
I think bad analogies should be a criminal offense.
It's more like the cop is giving you a parking ticket for violating the meter, and he's allowed to look in your trunk to determine the cause of the dead body odor emanating from it. If you don't wanna go to jail, don't keep dead bodies in your trunk.
Oops, I think that may have oozed into a metaphor.
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humble_liberty
July 16, 2010 3:41 PM in reply to Forrest
Actually his might work. It's like a building being robbed and the thieves giving a cut to someone to distract the cops and try to cut their funding, they're too much regulation. Almost none of the thieves will see criminal charges and improved security for the building is also meddling.
If things really get bad for the thieves their friends will buy the toxic assets they stole for twice the price and pay them some more so they don't fail to rob the next joint.
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Forrest
July 16, 2010 3:44 PM in reply to humble_liberty
Yeah, after I read the story again I think I got confused. The line before his analogy was discussing that one of the lobbyists' complaints was that their behavior could actually be investigated, so I thought his analogy was listed to reinforce that point.
Reading comprehension ftw!
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cwnidog
July 16, 2010 3:32 PM
Who would've guessed, scratch a lobbyist, find an anarchist.
And Ms Colucci, maybe you consider a thorough inspection as a motivator to make sure that you have no OSHA violations. Inspectors are bright enough to realize that where you find one, you'll normally find more. Yes, it is the responsibility of the hotel, motel, or whatever management to make sure their staff are working safely.
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dougom
July 16, 2010 3:48 PM
And people are still willing to vote for Republicans. Truly, it's astonishing. Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, John Boehner, Mitch "Got Our Groove Back!" McConnell, Sharron Angle, Michelle Bachmann, Virginia Foxx . . . I could go on all day. How much more vaulting stupidity does the GOP have to show before they're laughed out off Capitol Hill entirely? Apparently even an infinite amount wouldn't do the trick.
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Silence
July 18, 2010 1:53 PM in reply to dougom
Perhaps, they'd like to bring home a paycheck instead of a welfare check, for a "change".
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