San Francisco Chronicle: Bush's business support wavering

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/19/BUGMDD9B511.DTL

Washington -- President Bush, working to gain support for his ambitious domestic agenda, is encountering increasing resistance from an unlikely place: American business, a usually reliable ally. Many of these pro-Republican interests see little potential benefit for them in helping Bush win his two fights with the highest stakes: shoring up Social Security and reshaping the tax code.

Businesses are warily watching as the president's tax commission, led by former Sens. Connie Mack, R-Fla., and John Breaux, D-La., considers alternatives for reshaping the tax code, including shifting the nation toward taxing what people consume rather than what they earn. "We have certainly told the White House and the Treasury Department that the ability to hold together a unified business coalition in favor of any of these changes will depend, not surprisingly, on the content" of the measure, said West of the wholesalers association.

Such a group could be hard to build again as Bush weighs a set of tax changes that some businesses fear will saddle them with higher costs and eliminate advantages they now enjoy. "It is not clear to us yet, in terms of that coalition, whether we can hold it together," West said. "Until we see a bill, and until we know who the winners and losers are in any tax measure, it's hard to know whether the support will be there."

Without the determined backing of business groups, it could be much more difficult for Bush to build a sense of urgency for the tax changes. That has been the case already with his Social Security proposal, which remains unpopular, polls show.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Ideology meets The Bottom Line.

Word is that the fundies make them nervous as well.

He's eroding everywhere.

On edit: They really don't want a national sales tax, because it would only erode consumption.

[EVDebs]

5. Fundies need to read End Time Delusions by Steve Wohlberg

Looks like they're stuck with the rest of us into the tribulation after all.

[kentuck]

2. When the Big Rats jump the ship....

there aren't many lifesavers left...

[EVDebs]

3. Well duh ! When multinational/globalizers realize their far flung supply

chains, dependent upon fossil fuel, needs 'scaling back' (to put it politely), then they flash onto the book Natural Capitalism by Lovins and Hawken and say to themselves, geez we're paying our dumbass CEOs way too much and not spending enough laying the groundwork for the scaled-back regionalism that an energy-starved planet will require.

They are realizing this now, and finding they've hitched their future to the wrong darn political party !

[autorank]

4. "Management" is getting restless. Watch CM do more actual reporting.

Corporate media (CM) will find this difficult since they are so far out of practice. They've been busy with their hair appointments, make overs, and liposuction. Now they actually have to report because "management" has tired of Bush. The old saying that by the time we hear about it, it's already a well developed process is true in this instance (actually, that's not an old saying, I just made it up but Ilike it).

Oh, and we'll probably see some prosecutions. How about Delay and someone "very close to Cheney." Oh yeah, AMF *, you weasel.

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