GOP Angers Big Business On Key Issues (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

>From Bob Naiman of the Preamble Collaborative:

Note especially that

A major point of contention is the House-passed Freedom From Religious
Persecution Act. The bill would ban exports to foreign government agencies
charged with persecution, cut off nonhumanitarian aid and require U.S.
opposition to loans by the IMF and other multilateral agencies to countries
that persecute.

Did you know that? You gotta run to keep up with these Republicans!

----------------

GOP Angers Big Business On Key Issues
China Stance, Export Curbs Harm Trade, Groups Say

By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 11, 1998; Page A01 

Major corporations and trade associations are increasingly angry at
Republican congressional leaders they see as determined to accommodate
the Christian right -- by adding abortion and religious amendments to 
foreign
policy bills -- and to mine the China technology scandal, both at the 
expense
of business.

Some business leaders are threatening to pull the plug on the massive
corporate PAC cash flow to the GOP that helped it stay in power two years
ago. Corporate giving has gone from favoring House Democrats in 1992 to
favoring the GOP in 1996: an overwhelming $36.8 million for House
Republicans and just $16.2 million for Democrats.

Business cannot look to the GOP as a reliable ally, contend Charles S. Mack
and Bernadette A. Budde of the Business-Industry PAC (BIPAC), an
organization that makes recommendations to corporate political action
committees. They wrote to their members: "We can no longer restrict
ourselves to one or two political options in our quest to assure a genuinely
and reliably pro-business majority in Congress."

"The business community never expected a Republican Congress to advance
isolationism and advance the use of unilateral sanctions," said Bruce 
Josten,
senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The corporate leaders say that social conservatives and the religious right
have pushed the Republican leadership into positions that threaten U.S.
competitiveness in perhaps the most important growing overseas market,
China, and that endanger U.S. interests in other key foreign markets through
sanctions against countries charged with religious persecution.

In addition, the Republican House is holding up an $18 billion U.S.
contribution to the International Monetary Fund, money that both the
administration and many large exporters consider crucial to maintaining a
semblance of economic stability in Russia, Japan and various parts of Asia.

The IMF legislation faces opposition from some Republican leaders
ideologically opposed to the multilateral agency.

Simultaneously, social conservatives are insisting that the legislation include
anti-abortion provisions that could prompt President Clinton to veto the
measure.

"Everything went south in a big way after Newt [Gingrich] and the rest of
the leadership tried to make up with James Dobson and the other religious
right guys. They gave away the store and we were on the shelves," said a
representative of a Fortune 500 company whose firm has given substantial
support to Republican candidates.

"I have told my PAC director to consult with me before making any
decisions, and to keep a lookout for pro-trade Democrats we can trust in the
crunch," said the corporate lobbyist, who declined to be identified.

However, Bob Doyle, a Democratic fund-raiser whose clients tend to be
pro-business candidates, cautioned that corporations have yet to open their
spigots for Democrats. "We are trying to mine those shafts," he said, "but 
it's
not happening yet. That money is not moving in a wholesale way."

These concerns are compounded by a host of other complaints, including
that a Republican Congress has allowed one industry -- tobacco -- to
become a public whipping boy, a dangerous precedent that could be used
against industries as various as those engaged in the alcohol, motorcycle,
pharmaceutical and other businesses.

A number of corporations involved in trade with China were particularly
disturbed by a letter signed by 152 Republicans, including the entire House
leadership, calling on Clinton to abandon his trip to that nation until 
allegations
that administration waivers on technology exports were influenced by
campaign contributions are fully investigated by the Justice Department and
Congress.

"It's a little bit scary. The younger Republicans tend to have a more
protectionist view or to be susceptible to a protectionist argument," said 
Paul
R. Huard, senior vice president of the National Association of
Manufacturers.

The comments by business leaders have provoked a firestorm both on
Capitol Hill and in the conservative religious community.

"We are disappointed and our feelings are hurt," said House Whip Tom
DeLay (R-Tex.). "We have completely turned around the government in a
new direction, and we still have people in the culture of Washington who
cannot recognize that."

Christina Martin, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Newt Gingrich
(R-Ga.), said the leadership has been pushing pro-business bills. "Here is a
friendly reminder for disgruntled D.C. business groups: The Republican
Party is the party of small business, mom-and-pop storefronts and
mainstream entrepreneurs, not out-of-touch K Street lobbyists. Are these
types truly happier with the Democrats?"

At a leadership meeting earlier this week, Gingrich berated Budde for
"polluting the waters between the business community and the House,"
according to a colleague. Gingrich's office released a list of 19 pending or
enacted measures supported by business, including bankruptcy reform,
capital gains tax cuts, tort reform, product liability reform and an 
Internet tax
ban. 

DeLay's office, in turn, noted that if Democrats took over the House, the
Democratic chairs of the Ways and Means, Appropriations and Commerce
committees would have BIPAC ratings of 2 percent, 1 percent and 5
percent, respectively, while the GOP incumbents are rated 100 percent, 95
percent and 98 percent.

A major point of contention is the House-passed Freedom From Religious
Persecution Act. The bill would ban exports to foreign government agencies
charged with persecution, cut off nonhumanitarian aid and require U.S.
opposition to loans by the IMF and other multilateral agencies to countries
that persecute.

The bill, a centerpiece of the religious right agenda, was criticized by
Thomas J . Donahue, president of the Chamber, who argued: "This
legislation would force a false choice between business and religion. . . .
Continuing U.S. company presence and engagement abroad is critical to the
inculcation of American civic values, including religious tolerance."

Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation countered: "American has to
be about more than simply making profits. The fact of the matter is that as 
a nation we always stood for something."

Staff writer Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report. 

          ) Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company

-------------------------------
Robert Naiman <naimanr@rtk.net>
Preamble Center for Public Policy
1737 21st NW
Washington, DC 20009
phone: 202-265-3263
fax:   202-265-3647
http://www.RTK.NET/preamble/
Date: 06/11/98 Time: 15:50:26
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