Losing Their (S)way

A New York Times article yesterday highlighted something that shouldn't come as a surprise: Business groups that traditionally (and still) donate large sums of money to the Republican party have found that they are losing their sway over the current manifestation of said group. Despite the support they receive from pro-business groups, many Republicans are refusing to advocate, vote for, or put forward ideas and policies that are seen as good for business.

There is an important but distinct conversation to be had about how effective the ideas of some of those pro-business groups actually are, and how the good ones should be balanced with the good ideas of of pro-labor or pro-regulatory groups, but I don't want to delve into that here. Instead I'd like to reflect on the "well, of course" reaction I had when I read this piece.

Business groups are losing their sway because the Republican Party has lost its way. Once seen as the party of business, the current tea party led group is so intellectually incompetent that their current escapades - let's not pretend that anything done by this group is substantive enough not to be an escapade - have terrified business leaders who are losing money because of the government shutdown and who are - rightfully - terrified of a default. For years, Republicans were the party of business because they advocated policies that were anti-labor, anti-regulation, and pro-free market. There is validity around much of these ideas (perhaps not at the extremes proposed by some Republicans), and a substantial and thorough conversation between moderate pro-business Republicans and moderate pro-labor, pro-regulation Democrats could lead us to a happy, sustainable, and prosperous middle ground. It made complete sense that pro-business groups would support anti-labor, anti-regulation Republican lawmakers.

Many of the current ilk probably share those anti-labor, anti-regulation views, but their fanatical obsession with Obamacare and their preposterous apocalyptic vision of his presidency has pulled them over the cliff of lunacy. Their anti-Obama crusade has created such instability in government that it is not only hurting their party nationally, but is strangling businesses. Obamacare may not be the most pro-business policy in the world, but it's nowhere near as harmful as the tea party-induced government shutdown or the threat of a default.

So when you read that business groups are losing their sway over the Republican party, the natural reaction is "duh." After all, stability is good for business, and the extremist fringe of the party is so hellbent on getting its way that its members are willing to resort to anything - including blackmail, extortion, and temper tantrums - to see their will be done, no matter how insipid or harmful that will is. The resulting instability is worse than any policy prescription for business, and thus ends the story about how the Republican party has lost its way and the business groups supporting it have lost their sway.