Business Groups See Loss of Sway Over House G.O.P.

An article in today’s New York Times takes a look at how business is starting to view their chosen party, and it’s not pretty.

"…frustration has grown so intense in recent days that several trade association officials warned in interviews on Wednesday that they were considering helping wage primary campaigns against Republican lawmakers who had worked to engineer the political standoff in Washington."

Here’s the thing that I don’t think the new Republicans understood: the US government is a really big economic engine. Really, really big. Bigger than any other in the world. When the US government spends money, most of the time, it’s going directly to the pockets of people who are going to spend that money inside the US.*

When those people stop having that money, they stop spending it. When they stop spending it, other companies go out of business. This kind of impact is extremely far-reaching. There are about 4.1 million federal employees. Most of those have not been furloughed, but some 800,000 have. Another million or so are working without pay, and still have to conserve as much money as possible. Those people are now no longer making purchases that feed the rest of the economy. Local restaurants won’t be getting normal customers. Online & local retailers won’t be getting purchases. Grocery stores will make fewer & smaller sales. Entertainment expenses will be curtailed. Financial companies don’t get 401k contributions, and those contributions aren’t reinvested in American companies. The loss of pay for 1.8 million Americans has disastrous effects on the rest of American business.

Even if you hate the idea of big government, you absolutely must concede this point if you’re going to be considered a functionally competent and astute citizen. The way to smaller government (which I tend to agree with) is through careful planning and staggered reduction, not via shock and awe style tactics. When you employ those, you’re also going to anger another segment of the business world - the financial sector. Financial turmoil may be great for day traders, but abysmal for the overall health of the economy.

If there’s one sector that Washington traditionally hates to disappoint, it’s finance. They directly influence elections through large campaign contributions, and the sway between having financial considerations switch parties significantly impacts election maps.

Conservatives are described by their desire for moderate to low modifications to society and business. They favor slow and steady over radical change. Increasingly, it has become clear that the new Republican party is no longer conservative - they are radical idealists with an inability to reason. The new Republicans want drastic change, and they want it now.

They’ve forgotten their way, and they’re neglecting their constituents. However, this time, the constituents they’re neglecting aren’t you and I, they’re big business, and corporations have a very, very long memory.

* Certainly, there are exceptions. We spend a lot on foreign aid. We house and maintain foreign military bases, where soldiers spend money abroad. Certain government programs end up offering subsidies that benefit foreign interests through shell company shenanigans. Etc.