The former chief of staff to incoming U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking in Atlanta on Wednesday, warned companies not to expect smooth sailing in the new Democrat-controlled Congress. George Crawford, currently an advisor in the Washington, D.C. office of Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding LLP, joined former U.S. Sens. Daniel Coats (R-Ill.) and Connie Mack (R-Fla.) and partner Thomas Spulak for a Nov. 29 forum on what businesses should expect from the new majority.
Crawford and the other panel members told King & Spalding clients that Democrats will move quickly to investigate large corporations, particularly those in the energy and pharmaceutical sectors. "Business is going to have to earn what they get out of this Democratic Congress," Crawford said.
I think that's a reference to campaign contributions, don't you?
Spulak, who served as House general counsel under Tom Foley, the last Democratic speaker, said the party will use committee debates to highlight what it sees as breeches of the public trust by the administration and the private sector, especially when it comes to drug prices, oil company profits and post-Hurricane Katrina insurance rates.
With the party's agenda driven in no small part by its liberal base, count on Democrats to make a lot of noise about how companies "have taken advantage of the American public," Spulak said.
Corporations also will have less access to lawmakers than in previous years, as Pelosi is expected to slap strict new rules on lobbyists to eliminate the "culture of corruption" Democrats claim Republicans allowed to grow under their leadership. To counter the coming storm, Crawford and Spulak suggest businesses ramp up their public relations efforts in order to get equal time for their arguments in the media.
When not directly attacking big business, Democrats will push for an increase in the minimum wage, altering the alternative minimum tax to benefit the middle class, more government-run health care, stem cell research and environmental issues, according to the panel.
"The impression that we're working together won't last too long," said Mack, a senior policy advisor at the firm and former chairman of President George Bush's federal tax reform advisory committee.
Killing the Golden Goose is always on the DhimmiDonk agenda.