The party of business won't take calls from the business community...
"
Business leaders are increasingly warning Republicans that their
refusal to lift the nation's ability to borrow more money could badly
damage the economy, but the GOP, under ferocious pressure from
conservatives to force budget concessions from President Barack Obama,
are standing their ground.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other
groups have actively engaged lawmakers for weeks and say that while they
agree with the need for reforms, the top priority should be avoiding
the default that a failure to OK another debt ceiling increase would
bring.
"Our top lobbyists are continuing to talk to scores of
members of Congress and their staff urging them to address this and stop
kicking the can down the road," U.S. Chamber spokeswoman Blair Latoff
Holmes told Yahoo News. "It is up to lawmakers and the administration to
find common ground and reach a deal that will fund the government and
raise the debt limit to avoid default. We will continue to make that
case to everyone who will listen."
But this time, Republicans aren't listening to the business community.
In September, the Chamber joined more than 250 business associations and advocacy groups urging the House Republicans to avoid a government shutdown and pass a bill that Obama would sign to raise the debt ceiling.
Republicans ignored them by refusing to back down from a demand to delay
a key piece of the president's health care law, which resulted in a
government shutdown. Now, with less than 10 days left to raise the debt
ceiling, they are poised to ignore pleas from the business community
again.
The potential consequence of not raising the debt ceiling
could be far more disastrous than a temporary pause in government
services. On Tuesday, House Republicans emerged from a private
conference-wide meeting in the Capitol basement and announced they still
do not intend to pass a "clean" debt ceiling hike ? one with no strings
attached ? as Obama demands. The president has said multiple times that
he will not negotiate on the debt limit. (It is widely believed among Republicans that he is bluffing.) They want to tie broad spending cuts and budget reforms to the vote.
While
business groups acknowledge that major bills like the debt ceiling have
historically offered opportunities for major reform, they are pressing
lawmakers not to take their negotiations past the Oct. 17 date set by
the Treasury Department that could risk default.
"In
the back and forth of legislative wrangling, Congress and the
administration should not lose sight of the fact that both the
continuing resolution and the debt ceiling are and remain must-pass
legislation, and that the debt ceiling specifically must pass on a
timely basis to avoid inflicting substantial and enduring damage on the
U.S. economy," R. Bruce Josten, the Chamber's executive vice president
for government relations, told Yahoo News.
At best, groups like the Chamber would prefer that Congress pass a debt limit increase now and deal with budget reforms later......".
GOP not taking calls