The differences over the debt ceiling present a problem for corporate donors, who helped create the House Republican majority by shifting their contributions away from Democrats last year. The Chamber, which is Washington’s biggest lobbying organization, also spent millions on advertising in support of GOP challengers.
The Public Campaign Action Fund, a liberal-leaning advocacy group that favors public financing of elections, calculates that the Chamber and the financial services sector together spent nearly $20 million on GOP midterm candidates affiliated with the conservative tea party movement. Those rank-and-file Republicans now form the backbone of opposition to any new tax revenue, including Democratic proposals to end loopholes benefiting hedge fund managers, corporate jet owners, and oil and gas companies.
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Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proposed a "back-up plan" that would allow Congress to raise the debt ceiling with just a one-third of votes.
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VIDEO: Will we hit the debt ceiling?
Lobbying groups for Wall Street — a sector that would take a direct and devastating hit if the debt ceiling is not raised — have largely avoided public statements on the issue. That is in contrast to their vehement campaigning against parts of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill, including the limits on the fees they can charge merchants for debit transactions.
Wall Street lobbyists and other business groups preferred private meetings with GOP members to educate them on the consequences of a default. Several lobbyists also met Monday afternoon with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to repeat their concerns.
Some Democrats have criticized business leaders for failing to speak up forcefully in the debt-limit debate.
“Maybe business leaders think that this debate is just political theater and assume that a deal will emerge,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote in an op-ed article in The Washington Post last week. “Maybe they don’t believe politicians who declare that they will never vote to raise the debt ceiling or casually rule out entitlement reform or a penny of additional revenue.”
In their letter, the business groups warned that even a “technical default” is “a risk our country must not take.”
“A great nation — like a great company — has to be relied upon to pay its debts when they become due,” the letter reads. “This is a Main Street not Wall Street issue. Treasury securities influence the cost of financing not just for companies but more importantly for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and student debt. A default would risk both disarray in those markets and a host of unintended consequences.”
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