Depletion is serious. With the fetters off the business lobbies that were somewhat restrained during the past eight years, all bets at controlling business influence are off. A bankruptcy bill that will make it more difficult for average consumers to get out from under credit card debts has whizzed through Congress. Banks, of course, were among the big contributors to the Bush campaign. It's payback time for campaign funds.
Favors beget more favors.
No industry is going to overlook the special treatment bestowed on another. As Robert Reich, former labor secretary under the Clinton administration, pointed out in a recent New York Times op-ed piece, no one is left to stem the flow. Business is in complete control of the machinery of government. If corporate America understood its long-term interest, it would use this unique moment to establish in the public's mind the principle that business can be trusted. But it's doing the opposite, and the danger for American business as a whole is profound.