Business is in complete control of the machinery of government. The House, the Senate and the White House are all run by business-friendly Republicans who are deeply indebted to American business for their electoral victories. 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. Credit-card companies are getting a bankruptcy bill that will make it harder for overstretched people who succumbed to these companies' blandishments ever to get out from under the resulting debts.
Oil companies are on the way to obtaining rights to drill on Alaska's coastal plain.
Cigarette manufacturers are confident the administration will drop the federal lawsuit against them. Pharmaceutical companies are hoping to get longer patent protections. Airlines with labor problems can count on White House actions to ward off strikes. And so on. In normal times when business has to cope with some political resistance its leaders are forced to set strict priorities.