Tea Party may mess with special interests in business

Interest groups love the Democrats and the Republicans-- a lot of lip service for us while they dish out expensive favors.

Here's an interesting angle-- from Brody Mullins and Naftali Bendavid-- in the WSJ (hat tip: Linda Christiansen)...

Business leaders and lobbyists are increasingly worried that the election of tea party-backed Republican candidates to Congress might threaten their priorities next year, fearing that these candidates' anti-spending fervor and opposition to special tax breaks would jeopardize prized programs.

Business leaders clearly prefer a Republican-controlled Congress to a Democratic one, judging from their statements, endorsements and campaign contributions....

And campaign donations from the business community, along with voter anger at Washington's current leadership, are playing an important role in helping Republicans as they try to regain control of the House and Senate in the November elections.

But amid that support, some executives and lobbyists say they are growing spooked by the populist rhetoric they are hearing from some tea-party Republicans.

Some candidates have said they want to take aim at a $30 billion annual package of tax breaks for a range of businesses—among them Wall Street firms, the timber industry, fast-food restaurants and the owners of NASCAR racetracks.

Also in the line of fire are programs that many businesses have backed or at least quietly accepted as crisis measures, including the stimulus bill, the Wall Street and auto-industry rescues, the now-expired "cash-for-clunkers" car trade-in initiative and the temporary homebuyer's tax credit....

Congress is also scheduled to take up a multibillion-dollar farm bill in 2011 that includes expensive subsidies for crops and farmers. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Senate candidate who was backed by the tea-party movement, has been critical of farm subsidies....

The tensions also reflect a broader conflict between business leaders and the GOP platform more generally.

The business community is largely behind the Republicans this year, yet businesses have strongly favored Democratic initiatives that are under direct attack from Republicans. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported President Barack Obama's 2009 stimulus package and the auto-industry bailout—two programs that GOP candidates have frequently decried.

These conflicts mattered less as long as the Republicans were in the minority. But if they seize control of at least one chamber of Congress, the disputes could flare into the open.