What the Chamber wants 2024 candidates to know before the debate

From: POLITICO Influence - Tuesday Aug 22,2023 10:22 pm
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By Caitlin Oprysko

With help from Daniel Lippman

FIRST IN PI  — CHAMBER POLLING: BUTT OUT OF BUSINESS: As (most of) the Republican presidential hopefuls gear up for tomorrow night’s first primary debate, a new memo based on polling from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and shared exclusively with PI looks to discourage the use of corporate America as a political punching bag, arguing to candidates on both sides of the aisle that voters are not interested in political “micromanagement” of business decisions.

— “As we head into election season, the message is clear: Whether you are courting Republican, Democratic, or independent voters, candidates will be well served to run as pro-business candidates focused on solutions that support jobs and America’s free enterprise system,” Ashlee Rich Stephenson, the Chamber’s senior political strategist, writes in the memo.

— In a matchup between three hypothetical candidates — one who favors more disclosure of companies’ ESG efforts; one who favors government intervention to rescue companies from large “woke” investors; and one who “says that whether it comes from the right or the left, government micromanaging of business is a bad idea” — the last of those candidates received a plurality of 40 percent support, according to the Chamber’s memo. That included support from 53 percent of Republicans, 43 percent of independents and a little over a quarter of Democrats, which the memo says tracks with other recent polls of GOP voters.

North Star Opinion Research polled 1,327 registered voters between June 17-22 for the Chamber. Among the survey’s other findings were that voters across the ideological spectrum agreed that businesses are a force for good. The poll found that Republican and independent voters trust even large companies more than the federal government, with Democrats rating the federal government only slightly more trustworthy. More than three quarters of Republicans polled and nearly 6 in 10 independents polled favored less government intervention in the economy.

— The memo is a clear rebuttal to the business community’s increasing political alienation, particularly in a GOP primary in which one of the top-polling candidates has made his political fights with massive corporations a central part of their campaign and as Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to distance themselves from the business lobby while lambasting “woke” corporations.

— In addition to the polling memo, the Chamber’s top lobbyist Neil Bradley is outlining what the organization will be watching for from candidates tomorrow night in Milwaukee. Among the issues the Chamber hopes to hear about are candidates’ plans to address worker shortages and expand U.S. trade, according to a blog post by Bradley shared with PI ahead of its publication.

— Bradley also calls on the candidates to discuss ways to create stability for businesses in a political climate that sees the branches of government routinely flip back and forth between each party, among the Chamber’s chief grievances.

— “How can candidates provide more certainty to small and large businesses by working with Congress (regardless of party affiliation) to provide smart, pro-growth policies that will last longer than the two to four years until the next election and secure American economic strength well into [the] future?” Bradley asks in the blog post.

Happy Tuesday, welcome to PI. If you’re a 2024 candidate and you’d like to respond to Bradley’s questions, my inbox is open: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

 

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WALL STREET READIES FOR CREDIT CARD FEE SHOWDOWN: Banks and credit card providers are launching a lobbying blitz as the industry prepares for a fight this fall with policymakers seeking to rein various fees credit cards charge their customers. The Consumer Bankers Association is dubbing the effort “Washington Wallet Watch,” which will take aim at both the impending CFPB rule that would cap how much companies can penalize customers for overdue payments, as well as legislation in Congress seeking to dilute the market dominance of large card issuers and their control over the interchange fees merchants must pay to process their transactions.

— “Americans rely on credit cards to pay bills and earn rewards now more than ever,” CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson said in a statement announcing the new campaign. “Despite this fact, Washington politicians are seeking to ‘fix’ a credit card system that isn’t broken by advancing ideologically driven policy proposals devoid of facts or reality.”

— Johnson argued that the CFPB rule in particular, the final version of which is expected in a matter of weeks, “would raise costs and restrict access for the millions of American households and small businesses that use credit cards to make ends meet, pay for emergency expenses, and cover the costs of everyday purchases.”

— CBA’s campaign will include a website with resources and industry talking points, as well as a planned media buy timed for Congress’ return to Washington next month, targeting not only lawmakers but “their constituents, many of whom would be directly harmed should these proposals take effect,” spokesperson Weston Loyd told PI, though he declined to discuss the budget for the campaign.

— Meanwhile CBA member Mastercard, a key target of policymakers’ efforts to ding credit card companies, has boosted its lobbying power as the fight ramps up, according to newly filed disclosures. The card giant in July retained Tower 19’s Jed Bhuta, who has in turn tapped Lincoln Park Group’s Reilly O’Connor as a subcontractor to lobby on swipe fee bills, according to the filings.

EY ADDS DEM ENERGY TAX VET: Aruna Kalyanam is leaving the Biden administration, where she served as deputy assistant secretary for tax and budget in Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs, to join EY as principal in its sustainability tax practice.

— Prior to that, Kalyanam spent more than two decades on the Hill as a Democratic tax counsel on the House Ways and Means Committee and staff director on the panel’s tax subcommittee, where she oversaw a portfolio including renewable energy, energy efficiency, and infrastructure.

DID FACEBOOK WALK SO PAYPAL COULD RUN?: PayPal’s stablecoin is likely to succeed where Facebook’s failed, thanks to the payment giant’s standing in Washington and policymakers’ greater understanding of the issues in the last three years,” Reuters Hannah Lang reports.

— “PayPal this month said it was launching PayPal USD, a crypto token pegged to the U.S. dollar, making it the second major global company to launch a stablecoin after Facebook, now Meta Platforms, unveiled Libra in June 2019. The move, which comes as PayPal transitions to a new CEO announced last week, seems risky after Facebook’s stablecoin was crushed by political opposition, and as regulators home in on the crypto sector following several meltdowns.”

— “But PayPal is in a stronger position than Facebook, said former officials, executives and analysts. Policymakers are more familiar with stablecoins, crypto tokens typically pegged to a fiat currency, than they were in 2019. A push to create federal stablecoin regulations has also helped boost their legitimacy in the eyes of lawmakers.”

— “‘The world has changed dramatically since Facebook’s Libra project. There was no familiarity with stablecoins whatsoever,’ said Christopher Giancarlo, former chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. ‘Since then, the administration, Congress and the Federal Reserve have had time to get their minds around stablecoins and stablecoin regulation and there has been very extensive public relations by the industry, including a lot of lobbying.’”

— “In contrast to Facebook, a social media giant that had been under sustained scrutiny over privacy issues and Russian election interference, PayPal is an established financial operator in Washington.”

Jobs Report

Alisha Hathaway has joined The Alexander Group as managing director and will open a D.C. office for the executive search firm. She was previously a consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates.

Richard Cappetto is joining electronics group IPC as senior director for North American government relations. He previously was chief customer officer in the House.

Bilal Baydoun has joined Groundwork Collaborative as director of policy and research. Baydoun was most recently an editor at The Appeal and is a Clinton Foundation alum.

Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions is elevating Tiffany Koch to chief of staff and adding Sarah Geary as media and communications manager. Geary previously worked in government and public affairs at LKQ Corp.

Bullpen Strategy Group is adding George Hartmann as vice president of communications (previously deputy communications director for the Senate Budget GOP), Valerie Chicola as senior director of communications (previously at Targeted Victory), Evan Gassman as vice president of digital, and Alex Koch and Ryan McDowell as directors of research.

Alicia Molt-West will join Emerson Collective as director of policy and government affairs. She is leaving the White House, where she served as special assistant to the president in the Office of Legislative Affairs.

Weston Loyd is now vice president and press secretary for the Consumer Bankers Association. He was most recently communications director for a gubernatorial campaign and is a Brunswick Group, Edelman and Trump White House alum.

William Chou has joined the Hudson Institute as a Japan chair fellow. He was formerly at the Reagan Institute and the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

BE THE TERM LIMIT PAC (PAC)

KENNEDY24NORTHEAST (Super PAC)

McKenzie River PAC (Leadership PAC: VALERIE HOYLE)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Carmen Group Incorporated: Cross River Bank

Engelke Consutling, LLC: Engelke Consutling, LLC

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP: Nacero, Inc.

Government Relations Group, LLC: Tenant Evaluation LLC

Kairos Government Affairs: Sbt Distributors LLC

Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Adm

Ryan Costello Strategies: Pharmaceutical Care Management Association

Tower 19: Mastercard, Inc

New Lobbying Terminations

Government Solutions LLC: Ginkgo Bioworks

 

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