Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Biden is aiming increasingly personal and sarcastic jabs at Trump

Views of the campus protests are too broad — and too narrow

Attorney general moves to reclassify marijuana as lower-risk drug

Use these 6 points to say no to a college you and your kid can’t afford

How this new rule protects retirement savers from costly advice

Borrowers, don’t miss this important student loan forgiveness deadline

A murder plot that cannot be ignored: India must come clean at last

How to confront antisemitism, deal with protests — and respect free speech

Is student loan debt an emergency? Take our quiz.

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

I learned to heal my sadness by cradling dying chickens 

Brave Little Hunter is free: Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

Man arrested at Yellowstone for allegedly kicking bison while drunk

Southwest passengers now get a $75 voucher for big flight disruptions

The Rick Steves guide to life

The delusions behind Biden’s plan for Middle East peace 

Middle East conflict live updates: Blinken meets Netanyahu in Jerusalem; U.S. presses Israel on Gaza aid

Is Bougainville the next battleground between China and the U.S.?

Biden’s internet-for-all program needs Musk’s help

Microsoft’s “responsible AI” chief worries about the open web

How the push to ban TikTok spurred a new Washington influence machine

Chance to move over .500 slips away as Nats lose to reigning champs

T.J. Oshie, the heart of the Caps, wants to keep playing. He’s not sure if he can.

Nationals sweep away the Marlins to get back to .500

Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

Meet Emo, the AI robot that can predict your smile

Speaker Johnson: deploy National Guard to Columbia

UnitedHealth grew very big. Now, some lawmakers want to chop it down.

The new face of flooding

How celebrity tequilas are changing the very nature of tequila

I coach my son’s sports team. Why is he so disrespectful during practice?

Miss Manners: How to decline donation requests at checkout

Ask Amy: My friends took my advice, but they’re doing it wrong

 Donald Trump Speaks During A Campaign Rally In Green Bay Wisconsin

Mandel Ngan

A torrent of political groups representing some of the country’s most influential corporations — including ExxonMobil, Pfizer and the Walt Disney Company — are laying the groundwork for a lobbying blitz to stop Congress from enacting significant swaths of President Biden’s $3.5 trillion economic agenda.

The emerging opposition appears to be vast, spanning drug manufacturers, big banks, tech titans, major retailers and oil-and-gas giants. In recent weeks, top Washington organizations representing these and other industries have started strategizing behind the scenes, seeking to scuttle key elements in Democrats’ proposed overhaul to federal health care, education and safety net programs.

Among the most active is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is starting to put together an economy-wide coalition to coordinate the fight against the still forming economic package, including its significant price tag, policy scope and potential for tax increases.

The effort could encompass traditional lobbying on Capitol Hill as well as advertising campaigns targeting Democratic lawmakers, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the discussions. The group has been in talks with potential allies such as the National Association of Manufacturers, whose board includes executives from firms such as Dow Inc., Exxon, Caterpillar and Johnson &amp; Johnson, the people said.

House passes $3.5 trillion budget plan, aims to vote on infrastructure package by late September

Other opponents include the Business Roundtable, whose board counts the chief executives from Apple and Walmart. The group similarly is preparing to fight corporate tax increases, which Democrats hope will fund their vast new spending. And the pharmaceutical industry has embarked on its own wide-ranging campaign to combat Democrats’ drug pricing proposals, another potential revenue source in the bill. Conservative outfits previously backed by the sector’s top trade group, known as PhRMA, have run recent ads claiming lawmakers’ plans would have worsened the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">coronavirus</a> pandemic.

The flurry of well-funded political activity only adds to the challenges facing Biden and his congressional allies as they seek to move one of his signature economic initiatives swiftly through Congress using a process known as reconciliation. The maneuver allows Democrats in the Senate to bypass a likely Republican filibuster and pass legislation with a simple majority.

But Democrats’ strategy can work only if the party’s narrow majority stays united at a time when they have few votes to spare. The task is likely to be tough, not least because of the overwhelming corporate lobbying barrage that awaits them.

“We’re doing it in every way you can imagine,” said Aric Newhouse, the senior vice president for policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, when asked about the group’s lobbying. He added that the tax increases Democrats have pursued would mean “manufacturing families will suffer, jobs will be lost.”

Disney, Pfizer and Exxon declined to comment. Jessica Boulanger, a spokeswoman for the Business Roundtable, said in a statement it is engaged in “a significant, multifaceted campaign” to stop tax hikes and would “continue to ramp up our efforts in the coming weeks.”

Brian Newell, a spokesman for PhRMA, stressed that the group supports general pricing reforms — just not the ideas Democrats are pursuing. “The industry is willing to come to the table and do its fair share to help deliver real relief to patients at the pharmacy, not empty promises that will do more harm than good,” he said in a statement.

Prospect of massive infrastructure package unleashes lobbying bonanza in Washington

The raft of lobbying arrives as lawmakers begin to translate Biden’s broader economic vision into legislation. Democratic leaders have said their reconciliation measure can expand Medicare coverage, offer universal prekindergarten, provide new help to low-income families, and invest substantial sums toward fighting climate change.

Hoping to give Biden a win, Democrats have aimed to send the package to his desk as soon as September. Their race to enact legislation has set off a mad dash on Capitol Hill, a process that is sure to test the president’s political influence — and the durability of Democrats’ narrow, potent and fractious majorities in both chambers of Congress.

In a sign of the obstacles Democrats face, the Chamber of Commerce last week <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/press-release/us-chamber-vows-defeat-reconciliation-hails-voting-deadline-bipartisan-infrastructure" target="_blank">took a firm stand</a> against the package, promising to do “everything we can” to prevent Congress from adopting it in full. The group’s president and chief executive, Suzanne Clark, issued the statement hours after the House adopted the $3.5 trillion budget that enabled Democrats to begin crafting tax and spending provisions — an approach, she said, that would “halt America’s fragile economic recovery.”

The Chamber’s opposition <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/08/04/infrastructure-lobbying-congress/" target="_blank">marked a major shift</a> in tone from earlier this summer, when the business lobby locked arms with Democrats to help advance another centerpiece of Biden’s economic agenda. The group threw its full weight behind a bipartisan Senate package to improve the nation’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and Internet connections, arguing that the roughly $1 trillion in fixes were long overdue.

Once the Senate adopted the package, however, the Chamber turned up the pressure on the House. Last week, for example, it unleashed widely viewed ads on Facebook praising the nine moderate Democrats who had threatened to block the party’s budget unless they could first secure a House vote on infrastructure spending. Democrats <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-democrats-infrastructure/2021/08/13/69e71d38-fc24-11eb-943a-c5cf30d50e6a_story.html" target=_blank>ultimately resolved their internal stalemate</a>, paving the way for both packages to proceed this month, but not before the Chamber sought to highlight the party’s internal divisions in ads that together received millions of views.

The Chamber declined to comment about its plans, including the behind-the-scenes work to assemble a coalition. Neil Bradley, the group’s executive vice president, blasted Democrats for pursuing a bill “that proposes to fundamentally rewrite the rules of the road across virtually every major industrial sector.”

Democrats, Republicans and businesses gird for battle over Biden’s proposed tax hikes

Other corporate interests are training their sights on Democrats’ plans to pay for the bill through tax increases on businesses. Biden has proposed to raise the corporate rate to 28 percent from 21 percent, along with a slew of additional changes targeting profits earned overseas. The move has spawned outrage from companies that had spent significant sums four years ago to secure more favorable tax rules under President Donald Trump.

The list of opponents includes the RATE Coalition, which counts support from Capital One, Disney, FedEx, Lowe’s and Lockheed Martin. Over the next few months, the group is preparing a seven-figure digital advertising campaign to oppose Democrats’ plans and highlight businesses that might be hurt in the process, according to a person with knowledge of the effort, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the planning.

“Any increase in the rate would position our country even further behind global competitors like China — and carry devastating consequences for American workers,” said former senator Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat who serves as the group’s chief adviser.

The ad blitz evinces the broader philosophical divides between corporate America and congressional Democrats over the future of the economy. Many business leaders say the policies enacted in the era of deregulation under Trump contributed to significant economic gains until the coronavirus arrived. But Democrats sharply disagree, stressing that Trump’s tax cuts primarily benefited the wealthy — all the while leaving too many workers struggling to make ends meet.

The debate framed the course of the 2020 presidential election, and it looms large over the congressional midterms next year, putting new pressure on Democrats to sell their vision to voters to prevail. Their political task could prove all the more complicated if the party’s candidates have to weather a well-funded deluge of critical advertisements, particularly from angry corporate interests that hope to end Democrats’ majorities in Congress.

“A lot of Americans live in districts represented by more moderate candidates, and those members don’t necessarily know whether they’re going to be in office in a couple years” said Sarah Bryner, director of research and strategy at the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks lobbying spending. “By targeting people in districts of what we might say are vulnerable members, which tend to be more centrist, companies hope to exert pressure essentially.”

Power Up: New GOP group to launch ads against reconciliation package in New Hampshire and Arizona

The advertising has been especially aggressive on changes to prescription drug pricing, as the pharmaceutical industry — arguably the most well resourced in Washington — seeks to stave off Democrats’ latest proposals.

Party lawmakers in the House and Senate have eyed a variety of ideas that would empower Medicare to negotiate rates on behalf of seniors, saving patients money while covering some of the costs of the reconciliation package. But the industry’s leading lobbying group, PhRMA, for years has argued that Democrats’ ideas would result in fewer lifesaving drugs making it to market.

To raise its voice, PhRMA has poured more than $15 million into lobbying Washington this year, its federal disclosures show. Working on behalf of members including AbbVie, AstraZeneca and Pfizer, it also appears to have mobilized through an intricate web of outside political organizations. Many of these groups, which have taken PhRMA money in the past, have run ads sharply criticizing Democrats, including the party’s most vulnerable lawmakers entering the 2022 midterms.

One such group, the right-leaning American Action Network, in August <a href="https://twitter.com/AAN/status/1425446514697150464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3AAAN%7Ctwgr%5EeyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19%7Ctwcon%5Etimelinechrome&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Famericanactionnetwork.org%2F" target=_blank>announced</a> a $5 million ad campaign against Democrats that blasted the reconciliation package broadly and likened its drug pricing proposals to socialism. The network has received past support from PhRMA, including a $4.5 million donation reported on the pharmaceutical group’s 2019 tax filings, which were obtained by The Washington Post from the Center for Responsive Politics. The American Action Network did not respond to a request for comment.

A separate ad blitz arrived this summer during the Olympics, when an organization billing itself as the Coalition Against Socialized Medicine took aim at Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), leader of the Finance Committee that oversees prescription drug pricing.

“Imagine a future in which a coronavirus vaccine was never discovered,” began the 30-second television spot, before flashing images of emptied classrooms, shuttered storefronts and Americans sleeping on the streets. Faulting Wyden’s proposals, the ad concluded, “It won’t be hard to imagine at all.”

The coalition credits itself to the work of the American Conservative Union, along with the public backing of other right-leaning groups, including American Commitment, FreedomWorks and Heritage Action. Each of the organizations has received thousands of dollars in past support from PhRMA, according to copies of the drug lobby’s 2017, 2018 and 2019 tax filings with the IRS, the most recent available.

The coalition did not respond to a request for comment. PhRMA, meanwhile, declined to comment on the ads. Debra DeShong, the group’s executive vice president of public affairs, previously said in a statement that Democrats’ plans threaten to “turn Medicare into a piggy bank to fund projects that have nothing to do with lowering out-of-pocket costs for medicines.”

The opposition has not sat well with lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), leader of the Budget Committee, who chiefly crafted the measure that enables Democrats’ reconciliation package. In an interview this summer, he rebuked the industry’s efforts as a “sign of the greed that pervades corporate America.”

“These guys don’t lose,” Sanders said when asked about the expected lobbying barrage. “They’re going to lose this round.”

American University, BA in Journalism

Tony Romm is the economic policy and accountability reporter at The Washington Post. 


Tony Romm

washpost

the-washington-post

Contributor

AFP/Getty Images

Getty

US-POLITICS-ECONOMY-CONGRESS

name

iptc-media/politics/political_process/lobbying

iptc-media/politics/government_policy/taxation

iptc-media/health

iptc-media/politics/political_process/political_parties_and_movements

iptc-media/health/healthcare_policy

iptc-media/politics/political_process

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance

iptc-media/health/healthcare_policy/government_health_care

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/media

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economy/macro_economics/budgets_and_budgeting

iptc-media/politics/government

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economy

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/media/advertising

iptc-media/politics/government/government_budget

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economy/macro_economics

iptc-media/science_and_technology

iptc-media/politics/government_policy

iptc-media/politics/election

iptc-media/politics

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021- INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Bed Bath & Beyond KWs - INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Apple Content_legacyaux_wxg

advertising/B2_Lobbying and Advocacy_legacyaux_tu4

advertising/B2_Asian Content_legacyaux_8xg

advertising/B2_Automotive Interest 2.5.15_legacyaux_jqs

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Discover Card KWs – INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Ronald McDonald House KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Diageo - Johnnie Walker KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Flu, Sickness & Virus Content

advertising/Coronavirus Content

advertising/B2_Economy_legacyaux_rok

client-blocklists/ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - INCLUDES ALL

advertising/Blackrock - Finance and Investing Content

client-blocklists/Client List: Showtime KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/B2_Budgets and Funding_legacyaux_1wd

client-blocklists/Client List: Apple TV+ KW – INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Business_legacyaux_hws

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

advertising/B2_Campaigns and Campaign Finance_legacyaux_l7e

client-blocklists/Client Neg KW List: Omega KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/PMI KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Companies_legacyaux_ieb

advertising/B2_Congressional Elections_legacyaux_r48

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Blockist: Capitol Building Mob

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Capital One (One Tech) KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Corporate Responsibility_legacyaux_FTM

client-blocklists/Client List: IBM KWs ALTERNATE Watson - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/B2_Cyber Security & Intelligence Community_legacyaux_E8X

client-blocklists/Client List: Citibank KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Entrepreneurship_legacyaux_sqb

client-blocklists/Citibank KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Fortune 500 Content

advertising/Qualcomm Custom KW - 5G

advertising/B2_Finance_legacyaux_jfq

advertising/B2_Government & Policy_legacyaux_mza

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Client Keywords: On Running

advertising/Racing and Nascar Enthusiasts

advertising/Siemens Continuum - 9.28.2021

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Institutional Investors 

advertising/ESG

client-blocklists/National Instruments KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T Digital Divide  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Samsung 2021 KWs - INCLUDE ANY

advertising/B2_Pharmaceuticals_legacyaux_ar0

advertising/B2_Policy and Regulation_legacyaux_qe2

advertising/B2_Politically Active - DO NOT REMOVE_legacyaux_lmp

advertising/B2_Politics and Policy_legacyaux_pay

advertising/B2_Politics_legacyaux_8f3

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

advertising/B2_STEM Enthusiasts_legacyaux_gx0

advertising/B2_Trade and Commerce_legacyaux_ebh

advertising/B2_Transportation, Logistics, and Industry_legacyaux_kre

advertising/B2_Young Professional / International Businessman_legacyaux_r5x

client-blocklists/Client List: GEICO KWs

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Novo Nordisk KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Inpixon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

prism://prism.query/site,/us-policy/economic-policy&limit=20

Economic Policy

prism://prism.query/site,/us-policy&limit=20

Corporate America launches massive lobbying blitz to kill key parts of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion economic plan

Drug makers, big banks, tech giants and others are preparing to fight the party’s package, including its proposals for raising taxes