It’s hard to play “let’s make a deal” if clients won’t deal — which is exactly the problem tax lobbyists face.
The Senate last month failed to pass a bill that would have extended scores of valuable, expired corporate tax breaks. It was also loaded with billions of dollars in new levies to offset those breaks. Some businesses and trade associations supported the bill, despite the revenue-raising proposals, or offered only tepid opposition. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others remained firm in their dislike. But the bill may have offered a necessary trade-off to win support from lawmakers leery of deficit spending.
