Capital Commerce: Business weighs in on Roberts
Don't think "abortion" when you ponder the issues that will weigh heavily in the confirmation process for President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, U.S. Circuit Judge John Roberts.
Instead, think business tax breaks. That's what the National Association of Manufacturers and some other business advocacy groups are saying.
Under the new leadership of John Engler, former Michigan governor and GOP stalwart, NAM is preparing to get involved in the process in a big way. The organization has convened a committee of 10 chief counsels of manufacturing firms to review Roberts's record. (NAM won't reveal their names because the organization does not want the members to be lobbied, a spokeswoman says.)
Engler has frequently said that although social issues like abortion get the most attention, 80 percent of the high court's docket concerns business issues like employment discrimination, contracts, and torts.
The big business case now pending before the Supreme Court, for example, has to do with whether states have the right to lure businesses inside their borders with juicy tax breaks. Of course, the practice has gone on for years, but a backlash has been slowly building, and last year, a federal appeals court struck down an Ohio program that gave DaimlerChrysler land and $280 million in tax breaks for expanding a Jeep plant in Toledo. The court said such programs were unconstitutional for interfering with the flow of commerce among the states, thus calling into question numerous similar business incentive programs across the nation. NAM, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other business groups are urging the Supreme Court to hear the Ohio case and make the country safe once again for corporate enticements.
As for Roberts, the manufacturers' group does not plan to make any announcement yea or nay until its committee is done its review work, but the NAM blog—unable to contain itself—is telegraphing support for the nominee. NAM pooh-poohed the Washington Post's story that Roberts once was a member of the conservative Federalist Society and blasted the media for ignoring "real news"—the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades sent a letter of support to the Senate Judiciary Committee.