While it’s pleasant to have the people that we’ve been trying to tell this finally get this:

Mr. Seidenberg, officially Verizon’s CEO, moonlights as chairman of the influential Business Roundtable, the “association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies.” That would be the same Business Roundtable that woke up this past month to discover the White House has been playing it for a patsy. It turns out that actively supporting a pro-tax, pro-regulation Democratic majority on issues like health care doesn’t really get you anything save more taxes and more regulation.

This has clearly come as a shock to the Business Roundtable, as Mr. Seidenberg made clear this week with his newsy and newfound criticism of the White House. The chairman revealed in a speech to the Economic Club of Washington that he’d become “somewhat troubled” by a “disconnect between Washington and the business community.” Here he and his fellow CEOs had “worked closely with policy makers”—they’d even pushed ObamaCare. And yet! “We see a host of laws, regulations and policies being enacted that impose a government prescription” on private actors. Truth was, Washington had created a downright “hostile environment” for job creation!

…there’s the problem that it’s not enough to come to your senses; you have to do something about it. I have a humble suggestion for Mr. Seidenberg and his colleagues.

For this trick to work Mr. Seidenberg (or someone else in his position) needs to do the following (read this fully before implementation):

1. Find a Democratic federal legislator who will in fact survive this November’s election.  This may take some time.
2. Prepare four personal checks: one to the candidate, one to the DNC, one to the DCCC, and one to the DSCC.  All four checks should be for the full amount permissible under federal campaign finance law.
3. Invite said legislator to your office.
4. Show the four checks to the legislator.  Make certain that the legislator understands that those checks are real and tangible.
5. Take out an ashtray and a lighter.
6. BURN ALL FOUR CHECKS IN FRONT OF THE LEGISLATOR.
7. Have your personal assistant escort the legislator out of the office.
8. (Not-really-optional) Write out four more checks (for the same amount as the burned checks): one to a pro-business (ie, Republican) candidate, one to the RNC, one to the NRCC, and one to the NRSC.  Do not burn this; mail them, instead.

You see, a lot of these people don’t get ideological arguments, or are really checked out on the need for empathy in one’s daily life. But they get the gist of pragmatic arguments like the above just fine.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.