Lobbyists for the nation’s leading business groups have been toasting
the success of what they describe as an unprecedented effort this year
to help elect President Bush and Republican congressional candidates.
Now they plan to collect on that investment…

The list, according to interviews with lobbyists and trade
associations, includes making tax cuts for capital gains and dividends
permanent, limiting liability lawsuits, changing bankruptcy laws and
opening previously restricted land in Alaska and elsewhere for energy
exploration.

Business groups also count on more narrow shifts,
such as changing health insurance rules in a way that benefits some of
the GOP’s most ardent allies, easing corporate government reform
measures at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and making specific
adjustments to the tax code.

It’s a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.

U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq
failed during last year

For three days, the commission