A lot of us around here — and a lot of my e-mailers — are proud proponents of the “don’t just do something, stand there!” school of legislating. It’s rare to hear an actual legislator advocate as much. But Sen. Jim DeMint is no average legislator:
“I’ve been told by businesses that if we would stop the tax increases the best thing that could happen for business after that is complete gridlock. At least gridlock is predictable,” he tells Bloomberg Businessweek, taking a quick break between TV appearances. His goal, he says, is to stop programs that violate his anti-Big Government ideology. “What happens in the Senate is the Republicans sink to the lowest common denominator,” he says. “People want an alternative to some kind of watered-down Republican philosophy.”
That’s right. If they can’t get a pro-market regulatory environment in Harry Reid’s Senate, businesses want at least regulatory certainty. They won’t hire or spend capital until they have it.