Boom Times for Lobbyists

The line snaked out of the Treasury Department building onto the sidewalk and down the street. Lobbyists in three-piece suits and Gucci shoes were waiting for the Treasury Department's 262-page, blue-bound Tax Reform for Fairness, Simplicity and Economic Growth. The Government printed 5,500 copies but quickly sold out the $8 volume, so great was the demand. Marveled a Treasury spokesman: "It looked like a soup kitchen for the well-heeled."

Even as the assault began on tax reform, scores of other special interests mobilized to sink the wish list of spending cuts floated by Budget Director David Stockman. Rarely if ever have so many of Washington's more than 10,000 lobbyists been aroused at the same time. Indeed, the Administration's sweeping proposals may have touched off the ultimate lobbying war, one that will force Congressmen to choose between uplifting notions like "fairness" and "simplicity," and down-to-earth concerns like PAC money and political survival.

Judging from the opening fusillade of press releases, not just the three-martini lunch but the welfare of the republic hangs in the balance. Cutting back tax deductions for entertainment and business meals "is not only bad tax policy but also an unsound way to further the goals of strengthening the economy," intoned the Distilled Spirits Council. Taxing health-and life-insurance fringe benefits "threatens the financial security of millions of working Americans," cried the American Council of Life Insurance. And phasing out accelerated depreciation "would end up lowering the standard of living of the 30 million Americans who rent," warned the National Apartment Association. The pro-depreciation forces were ready with alternative plans, namely a national sales tax or value-added tax. "We know the best defense is a good offense," said Mark Bloomfield of the American Council for Capital Formation.

"We're reacting quickly and massively," said Richard Schweiker, the former Senator and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary who now runs the American Council of Life Insurance. The life and health insurers have bought $ 1 million worth of TV ads to stir opposition to taxing fringe benefits (one ad shows a flock of birds circling around and pecking away at a loaf of bread). The Massachusetts Legislative Council for Older Americans is preparing a nationwide call for mass meetings, parades and a march on Washington to resist Medicare cuts. Vows a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars: "If they want to make drastic cuts in veterans' hospitals, they're in for the fight of their lives."

While gnashing and wailing on behalf of clients, lobbyists are rubbing their hands over the fees they will earn from upcoming campaigns. They only hope the war will be a long one. "It's going to be big, really big, and it may last for years," chortles Tax Lobbyist Robert McCandless. "This could be the lobbyists' full-employment act of 1985. '86 and '87."