So are the CEO's revolting? Well, it depends on what definition of the word you use. There's certainly a trend, ably documented by Chris Hayes, for them to take a more constructive, rather than obstructionist, stance on certain issues. Wal-Mart has joined with SEIU to call for universal health care reform, to be sure, and various companies have begun highly public efforts to lighten their carbon footprint. But aside from a few rare cases of genuine reformism, like with P&G's decision to back hefty emissions regulations, I'd counsel skepticism.
Take Wal-Mart. As Hayes writes, "Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott joined Andy Stern, the president of the Service Employees International Union, to announce his company's support for some form of universal health care." On the surface, that looked pretty good. Progressives have a certain series of mental associations that are triggered when we here that some institution or individual supports universal health care: We know what that health care looks like, and that they will advocate for it, and fight to get it passed. But it's not clear any of these assumptions are on target with Wal-Mart.
Rather, they mopped up good press for supporting the vague goal of universal coverage, devoted absolutely no resources to the fight, offered no specificity over what they meant by universal coverage, and promised to continue funding candidates who opposed universal health care. That they're on record behind the policy change is nice, but there's no sign that their participation in the coalition will keep them from working against the bills that Democrats actually offer, and no evidence that their change of heart is likely to result in sustained advocacy of any particular solution, either.
Indeed, to frame this as a Revolt of the CEO's gets it backwards. What you're seeing are not changes of heart, but changes of tactics. In other words, it's the pressure of the progressive movement that's forcing corporations to adapt. As outright obstruction becomes less effective -- see Wal-Mart's increasingly bad reputation -- they'll make moves to appear more constructive, as they did in the early days of the Clinton health care debate. But if the pressure is eased, if we toss up our hands and welcome them to the coalition, then, just like in the Clinton debate, there'll be a lot of long faces when we find that the coalition held until the moment business felt comfortable eviscerating it. Getting behind the abstract goals of reducing climate change or the uninsured is easy enough, garners good press, and in no way stops you from transitioning to full-out opposition when a carbon or payroll tax emerges on the agenda. So for now, I'm happy to celebrate a new attitude among business types. But we've seen this before. As the man said: Trust, but verify. And remember, it's not the CEO's revolting, but the organizers effectively pressuring them. Let up the pressure, and you'll lose the CEOs.
