Ads by Google Ads by Google

INFLUENCE GAME: Election over, campaign continues

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The election may be over, but a new campaign is being waged in the nation's capital as lobbyists, advocates and trade groups fight to shape the government's response to the looming fiscal cliff.It's a twist on the usual lobbying effort: Instead of digging for more tax dollars, they're trying to protect what they've got.The tactics are familiar to voters who were swamped with TV commercials, newspaper ads and mailers in the frenzied months before Election Day. But this time, the effort is directed at politicians, not so much the public.What do these groups want?In this climate, lobbyists and advocacy groups are mainly trying to control the damage as Congress and the White House look to raise taxes and cut spending in an attempt to slow down the government's mushrooming debt. In other words: Don't raise my taxes and don't cut spending on programs I like.At the same time, cheerleaders for fiscal austerity, including members of President Barack Obama's own deficit commission, are lobbying him and Congress to cut deficits. In 2010, the commission proposed a plan that mixed tax increases and spending cuts to reduce government borrowing by almost $4 trillion over the next decade.Obama largely ignored that plan. Now, the two co-chairmen of the commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, have formed a group called Fix the Debt that is running newspaper ads that mimic popular advertising campaigns. One ad features a picture of a female runner and the catch phrase, \Just fix it.\ Another is a picture of a woman with a milk mustache and the slogan, \Got debt?\\Even the best advertising in the world can't fix the debt