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This is exactly the kind of revolving-door synergy between corporate power and governance that turns off Americans left, right and, yes, center. Oblivious to this taint, No Labels named a few fat-cat donors who have ponied up $1million-plus. But like those shadowy outside groups invented by Karl Rove and his cronies for the 2010 campaign, No Labels has registered as a 501 (c) (4) and is not legally bound to release information about its contributors.

WASHINGTON — Almost 40 years ago, a Virginia lawyer named Lewis F. Powell Jr. warned that the nation’s free enterprise system was under attack. He urged the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to assemble “a highly competent staff of lawyers” and retain outside counsel “of national standing and reputation” to appear before the Supreme Court and advance the interests of American business.

Here is the hard political reality: You can't expect to support and finance political candidates who preach that government is menacing and wasteful, that public employees are incompetent and corrupt, that taxes are always too high and destroy jobs, and then turn around and expect that the government will respond to your demands to hold down the cost of health care, or fund basic research, or provide good schools, efficient courts and reliable transportation systems.

At that point, tough talk will no longer threaten important legislative opportunities. The president will be free to speak frankly about middle-class concerns and draw sharper ideological distinctions. By swinging its support to the GOP, business could bring on a more strident Obama -- in rhetoric, and maybe even in substance.

Despite the popular conception of his trade, Mr. Podesta says he sees his main role as giving information to lawmakers rather than wielding influence.

“Right now what people are fearing has not materialized,” said Edward B. Overton, professor emeritus of environmental science at Louisiana State University and an expert on oil spills. “People have the idea of an Exxon Valdez, with a gunky, smelly black tide looming over the horizon waiting to wash ashore. I do not anticipate this will happen down here unless things get a lot worse.”

Last week, the Alliance for Justice released a report called "Unprecedented Injustice: The Political Agenda of the Roberts Court." Days later, People for the American Way followed with "The Rise of the Corporate Court: How the Supreme Court is Putting Business First."

Such significant concessions, including giving energy-intensive polluting businesses until 2016 to comply, are part of an effort to win over industries, Democrats in coal and oil states, and Republicans. “It is a very generous bill in terms of the business community, and we will have very significant business support for it,’’ Kerry said in an interview. He briefed Massachusetts and other business leaders on the bill late last week.

What Kuttner does better than anyone who’s written about the financial collapse is to illuminate the dark intersections between finance and politics. For example, he offers a blow-by-blow account of the government’s bailout of Citigroup. Kuttner describes how Robert Rubin, Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, as chairman of Citi’s executive committee “became a relentless force prodding the bank to pursue ever greater risks’’ that ultimately imploded. Rubin would later use his unmatched government connections to rescue his employer, as the government handed Citi $20 billion in capital and over $300 billion in guarantees for toxic assets. As Kuttner sums it up: “As a financial strategist, Robert Rubin had proven worse than useless. . . . But as a political fixer, Rubin was pure gold.’’

“We’re confident that the benefits are going to accrue and strengthen business’s bottom line,” said Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House Health Reform Office.