Is Love Lost Between the GOP and Their Corporate Besties?

By Maya J. Carter

It no longer comes to a surprise this day and age that the GOP flips and flops like a trout swimming upstream. Now, every time one turns on the news, the level of their hypocrisy only heightens. It is almost as if they are outdoing themselves in a race to oblivion regarding their principles and standards.

The latest display of mind-boggling GOP sanctimony comes at the expense of their supposed besties…corporations. After all, are they not the party that touts the protection of “corporate personhood” – essentially that corporations are people, too? The GOP usually comes quicker to the defense of corporations than a Florida tax collector friend of Congressman Matt Gaetz can display his tax collector badge to write up a traffic warning. This is particularly true when corporations take stances on issues regarding religious rights, unlimited financial donations to GOP coffers, and taxation, among other things benefiting the right.

Well, the GOP down here in Georgia is mighty upset with their besties, the corporations. To be specific, they are upset with Delta Air Line and Coca-Cola Co., both based in Georgia, regarding the companies’ opposition to the restrictive voter suppression State Bill 202 recently signed into law by Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp. I wrote a Ringside Report article titled “How the Georgia GOP Rolls…Let the Fleecing of Our Democracy Begin!” about the numerous Georgia Senate bills proposed in the massive voter suppression effort led by Republicans legislators in Georgia, so please feel free to review the article for reference. The bill largely limits easy-access drop boxes for ballots and places voter-ID restrictions on absentee voting among other restrictions to voting. I did not however recognize the extent of their efforts to outlaw voters’ ability to hydrate via the generosity of others – imagine standing in line for eight to 10 hours in the heat to perform your civic duty of voting and being denied, of all things water! Who even thinks up something so contemptible? Hint: the party of “family values”.

Irony is not lost on the fact that Governor Brian Kemp readily signed the bill into law beneath a painting of the Callaway Plantation where more than 300 Black people had been enslaved, with not a single Black legislator present for the signing. To add to the lunacy of the moment, right outside the room in the Georgia State Capitol Building where Kemp was signing the bill into law, a Black member of the Georgia House of Representatives Park Cannon was arrested and charged with multiple federal offenses because she…gently knocked on the door (????) to observe the signing, as seen in a video captured on the scene! Not to mention that Governor Kemp won his gubernatorial position because of prior voter suppression laws enacted by him as then Georgia Secretary of State while running against Stacey Abrams. Yes, we have officially traveled back to the height of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in one fell swoop!

The voter suppression bill passed by the GOP controlled-legislature in Georgia is in direct response to orange monstrosity no. 45’s false claims of a stolen election and widespread voter fraud which have been disproven in countless court cases and even deemed untrue by his own Attorney General Bill Barr. But this is just the beginning. According to Forbes: “Similar efforts are being pushed by Republican lawmakers in at least 43 states, with more than 250 bills filed this year aimed at limiting voting access, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.”

Additionally, according to CNBC: “The voter restriction bills come after historic turnout from Georgia voters — particularly from Black voters and voters of color — during the November general and January runoff elections, where Republicans lost the presidential and U.S. Senate races for the first time in decades.” Perhaps Governor Kemp is seeing the writing on the wall with regards to his potential (or lackthereof) for reelection…?

The aforementioned GOP’s former corporate besties’ CEOs largely and publicly oppose Georgia SB 202. 72 Black business executives called on corporations in a letter to oppose the Georgia bill, and the corporations responded, including receiving signatures from Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson Jr. and Vista Equity Partners chief executive of investment Robert F. Smith. Aflac, Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC, UPS, Home Depot, and JP Morgan Chase also put out statements opposing the passage of voter suppression laws such as the one signed into law in Georgia.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian publicized his rebuke of SB 202 via a memo to Delta Colleagues Worldwide: “I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable… After having time to now fully understand all that is in the bill, coupled with leaders and employees in the Black community, it’s evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. That is wrong. The entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 elections. This is simply not true. Unfortunately, that excuse is being used in states across the nation that are attempting to pass similar legislation to restrict voting rights.”

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincy made an appearance on CNBC and stated: “This legislation is wrong and needs to be remedied. We will continue to advocate for [changes], both in private and now even more clearly in public,” after previously calling the legislation “unacceptable” and “a step backwards”.

Additionally, legal challenges are forthcoming from voter registration, civil rights and other activist groups including the ACLU, NAACP and Fair Fight, each filing lawsuits in opposition to potential illegal aspects of the Georgia bill. President Joe Biden has also expressed his opposition to SB 202, calling it unAmerican: ”This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end. We have a moral and Constitutional obligation to act… .This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience.”

Laura Ingram, a faux…sorry, FOX News talking head – who would do well to heed the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – had some thoughts which she expressed out loud, on-air through her facial orifice that regularly spews dog-whistles signaling the most base elements of the GOP. “It’s time to teach corporate America that if they attack Georgia, or any state like it, for doing what they did to secure their right to vote. These corporations are going to face the wrath of GOP officials as well as the tens of millions of American consumers who support them. That means lobbyists and CEOs, they need to be told in no uncertain terms if you try to help the left rig elections, we’re going to punish you.” There is always a threat attached to continue to perpetrate a lie…

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wants us and his bestie corporations to know where the true problem lies: “Any time a Republican does anything, you’re a racist, if you’re a white conservative, you’re a racist. They use the racism card to advance the liberalism agenda. H.R. 1 is sick, not what they’re doing in Georgia.” H.R. 1 is the United State House of Representatives “For the People Act of 2021” that addresses voting, campaign finance and ethics, and is largely supported by the Democrat-ruled US Congress and Senate. H. R. 1 directly addresses Georgia SB 202 in that it promotes internet voter registration, automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, access for voters with disability, prevention of voter intimidation, provisional ballots, early voting, vote by mail, poll worker recruitment and training, disaster and emergency contingency plans, and various other sections that would deem parts of Georgia SB 202 illegal if H.R. 1 is passed and becomes federal law.

To make an example out of one of their former besties, the Georgia GOP-run House as of two days ago voted to revoke a crucial multimillion dollar jet-fuel tax-break for Delta Air Lines, surely a harbinger for a number of retaliatory measures that will be enacted against their corporate besties for publicly opposing their voter suppression bill. As per the Atlanta Journal Constitution: ”They like our public policy when we’re doing things that benefit them,” said Georgia’s Republican House Speaker David Ralston, “You don’t feed a dog that bites your hand.” So…their besties are no longer “people”, but now instead dogs? But hey, most dogs are better than GOP politicians, so I’m sure they will be just fine with this comparison. Surely, more threats will follow, because the GOP is no longer is capable of advocating for fairness or equity. Instead the GOP relies on posing threats and admonishing all who dare to oppose their desire to regress to an era marked by racial injustice and civil unrest – when America was “great” in their opinion – all the while ranting and raging against “cancel culture”…

To the GOP’s former corporate besties – please keep up the spectacular work in defending the constitutional rights of the American people, especially the country’s most disenfranchised voters. To citizens, please remember to vote, and make your voices heard regarding voter suppression efforts by signing petitions, writing to your elected officials, and supporting civic engagement groups fighting to defend your right to vote.

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Pay attention to Texas as well as this is playing out statewide as Texas State Bill 7 and House Bill 6 are currently under consideration. American Airlines and Dell Technologies have made public statements opposing these voter suppression bills.

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