The Republican Party is rapidly chasing away its biggest allies
Are Republicans as stupid as they have appeared of late? Some Republicans are still busily sanctioning their fellow Republicans for acknowledging the results of the 2020 election. That is over, done, and certified. Why can they not move on? Now, they are fighting with their biggest supporters, corporate America. According to Huffington Post, Republicans are rapidly breaking down the very relationship they have used to win elections. Corporate America is like the rest of us in some ways. They have no time for Republican conspiracy theories, which Republicans have been openly embracing. Corporations are mainly interested in one thing: making money and keeping it. Republicans are helping in neither endeavor.
HuffPost reported that corporate America hates conspiracy theories and the Republicans’ rejection of climate science. Things came to a real head with the passage of Georgia’s new voting restriction laws, with Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola jumping into the fray. Making things worse, MLB pulled the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta. Yes, baseball is a sport, but MLB is a business that cannot risk alienating some of its fans and sponsors. Making matters worse, Mitch McConnell publicly called corporate America’s actions “stupid.” According to Huff Post, some GOP strategists claim that they no longer need corporate America’s money to win. No, not when they put voting restrictions in place. Those restrictions will make things a lot easier for them but trying to hold themselves out as “the party of blue-collar workers” is going to take a miracle. Republicans have shown where their loyalties lie, and those loyalties are with the owners of the companies where those blue-collar workers toil. Likely, Republicans are banking of President Biden’s proposed tax increase to help them out, but President Biden’s administration is hard at work trying to get corporate America to see the full benefit of his legislation.
Huff Post reported that Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has spoken with over 50 business leaders about the plan, asking them to focus on the whole of the plan instead of just the tax component. Raimondo believes that because of the way businesses work, they will do just that. It does not help Republicans that many business leaders backed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and believe his infrastructure plan—which includes the tax increase—will be a boon to the economy according to Washington Post. WaPo reported that the International Monetary Fund is expecting the U.S. economy to “surpass its pre-pandemic size,” predicting growth of 6.4% this year alone.
Even as Republicans railed against the size of the American Rescue Plan, companies applauded Biden’s boldness, and it appears the companies may be right. More than 900,000 jobs were added in March, and a manufacturing boom is underway according to WaPo. We hope that Republicans remain asleep as they wage war on their biggest benefactors, and if the predictions are correct, their refusal to get on board with the American Rescue Plan will come back and bite them in their rear ends. Then, they can cheat all they like, but they will never get reelected.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years