Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Livid at what they see as corporate America\u2019s progressive posturing on cultural issues, top Republicans are pushing for swift retribution and targeting those companies\u2019 bottom lines. <\/p>\n
In recent days, GOP leaders have encouraged boycotts against a group of companies that have condemned or pulled business from states that have passed more restrictive voting laws. The appetite for punitive measures hasn\u2019t ended there. Republicans are also encouraging state and federal officials to utilize the tax code as a means of hitting back at, what they deem to be, \u201cwoke capitalism.\u201d And they\u2019re targeting some of the most iconic American brands \u2014 from Delta and Coca Cola to Major League Baseball \u2014 in the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe GOP response … is the successful playbook for how these fights will be won moving forward,\u201d said former Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought, whose new group, the Center for American Restoration, is largely focused on cultural issues. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoycotts may or may not work, but what will work is to identify every unique benefit these woke companies get under the law and remove them and require they operate as all other companies in those states have to,\u201d Vought added. <\/p>\n
The increasingly aggressive pushback against politically outspoken companies is the latest, and perhaps purest, illustration of a party at a philosophical crossroads. Republicans spent decades aligning themselves with the business community and its preferences for lower taxes and fewer regulations. During the 2017 GOP tax reform push, the party slashed the corporate rate from 35 to 21 percent. In return, they have been bolstered with industry money and political support. Now, however, they\u2019re betting that they can win on a backlash to the idea that political correctness has entered the boardroom and is irreversibly damaging conservative causes. <\/p>\n
For Trump alumni like Vought and other conservatives who have soured on big business, the sudden enthusiasm for their cause has been a welcome development. Still, many conservatives remain skeptical that the newly coordinated campaign portends a seismic shift for Republicans. There is, for example, no appetite to embrace a corporate tax hike as proposed by President Joe Biden to pay for infrastructure spending. But while it may not be the end of the marriage for Republicans and big business, even they see it as the beginning of a volatile patch in the relationship. <\/p>\n
\u201cOld habits are hard to break. There are legislators who have served in office for 30 years and this is like learning a new language for them,\u201d said Rachel Bovard, senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute. \u201cThey still think profit motives drive these companies and it’s not in their interest to punish conservatives. But you’re seeing younger senators and office holders speak out on this and it will shape their politics moving forward.”<\/p>\n
The roots of this friction started during Donald Trump\u2019s presidency, when the White House would occasionally launch into cultural slap-fights that advanced the president\u2019s personal, political and business whims, and conservative TV hosts encouraged boycotts of companies<\/a> that seemed amenable to liberal pressure campaigns.<\/p>\n But it has accelerated during Trump\u2019s post-presidency, with Republicans making use of the law to punish corporate entities that they feel have crossed them. The most prominent case came a week ago when Delta publicly condemned Georgia\u2019s new, GOP-authored voting law that civil rights groups say will impose difficult new requirements for absentee and mail-in voting and disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color. Soon after Delta CEO Ed Bastian decried the legislation as \u201cunacceptable,\u201d Georgia House Republicans voted to rescind a lucrative fuel tax break for the company. The measure failed when state senators declined to take it up on the last day of their legislative session. <\/p>\n On Friday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick lambasted American Airlines over the company\u2019s opposition to a GOP proposal to adjust voting hours and grant state leaders more authority over local elections, among other changes. The measure, which has yet to advance out of the state legislature, was also condemned by Dell Technologies. <\/p>\n