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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP's cozy ties with Big Business unravel as DeSantis unloads on Disney
WaPo via YahooWASHINGTON - Six years ago, Indiana's then-Gov. Mike Pence scrambled to change a "religious freedom" bill he'd just signed into law because Corporate America objected.
Apple and Salesforce opposed the bill, which seemed to allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Eli Lilly, a big employer in the state, called it "bad for Indiana and for business." Indiana's Chamber of Commerce said the law was "entirely unnecessary."
Lawmakers listened. The Republican-controlled statehouse quickly revised the bill to clarify it couldn't be used to deny service based on sexual orientation. Pence signed it. And a fight between two longtime allies - companies and Republicans - was over.
But Pence's capitulation can feel like a postcard from a distant era as growing numbers of state and federal Republican leaders today seem eager to clash with America's biggest corporations over bills on similar hot-button issues.
Last year, the GOP attacked firms like Delta Air Lines and Major League Baseball for standing against Georgia's restrictive voting bill. Citigroup was threatened for taking action seen as opposing Texas' recent abortion ban. And Disney's complaints about Florida's new law limiting classroom discussion of sexual identity has led to Republicans targeting the Magic Kingdom's perks. On Wednesday, the GOP-controlled Florida Senate voted 23-16 to eliminate Disney's special district status, and the Florida House could follow suit on Thursday. The implications of this major change remain unclear.
Despite the onslaught, companies are not backing down - goaded by heightened expectations from customers and employees.
Apple and Salesforce opposed the bill, which seemed to allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Eli Lilly, a big employer in the state, called it "bad for Indiana and for business." Indiana's Chamber of Commerce said the law was "entirely unnecessary."
Lawmakers listened. The Republican-controlled statehouse quickly revised the bill to clarify it couldn't be used to deny service based on sexual orientation. Pence signed it. And a fight between two longtime allies - companies and Republicans - was over.
But Pence's capitulation can feel like a postcard from a distant era as growing numbers of state and federal Republican leaders today seem eager to clash with America's biggest corporations over bills on similar hot-button issues.
Last year, the GOP attacked firms like Delta Air Lines and Major League Baseball for standing against Georgia's restrictive voting bill. Citigroup was threatened for taking action seen as opposing Texas' recent abortion ban. And Disney's complaints about Florida's new law limiting classroom discussion of sexual identity has led to Republicans targeting the Magic Kingdom's perks. On Wednesday, the GOP-controlled Florida Senate voted 23-16 to eliminate Disney's special district status, and the Florida House could follow suit on Thursday. The implications of this major change remain unclear.
Despite the onslaught, companies are not backing down - goaded by heightened expectations from customers and employees.
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GOP's cozy ties with Big Business unravel as DeSantis unloads on Disney (Original Post)
In It to Win It
Apr 2022
OP
pwb
(11,275 posts)1. This is a good fight. Pukes are for themselves not business
or anything else only party and profit.
Omnipresent
(5,711 posts)2. They are killing their cash cow...
But it just gets worse.
Senator Rick Scott wants to limit individuals to five years of social security payments, plus have everyone pay tax, no matter how little they make.
comradebillyboy
(10,149 posts)3. As Calvin Coolidge observed back in 1925, "the business of America
is business". It's still as true today as it was in 1925. The Pukes mess with big business at their own risk. Large corporations like Disney and GE aren't ideological they are ruthlessly pragmatic. They will help politicians who help them. As Republicans become less helpful they will get less help from the Biz community.
If so many prominent Democrats weren't so vocally anti business they might help us a bit more.