As far as breakups go, it was a messy one. But frankly, what happened in Georgia between Republicans and the corporate woke had been brewing for months. Sick of watching Big Business swoop into states and act like the fourth branch of government, conservatives’ frustrations finally boiled over. After years of fighting alongside companies for the kind of economy that helped businesses flourish, Republicans had to come to grips with the obvious: the loyalty only went one way. Today’s CEOs will do anything for the Left’s adulation, even if it means going to war with the one party that’s had its political and financial back.

Of course, Republicans were in an abusive relationship with Big Business long before the Georgia brawl. Under Donald Trump, CEOs came virtually unglued, flexing their muscle against all kinds of conservative policy in ways no one had ever seen. Then came the tragic events of January 6th, and the tension that had been building under the surface came tumbling out. Several companies decided in a very public display to cut ties with Republicans who challenged the election results. Weeks later, when states decided to clean up the disaster of November 2020 with airtight laws like Georgia’s, the rooster crowed again. And this was one betrayal conservatives refused to forgive.

For once, prominent Republicans hit back — announcing boycotts, anti-trust legislation, the end of special tax breaks, and other serious consequences for corporations acting like a “woke parallel government” on Georgia’s election reforms. It was a counter-movement so fierce and unexpected that several people — Politico included — wonder if a “seismic shift” might be underway. “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.” Even if it’s not the end of the marriage, they write, it’s certainly the beginning of a “volatile patch in the relationship.”

Maybe now, Newt Gingrich says, Republicans are finally fed up enough to say, “Oh, you want to pick a fight with me? Well, this is what a fight is going to be like.” If businesses want to embrace the big, social justice woke-ism that’s at complete odds with America’s values, then guess what? They won’t have the GOP’s support. And right now, looking at Joe Biden’s outrageous excuse for an infrastructure bill, they’re going to miss it.

Already, companies are whining about the massive corporate tax hikes in the White House’s proposal. According to a Business Roundtable survey, 98 percent of the CEOs think that raising the rate from 21 percent to 28 percent would have a “significant adverse effect” — especially when it comes to global competition. “Seventy-five percent of CEOs said that an increased tax burden on U.S. companies would negatively affect their company’s investments in research, development, and innovation, 71 percent said it would negatively affect their ability to hire, and nearly two-thirds said it would result in slower wage growth for U.S. workers.” Joshua Bolten, the president of the Roundtable, insisted that the president’s vision would “slow America’s recovery and hurt workers.”

Well, maybe the business community should have thought of that before they threw all of their support behind a candidate who openly campaigned for policies that would crush the economy! Frankly, America is only at this point because liberal corporations and Big Tech used every weapon at their disposal (some ethical, others not) to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden. And unfortunately, this is what you get when you spend all of your time and resources ousting free-market conservatives. At the end of the day, you’re left with a bunch of socialist Democrats who would like nothing better than to crush the capitalism that made you prosperous.

It used to be that Democrats abhorred the idea of corporations influencing elections, NRO’s Vivek Ramaswamy pointed out. Now, they’re demanding even more. They don’t just want Delta and Coca-Cola to influence one election, but “the very laws governing how a state will conduct all elections in the future.” “This isn’t ‘Jim Crow on steroids,’ as President Biden called it this month. It’s Citizens United on steroids.”

“Our democratic process is far from perfect,” Ramaswamy admits, “but the right answer is not to force democracy and capitalism to share the same bed.” When it does, he warns, “democracy loses twice.” There’s the “loss of integrity in lawmaking because of corporate influence on one hand — and the loss of social solidarity through the disappearance of apolitical institutions on the other. Woke capitalism poisons democracy, politics poisons capitalism, and, in the end, we are left with neither.”

Corporate America had better wake up and soon or they will discover the meaning of the old adage “If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas.” Or in this case, taxes.

Originally published here.

Big Business Willingly Enlists as Foot Soldiers for the Left

A cartel is formed when business leaders conspire together on how to force people to pay the prices they demand. But what is it called when CEOs conspire to force people to play by their rules on voting, not prices? English has no word for it because American corporations have never attempted to override American democracy — until now.

Over the weekend, nearly 100 top corporate leaders convened a brain trust on how they could work to oppose election security laws like the one Georgia just passed. The list included big players like Delta, American, and United Airlines; Starbucks; Target; LinkedIn; Levi Strauss; Coca-Cola; Major League Baseball; UPS; the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, AMC Theaters; and more.

PJ Media Senior Editor Tyler O'Neil noted that “woke capital attacking election integrity laws” is a “continuing saga.” We saw it in the 2020 election as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and others funneled $400 million to increase voter turnout in blue areas, “ramping up turnout that helped Joe Biden clinch the election.” And we continue to see it as mega-corporations threaten to boycott Georgia over its election security law — although they have no problem working with communist regimes in China and Cuba.

State governments are responsible for safeguarding elections, and I don’t remember any nationwide referendum to reassign that responsibility to corporate leaders. As important as one-percenters consider themselves, they just don’t get to usurp authority from state governments or obliterate the people’s voice. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned them sharply, “it’s not what you’re designed for.”

Big businesses have willingly become mules for the Left’s social policy. And their war on states goes beyond just election laws. Take, for example, the NCAA’s war on women’s sports. Monday, their Board of Governors “firmly and unequivocally” declared that men who identify as women can compete in — that is, unfairly dominate — women’s sports. They obliquely threatened to pull championships out of states that protect women’s sports by demanding locations be “free of discrimination.”

Meanwhile, the list of states that protect women’s sports is rapidly growing. Idaho enacted the first protection last year, and Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee have followed suit. Similar bills have been introduced in 29 other states and are actively moving through the legislature in Florida, Texas, and elsewhere. Based on the backlash South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) received when she scuttled a bill to protect women’s sports, she likely scuttled her own political future as well, powerfully demonstrating the extent of the momentum to protect women’s sports. When everything is said and done, how many states will the NCAA discriminate against while pretending to stand against discrimination?

Florida Rep. Chris Latvala (R) pushed back on the NCAA’s shot across the bow saying, “the NCAA needs to focus on their own house and not what we do in the Florida House.” In other words, how about the NCAA stop discriminating against women by forcing them to compete against males, then we’ll talk. Mississippi Senator Chris McDaniel (R) was even more colorful. He retorted, “to [bleep] with the NCAA.” If they “truly cared about providing an environment that is safe and healthy for competitors, it would follow Mississippi’s lead. While some will lecture about the NCAA and its ‘woke’ stance regarding men competing in and physically dominating women’s sports, I am comfortable speaking for the overwhelming majority of Mississippians by keeping my comment simple and to the point: to [heck] with the NCAA.”

Down in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) said, “Our process is governed by people that get elected. It is not to be represented and governed by large corporations.” Whether it’s running our own elections or defending our own cultural values, Americans don’t take kindly to a handful of elites insisting they know better. Those woke corporations shouldn’t be surprised when Americans rebuke them with their ballots — and with their wallets.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.