The corporate world has awakened to the reality that some of the politicians to which it has contributed appear to be in favor of overturning elections rather than accepting defeat – a recipe for the chaos that businesses abhor.
So, as Politico reports, some are beginning to halt donations, some to everyone, some only to Republicans who favored rejecting duly decided Electoral College votes.
But this is what caught my eye:
Losing corporate PAC support — if the bans last — will sting Republicans who have come to rely on such contributions, especially as the Democratic Party builds a big online fundraising advantage. But the consequences could reach even farther than that, with the GOP also confronting the prospect of losing the support of white-collar company workers and executives who are infuriated over the insurrection.
Which brings to the fore the reality that the business world is mostly secular, with some exceptions such as Hobby Lobby – while the Republican Party is increasingly the Party of the Evangelicals.
This means that some of the ‘litmus tests’ used by the faithful of the Party are not going to be acceptable to those in the business world. Such as, say, applying ‘faith criteria’ to the results of the recent Presidential election. The Trump faithful have no evidence for their claims of electoral fraud, but, for them, with the promises of Trump, Giuliani, and Powell ringing in their ears, their belief, their faith, that faith that takes them to church every Sunday, is good enough.
But, for a serious, successful business, that’s just gibberish.
Republican leaders may be shocked:
Some of the corporate shifts have shocked the party. GOP officials were taken by surprise when Jay Timmons, the president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Manufacturers, released a statement two days before the Electoral College vote excoriating those who planned to object.
But that’s a measure of their naivete, their incompetence, because they should know that businesses do not flourish despite governmental structure and stability – but because of it. The United States provides a fertile soil for companies, from old empires to startups, but that can only occur because the political world, for all its clash and frenzy, does not indulge in madness.
And that’s the best definition of last Wednesday: madness. Lies. A brutal attempt at overthrow by treasonous individuals, lead by Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1 (from the Cohen prosecution, who is commonly understood to be President Trump).
I called for the deprivation of political donations by the corporate world late last year, and now it’s taking place. It should have taken place the moment President Trump started yammering about stolen elections, that very moment. The business world is very tardy, and six people paid the price for that tardiness with their lives.
But at least they’re moving. More businesses need to move, and the focus needs to sharpened to Republicans only, not just all politicians indiscriminately, as some are doing. But finally they’re beginning to tug, oh so tentatively, at the chains they need to pull.
