The Entire GOP, Especially Georgia, Is As Insane As Trump Is!

Let’s start here. In 2020, as changing demographics and population migration worked their inevitable way on Georgia, it turned blue, helping to elect Joe Biden, and give the Democrats a razor edge control of the Senate. And as a result, the state GOP generally lost its shit. So they flexed their muscles, passed a stupid, racist voter exclusion law, and major corporations based in Georgia are giving them a whole ration of shit about it. Their response? To lose their shit again. My big question is what in the hell did the GOP expect?

For more than a century after the Civil War, the deep south languished in poverty. Their clannishness, refusal to let go of the old ways, and hatred of all things northern meant that most companies wouldn’t give the south the time of day, much less money for businesses or factories. Even today, the top states for receiving federal poverty funding are heavily weighted in the south and deep south.

Something had to change, and it did. The south embarked on a national image restoration tour. From Virginia down to Florida, and west to Texas, ran ads showing their adorable scenery and tradition, their friendly and cheerful population, their temperate climates, and their own upgrades. They proudly pronounced themselves Open For Business, and willing to accommodate to generate new businesses.

And they got it. How? Well, by wheeling and dealing of course. Corporate and real estate tax abatements, the state paying for the building or roads up to the new facilities. Discounts on infrastructure and utilities. And it worked.

Virginia was revitalized. North Carolina for their tech corridor,  South Carolina was revitalized, even places like Alabama got foreign car makers to build plants in their states. And as any big city Mayor will tell you, gentrification brings with it a large influx of younger, better educated, wealthier, more liberal residents. Which will fuck up your gerrymandering every time. Which drives more marginal residents to nearby suburbs for more affordable housing. Which will fuck up your gerrymander every time.

And given Georgia’s craven pandering to corporate America for continued investment, it makes the Georgia response to Coca Cola’s public slap down nothing more than totally insane. Because the Georgia legislature threatened, when they come back into session, to revisit, and possibly revoke $150 million a year in tax abatements that they gave to Coke.

Look, forget about Coke for a minute. $150 million a year is not going to drive them to another state, at least I don’t think that it will. But what about everybody else who has yet to sign on? attempting to attract new business to a state is a 24/7, 365 days a year operation, and you can bet that Georgia has negotiations going on right now with all kinds of companies.

Modern mass movements and social media have forced modern companies and corporations to become more socially responsible. Georgia is already one of the most popular states in the country for movie and television show production. But what production company wants to sign a sweetheart deal with Georgia to work there, already knowing that if they do or say something that the state government doesn’t like, they’ll claw back the very incentives that made the production sign the deal in the first place? Especially with the liberal bent of many actors and actresses? That brainless threat by the legislature is a recipe for disaster for the state.

And the national GOP is just as bad, if not worse! MLB announced that their boys of summer won’t be playing the all star game in Atlanta’s sandlot this year. A few years ago, North Carolina passed a stupid trans gender bathroom law, and the first response was that the NCAA pulled all post season games from the state. This included Men’s March Madness games, a conference football championship game, as well as Women’s basketball tournament games. The state took a bloodletting.

Which makes the national GOP qualified for a rubber room. After the MLB announcement, several angry GOP lawmakers threatened to look into the possibility of revoking MLB’s tax exemption as America’s national pastime. News flash! The NFL voluntarily surrendered theirs a couple of years ago. MLB will survive.

Sweet Jesus! The national GOP absolutely requires major corporate donations, which means deal making. Because, with their personalities, they couldn’t get the Ethiopians to take free missiles from them. But how do you negotiate sweetheart tax cuts, and reduced federal regulations to somebody who knows you can go back on your word anytime they piss you off?

The GOP stopped being a truly functional organism a long time ago. But at this point, their only hope of salvation is a good Samaritan going into federal court and asking that a court appointed trustee take over their personal and business affairs. Because right now, these idiots are on the express elevator to Hell.

Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35