Either in response to public pressure or due to an awakening
of conscience, or smatterings of both, Delta Air Lines has announced that it is
severing ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA). [1]
Delta previously had a contract with the NRA for discounted rates through the
airline’s group travel program.
Now the Georgia Senate has decided that it won’t take this
lying down. “The Georgia Senate’s leaders vowed to block a lucrative tax break
bill…that would benefit Delta Air Lines” in retaliation for Delta’s action. [2]
The measure is “effectively grounded for now after Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he
wouldn’t support the $50 million tax exemption for jet fuel unless the
Atlanta-based airline reverses its decision to end discounted rates for NRA
members.” “’I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the
company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA,’
Cagle tweeted. ‘Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to
fight back.’” [3]
Delta would have been the primary beneficiary of the tax exemption.
Apparently the state of the nomenclature is such that “conservatives”
support the NRA. But it is easy to see how this could create a conflict of
interest for legislators, who presumably should be representing their
constituents.
Delta is the largest private employer in Georgia. It has,
according to the company, 33,000 employees statewide. [4] One would think that a
state senator, or lieutenant governor, would be doing everything in his or her
power to enhance that situation, to help the company bring even more employment
to the state. Such, certainly, was the planned tax exemption.
But it seems that there are some things that are more
important than the actual people a legislator represents. The glaring example
provided here is that an ideological organization that has achieved a certain
dominance over a political party is able to achieve such a status. Simply put,
the NRA is more important to the Georgia Senate than the people of Georgia, and
this is exemplified by the fact that these politicians are willing to attack
the state’s largest employer on the NRA’s behalf.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we can’t have nice
things.
