Sharon Zhang at TruthOut reminds us that Coca-Cola and Delta only slammed Georgia's recent vote suppression bill after it passed, which brings to mind Harry Reid's comment about Arlen Specter back when Mr. Specter was a Republican: "he's always there for us, except when we need him." And just as we might also say that Coca-Cola and Delta maybe shouldn't have given so much money to the politicians who wrote the vote suppression laws in the first place, we might also say that the Texas corporations now opposing vote suppression bills making their way to Greg Abbott's desk are just responding to the public backlash, too. Of course corporations should respond to the backlash -- but they should also do the right thing in the first place.
To the surprise of approximately zero attentive observers, at least 55 big corporations paid zero dollars in federal taxes on their 2020 profits, and in fact collectively "earned" about $3.5 billion in tax breaks, meaning we-the-taxpayers paid them $3.5 billion of our hard-earned money to do what? Unemployment rate is still almost double what it was before the pandemic. Stick a pin in this for when Republicans whine about the corporate tax hikes in upcoming jobs/infrastructure legislation. Also note well that well over half of Americans actually like President Biden's proposals better when they learn corporations will pay more taxes. It's like corporations are unpopular in America for some reason.
Speaking of infrastructure, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) says President Biden could have an "easy win" if he's just pare down his aims to something everyone would pass. To that particular line of rubbish, I offer this response.
Jesus Mary and Joseph will Democrats ever stop underrating Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson? They say he's leaving a trail of slime now with his words, but he's been leaving a trail of slime about everything he's ever talked about for over a decade. And yet he actually ran ahead of Donald Trump in 2016 after the national party left him for dead and Russ Feingold spent a year doing victory laps. So what keeps putting him over the top? Great political ads, that's what! No, not those overrated whiteboard ads -- watch his 2010 family intro ad and his 2016 diaper-changing ad. They're genius. I'd say "Democrats could learn a few lessons," except, ah, how did Russ Feingold win in the first place? With terrific ads!
Amazon spokeshack apologizes to Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) for suggesting he's stupid for believing the entirely true story that Amazon delivery drivers use pee bottles -- and Rep. Pocan responds by saying, in part, "This is not about me, this is about your workers -- who you don’t treat with enough respect or dignity." Remember: when your enemies are down, always keep hitting them. Maybe Rep. Pocan has what it takes to beat Ron Johnson in 2022. I eagerly await the first moron to respond by saying WISCONSINZ WILLZ NEVERZ ELECTZ TEH GAYZ!!!!!, as if Tammy Baldwin hasn't won two Senate elections. No, I'd lay money that it'd happen.
Finally, of course Donald Trump called for a boycott of major league baseball after they decided to move the All-Star Game out of Georgia in response to that state's new anti-voting legislation. I guess Trump votaries will say it's not "cancel culture" because the MLB "canceled" first, though that sure isn't the most mature look. But if Congress manages to get rid of baseball's antitrust exemption in a fit of pique, I can't say I'll be upset.
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