Georgia conservatives threaten Delta tax break after airline cuts ties with NRA

[jpak]

Source: USA Today

Conservatives in Georgia's Senate have a message for Delta Air Lines: Renew your relationship with the National Rifle Association or you will pay the price.

The state House had approved a tax break that could provide a $40 million benefit to the airline, but members of the Senate vowed to fight the deal after Delta dropped its discounted fares Saturday for members of the NRA.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, a Republican, vowed Monday to kill any tax break for Delta, which is headquartered in Atlanta, unless the airline revived its discount program.

“Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back,” Cagle said.

<more>

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/02/26/georgia-senate-stalls-delta-tax-break-dispute-over-discounted-fare-agreement-nra/374215002/

[CurtEastPoint]

1. As an Atlantan, this is not playing well here. DAL employs 32K people just in GA.

[vkkv]

9. Please explain - I'm missing your point.

WHICH ISSUE is "not playing well here"..

[groundloop]

26. Repubs threatening to punish Delta for severing ties with NRA

[Hoyt]

41. The white wing bumpkins bashing Delta are too stupid to realize

what they contribute to the entire state. Before these fools finish, Amazon, Delta and other major companies will say screw you white wing fools.

[hueymahl]

66. Those assholes know what they are doing

Many have already come out against getting more "liberal" companies in state like Amazon because it could "affect or traditions and way of life".

Pretty easy to discern the coded language and dog whistles.

Atlanta (and Georgia) is changing, but it is a slow, painful process.

[Hoyt]

70. Years ago, I lived in Cobb county. This was in the 1990s during the confederate state flag debate.

There were all these posters hung high up on telephone poles -- "bring back the confederate flag" BS with the confederate flag photo. They were well made -- with plastic laminate -- so I assume it was some racist organization's effort.

I used to carry a folding ladder in my car, climb up and either pull the sign down or put up my own sign with some smart-assed comment.

Yes, things are changing. When I hear white wingers bashing say South Chicago, I can only think that there is worse in rural Georgia. Maybe not as much crime, but hatred is worse.

[vkkv]

71. Links to stories to back up your news would be appreciated.

I'm sure a lot of us would be interested in your local pieces on this.

[klook]

78. Here's one:

On Delta, the NRA, and a troubling climate for an Amazon.com bid by Jim Galloway - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

We’ll let Larry Gellerstedt speak for a large portion of metro Atlanta’s business leadership.

“It’s very disturbing for me to see people on the political side that talk about economic growth and jobs being what they’re about, and at the same time being anti-business in terms of their actions,” said Gellerstedt, who is the board chairman and CEO of Cousins Properties, and quite familiar with Georgia’s Amazon.com HQ2 project.

The last five sessions have been marked by arguments over immigration, over guns, and over “religious liberty” legislation to permit businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

This year, a measure to permit adoption agencies to refuse to do business with same-sex couples was stripped from a general bill earlier this year, but lives on in a separate Senate measure.

Even if beaten back, at some point, the annual confrontations must be figured into the general business climate that Atlanta is attempting to sell. Constant debate translates into constant risk, Gellerstedt said.

“I remain very, very concerned about playing politics with issues that — this is sort of like playing roulette with jobs,” the Cousins CEO said.

The targeting of Delta, which Gellerstedt finds particularly worrisome, is a matter of both marketing culture and simple mathematics.
More at link: https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics/delta-the-nra-and-troubling-climate-for-amazon-com-bid/9N8HPOYFG3133h07e4L1LM/

Atlanta corporate leaders buttonholed Republican governor Nathan Deal a couple of years ago when opposition to same-sex marriage and attempts to overrule citizens' bathroom preferences threatened to generate customer boycotts. I can see this going the same way if these knuckleheads get their way.

[vkkv]

80. WORTHLESS !! WHAT THE F**K does your response have to do with the NRA ???!!!

NOTHING.


btw, it was the NRA that this conversation was about..

How you missed THAT I have no idea..

[klook]

81. Please, stop shouting. You'll hurt your throat.

Did you read the article at the link? If you do, you'll see that not only does the headline mention the NRA, but the piece is focused on reactions of the Georgia business community to legislators' defense of the NRA.

Do you have links of your own to share, or further information on this topic?

[trc]

2. Let Delta threaten to move its hub

and watch the "conservatives" go silent...NRA or billions of dollars....wonder which one wins?

[TheSmarterDog]

10. Memphis is the Fedex hub. Just 300 mi away.

[jmowreader]

17. There are 2000 acres of unused land at RDU that would be perfect for a hub

RDU is about the same distance from ATL as Memphis is, and you don't have to work around all the FedEx traffic.

[Fred Sanders]

40. There are some on the thread "sowing discord" suggesting ridiculous responses from Delta.

[d_r]

37. Chattanooga!

put in a train and we'll keep your air traffic along with the water.

[Freethinker65]

30. Yep. Game on. I seem to remember the Georgia GOP backed down when Coke threatened to "move"

...to "move" or at least move many of its employees.

[Initech]

42. The gun addicts will choose their vice over commerce every time.

[Calista241]

43. Moving Delta's hub / hq would not be easy.

Delta has signed contracts for the gates at Atlanta for decades. They signed those contracts in exchange for the building of extra runways, of which Atlanta now has 5. And Atlanta has one of the nicest and best run airports in the country.

And moving a hub is not something one does overnight, or even over a decade without careful planning. Where else would they put a hub? What other city wants a hub, and is willing to spend billions building / upgrading an airport?

[Demsrule86]

58. Not if they are attacked...and any state would pay big money to get those jobs .

[RainCaster]

74. HQ is easy, hub not so much

Many jobs can be moved out of state-
Airframe maintenance
HQ offices & personnel
reservations
IT Data Centers (both are located near the airport)
customer service

[YOHABLO]

3. Why should the NRA get discounted fares in the first place?

[Shrek]

61. The discount was for fares to the NRA annual meeting

It wasn't broadly applied to all their fares.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-delta-nra-20180226-story.html

On Saturday, Delta joined them, notifying the NRA that the airline was dropping its contract for discounted fares for members traveling to the NRA's 2018 annual meeting in Dallas.

[mitch96]

76. "discount was for fares to the NRA annual meeting"

No problem comrade,, Just fly Air Putin to the NRA.. a wholly owned subsidiary of Aeroflot..

m

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. So the GA GOPers, who presumably believe that corporations

should be allowed to manage their business with minimum government interference, are threatening to cause financial harm to a corporation that has, in its discretion and perfectly legally, merely decided not to offer a discount to a private organization favored by said GOPers?

Seriously? The NRA must have this bunch by the short 'n' curlies, too.

[Fullduplexxx]

5. Congress attacking one business on behalf of another

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Not Congress, the Georgia Legislature. But still.

[grumpyduck]

12. The NRA isn't a business

it's a non-profit organization. Not to nit-pick, but that puts things in a totally different light.

[TheSmarterDog]

14. The NRA is a business masquerading as a non-profit.

[jberryhill]

48. Oh, right...

A non-profit business is still a business.

Goodwill - it's a business.

The American Red Cross - it's a business.

Your local PBS station - it's still a business.

All "non-profit" means is that they gotta make sure they spend all their money on their salaries, consultants, etc..

It's still a freaking business - whether it's a church, a hospital, or any other non-profit.

[Bengus81]

65. LOL....like Jim Baker and PTL wasn't a business 30+ years ago.....

Hiding out as a "church" was total BS and everyone knew it--just like the NRA.

[Beartracks]

84. These people do seem to worship at The Church of the NRA. n/t

[YOHABLO]

6. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle: bu bye !

[TheSmarterDog]

7. How do conservatives get away w/ allowing people to be killed, then whine about being attacked?

Does the NRA have their fingers THAT far up the GOP's ass?

[ffr]

13. +1 Conservatives have their priorities mixed up. They need to be marginalized.

GOTV in 2018 & 2010!

[Calista241]

46. They don't have their priorities mixed up. They just know who votes for them.

As with any mass shooting, people get riled up for a few days, maybe a week, and then they focus on other issues. But those gun owners will know and remember who said what, and who can be relied on. From their perspective, it didn't happen to them, and damn any politician who says I can't pursue my hobby and protect my family.

Those kids can't even vote. And even if they could, they're not likely to vote for Republicans.

Even in Florida, gun shows from last weekend had their largest attendance in over a decade.

[grumpyduck]

8. Seems to me they're trying to set a precedent

for other states to attack companies that dumped NRA.

Still, there seems to be something illegal there -- a state government threatening to withhold a benefit from a publicly-held corporation for withdrawing a member benefit from an out-of-state nonprofit organization.

Well, I hope Delta's legal team and law firms are composed of old-time, hard-line, galaxy-class SOBs. If nothing else, the Repugs in Georgia have just shown everyone who and what they are.

[MyOwnPeace]

34. Hey, grumpy!

Good point - going "legal" in an illegal way. Way to call out BS! Guess they don't like it when their "bought and paid for" children donations don't have the children following directions.

Welcome to DU by the way - you've got the kind of thinking we appreciate here!

[grumpyduck]

38. Thank you

I appreciate that!

[Rebl2]

15. Delta

time to move your hub from Atlanta. I’m sure another state would welcome you.

[Phoenix61]

16. Every time I hear a politician run to

the defense of the NRA I always picture a child in their PJ's asking their mommy to check under the bed for monsters. There are so many more non NRA members than there are members but it looks like this is the hill some politicians want to die on.

[Roy Rolling]

18. Corporations are people!

Delta has its First Amendment right to oppose the NRA, doesn't it? Or something like that according to the GOP. So they should abandon their First Amendment right because a fake-Second Amendment business group gets a case of the vapors?

[MyOwnPeace]

36. Well, yeah, kinda', like, maybe..............

it kinda' sorta' depends on which way the corporation is "listening to its master" kinda' thing, 'ya know?

It's a "we love you - until we don't love you" kinda' thing.................

CLIFF NOTES: Give us your money - sit down and shut up!

[Glorfindel]

19. For my fellow Georgians, here's how to contact Casey Cagle (a Repuke)

I'm sure it won't do any good, but still...

https://ltgov.georgia.gov/contact-lt-governor

Maybe it couldn't hurt?

[groundloop]

32. Thanks for the link.....

Message sent.

[keithbvadu2]

20. A business refusing to sell a cake to certain customers. A business refusing to give discounts to ce

A business refusing to sell a cake to certain customers. A business refusing to give discounts to certain customers.

Somewhat similar?

[dbackjon]

22. Are you really equating discrimination against LGBT Americans

Against discounts that only certain groups get?

[keithbvadu2]

24. Both cases of a business discriminating against certain customers.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. Refusing to sell your product to a customer

and discontinuing a discount for some other customers are hardly the same thing. For one thing, two different business are involved. For another, anyone claiming to serve the general public does not have the right to pick and choose which members of the general public they can serve. I think that got settled back in the 1960s when black people persuaded lunch counters to value their business.

Discounts are something else entirely and can always be changed or revoked.

[keithbvadu2]

33. Actually, I agree with you.

Actually, I agree with you.

Just wanted to see someone point it out so succinctly.

The GA legislators don't quite see it any way close to that.

[hueymahl]

68. Weird way to make your point NT

[spooky3]

47. No; the cake example shows how one group of

customers was discriminated against for probably unconstitutional reasons. The discount example shows how a discount that favored one group of customers is removed, resulting in all customers’ being treated alike.

[keithbvadu2]

50. That would be true if ALL discounts were cancelled for ALL customers.

[spooky3]

51. What other groups get discounts?

And let’s say there are some. The removal of an NRA discount leaves NRA members in no worse position than the many other customers not given discounts. It is a step toward treating customers more similarly.

So your analogy doesn’t fit.

[keithbvadu2]

52. Read my reply to poindexter

[MichMan]

55. Wouldn't a tax break be the same as a "discount" on taxes?

I'm not so sure they aren't similar.

Removing a tax break for Delta would put them in no worse position than the many other taxpayers not given one. It is a step toward treating taxpayers more similarly.

[spooky3]

57. I personally am not a fan of corporate welfare. If a company

Can demonstrate (not just promise) that the net economic benefits to taxpayers and residents are far more than the tax breaks, then they make a stronger case.

[jpak]

29. No - not at all

Try again

[Demsrule86]

59. No, one breaks civil rights laws...they tried this in the Jim Crow days...and gun owner are

not nor should they be a protected class. If people who belong to the NRA were refused the right to travel on Delta it would be similar but still have no civil rights basis. Not a great post.

[obamanut2012]

63. No -- you need to try better

This is DU, not the Yahoo comments section.

[blue neen]

21. Time for Delta to move their headquarters!

Bye, bye Georgia!

[pressbox69]

62. Precisely.

[hueymahl]

69. Will never happen

Delta is too ingrained in Georgia and Atlanta specifically. This is just Cagel showing how big a cock he has to the voters - he is running for governor next year. Cheap political stunt, and Delta knows it. Trust me, they have far more influence than that Trump wanna-be and will have the last word, even if the public never hears it.

[AC_Mem]

23. Is this legal?

Seems like blackmail to me.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

25. Cagle is saying all NRA members are conservatives, and specifically Republicans

These guys (GOPers) are unbelievable. They love the "free market" until it behaves in a way they disapprove of, and then they jump in to punish those who don't cow their their agenda.

I have a feeling any political attempt to screw over Delta is going to backfire. I don't know how many people are affected by Delta (employees, businesses that depend on the airline for transportation of people and goods, companies that support Delta operations, etc.), but Delta is not going quietly into that dark night.

[Sparko55]

28. lit up the Lt. Guv's phone line

Called the repulithugs office this afternoon, and said would welcome Delta leaving Atlanta and never having to fly through Hartsfeld airport again. Would really prefer if Delta relocated to the Twin Cities - where Northwest was originally from. At least there they get snow, remove it and continue operations, not like Atlanta that has power outages that strand passengers for days.

After November it will all be a moot issue anyway. It will take a wipeout - the coming Blue Tsunami to knock some sense into the deplorables.

[world wide wally]

31. What is the Georgia governments official job description for the NRA?

[turbinetree]

35. So the republicans in the Georgia think that the 40 million tax break is more important

than a life, one life, so the threat of Blackmail is now on the table......................

Hey Delta at least you have some Principles, the republicans in Georgia legislature have no fucking principles, so lets go back and see who is running the legislature in Georgia shall we.......................

The Investigators: ALEC - The Backroom Where Laws Are Born

Fuck you.............................Time to have a boycott of the tourism of Georgia and see what the republicans think...................this is what your state generates in tourism, that fly and drive into Georgia

Tourism is big business in Georgia, really big. The tourism industry in Georgia is the 5th largest employer in the state with a total economic impact of $60.8 billion, supporting more than 450,200 jobs, or 10.6% of all payroll employment in Georgia. ... Research provides vital demographic information on Georgia's visitors.

Tourism Industry Research - Georgia Department of Economic ...

[Liberalagogo]

39. Why do they ALWAYS whine like the pathetic losers they are

when the "invisible free hand" smacks them in the face?

[spooky3]

44. I think the cons have also just taken Atlanta off the list

Of possible sites for Amazon’s 2nd HQ—unwittingly.

Jobs, jobs, jobs....

[Dawson Leery]

45. Sounds like Extortion.

Perhaps Mueller should investigate.

[They_Live]

49. That's right.

Organized crime.

[napi21]

53. I live in Ga. AND my son works for Delta. I suggest Delta sue the Senate. Members of

the legislature are NOT permitted to use extortion and bribery to punish anyone, let alone the largest employer in the state!

[SunSeeker]

54. Conservatives really are stupid, vindictive, criminal fucking assholes.

Way to go! Raise the cost of doing business for a major employer for Atlanta!

[MichMan]

56. Didn't expect so many here favoring big corporations receiving tax breaks nm

[LanternWaste]

75. Not your best work. Cracks in the facade of your narrative are clearly showing.

Not your best work. Cracks in the facade of your narrative are clearly showing.

But I get it... keep trying and sooner or later, something will stick to the wall. Pretend the focal point of the discussion is taxes rather than what it actually is.

Pretend we all love big business to better validate your bias.

Then simply pretend otherwise if pointed out.

But still... not your best work. You've done much better in the past. I think you just called it in this time.

[Dave Starsky]

60. The government needs to threaten McDonald's...

Into offering the McRib sandwich YEAR ROUND!

Enough of this "limited time" bullshit.

I'm writing my Congressman.

[Cold War Spook]

64. Corporations don't pay taxes.

They are just the middle man between consumers and the government.

[hueymahl]

67. Excellent point

Far too many forget this when arguing policy.

[riversedge]

72. They learn their bullying from their Master---Trump!

[Orsino]

73. The tail wags the dog.

(By being wagged by a bigger dog.)

[RainCaster]

77. Reuters thinks that Amazon should bail on Atlanta

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-breakingviews/breakingviews-georgia-gives-amazon-one-great-reason-to-stay-away-idUSKCN1GB2WJ

[yuiyoshida]

79. Is this even legal? It sounds like extortion to me...

n/t

[TranssexualKaren]

82. Maybe you can help me.

The United States constitution specifically prohibits a “Bill of Attainder” in which a legislature sanctions a specific person or entity rather than a behavior. Together with the public comments of these legislators wouldn’tthis action therefore be unconstitional?

[yuiyoshida]

83. I am not a lawyer, thanks

no idea.