Bonehead Move by Georgia Lt. Gov. Cagle. He Tells Delta Airlines to Support the NRA, or Else
By Spocko
Today from Georgia’s Lt. Governor.
I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA. Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.— Casey Cagle (@CaseyCagle) February 26, 2018
On Saturday I wrote about how the supporters of the NRA will respond to corporations deciding to not associate with the NRA I wrote.
The NRA will respond to corporations withdrawing support, probably by threatening the companies that have left, and the ones who are standing with them.
Some NRA members might be smart and try and entice the companies they still have by buying more of their product, but based on my experience, they prefer to punish and intimidate when they don’t get their way.
Cagle’s tweet is really an amazing statement. I wonder if he ran it by the heads of the 17 Fortune 500 companies that make their home in Georgia? Did he talk to the CEO of Delta before he sent that out? No doubt he talked to the AG, so it must be legal. On the other hand, maybe it’s a rogue tweet like one of Trump’s.
I’ve worked with a lot of high powered CEOs, they don’t like it when people tell them what to do. But they do understand tax breaks, revenue streams, public relations problems and brand issues. They will take this threat very seriously. But how they react might not be what Cagle wants.
They will be pissed. Unless Cagle’s announcement was coordinated ahead of time with the approval of Delta management (a possibility) Delta’s lawyers and lobbyists were probably burning up the phone lines with the Governor’s office all day.
Cagle threatening to use his big tax break stick on Delta for deciding to cut a marketing discount program with a trade group with a toxic brand is a boneheaded decision.
NRA’s brand is toxic right now. You don’t tell companies to embrace toxicity. It’s bad PR. It’s bad brand management.
I don’t know Georgia politics, but the NRA is not the only powerful lobby in the state.
Think of the other groups with lobbying power that don’t like or want more guns everywhere.
Transportation lobby. Do you really think airlines want to go back to allowing guns on planes?
Does UPS really want drivers to carry guns?
Health care lobby. Sure they can make up to 95k for each gun shot wound, but does the Lt. Gov. know that two thirds of gunshot victims admitted to American hospitals are covered by Medicaid, or don’t have health insurance at all? (University of Iowa, July edition of the journal Injury Epidemiology.) The taxpayers pick those costs up, not private health insurance.
Education lobby. Emory University employs a lot of people, has Cagle heard all those teachers and parents explaining what “a horrifically bad idea” arming teachers is?
Military lobby. Maybe Cagle is counting on the military to back him. I’m friends with a lot of military guys who think the NRA’s positions on guns everywhere is nuts. They know what it takes to be proficient with a gun. They have seen the damage an AR-15 can do to a human. The military of today isn’t a bunch of good ol’ boy hunters. When they come back from war, they may still hunt, but they know they know what AR-15s are designed to kill, and it ain’t ducks.
Is This Three Dimensional Chess Or Trump-style Bullying?
Companies have always played one state against another for tax breaks and perks. Cagle might think that Delta is so entrenched that they can’t easily get up and leave. But when corporations get pissed at a state they have lots of tools to use to get and keep tax breaks and perks. It’s not just threats to move.
Maybe Cagle and the governor are trying to play three dimensional chess. They might be hoping to get more taxes out of the airlines while satisfying their gun loving base with this threat. It might pay off. On the other hand, behind the scenes Gagle could end up groveling and apologizing to Delta AND getting no new votes from their current supporters. The Lt. Gov. night get a bump from his base, but will get knocked by others for an economically stupid move.
This announcement came out of the Lt. Governor’s office. They are testing the reaction of the public and how this corporation will respond to this threat. Depending on the reaction and the polling, the Governor will either walk back Cagle’s threat, soften it, or support it.
If I were a betting Vulcan, I would put my Quatloos on Delta coming out on top. One of the things I’ve learned over the years is it’s better to convincing people to do something that is in line with their stated values than to threaten them. It’s not really a stretch for an airline that doesn’t allow guns in the cabins, to walk away from an associate with a toxic brand like the NRA.
What can you do? Call and tweet Delta @Delta to thank them for their action to disassociate themselves for NRA’s toxic brand.
Delta Delta Delta can I help ya help ya help ya? from Michal Spocko on Vimeo.