Chris Cabral/Staff Writer
After a nearly century-long long love affair, the Republican Party and big business were finally married in the fall of 2010. The G.O.P. occasionally strayed to flirt with moderation, and had a fling with Teddy Roosevelt-style progressivism, but decided it was time to settle down.
Big business, for its part, went on plenty of dates with the Democrats, even going so far as to convince an equally amorous Democratic President to repeal restrictive banking regulations in the late 1990s. In the end, it was Republicans’ undying love of business that ultimately brought them together.
As the Republican Party stands in control of the United States House of Representative and many state governments, the American people can be confident that the G.O.P. will stand by their man.
In recent years, the Republican Party hasn’t shied away from flaunting its devotion in public. In 2009-10, when the new health care reform laws pushed by Democrats put limits on big business, requiring insurance companies to cover those with pre-existing conditions and spend 80 cents of every dollar on medical expenses rather than administrative costs, the G.O.P. leaped to their lover’s defense. They aggressively attacked the legislation, railing against “socialism,” that most ubiquitous of evils they seem to see everywhere.
When B.P. was forced by President Barack Obama’s administration to pay out $20 billion in compensation for damage caused by the Gulf Oil spill, Republican Congressman Joe Barton publicly apologized to B.P. He chastised Democrats for what he saw as a “shakedown” of a poor, down-on-its- luck corporation.
When the financial services industry engaged in a series of risky practices that helped cause a recession, thanks in part to the repeal of banking regulations banning such behavior, the G.O.P. continued to remain loyal, calling for even less regulation. The G.O.P. insisted that the fault couldn’t possibly have been with the banking industry because, as a business, it could do no wrong.
Whether cold-heartedly denying coverage to the sick or carelessly spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, big business has had its share of public failures. Yet, with each catastrophe caused by a lack of oversight, Republicans trust in business seems to only grow stronger. Now, more than ever, the G.O.P. insists that regulations must be repealed and that corporations and businesses should be trusted to operate without restraint.
This may seem irrational, but Republicans assert they really believe this. Perhaps love is affecting their judgment-or maybe its something else.
Business interests spent mightily to get Republicans elected in the aftermath of the Citizens United Supreme court decision. Corporate spending easily dwarfed that of labor unions, who have been going steady with the Democrats since the 1930s. Perhaps it is money, and not simple romantic naiveté, that drives the Republican Party’s devotion.
Or maybe, just maybe this love is true. Republicans might believe business can be trusted without regulations and restraints, and that all will be well in the end.
Like many long-lasting and unhealthy relationships, perhaps this marriage is built on trust: blind, unfailing, completely irrational trust.
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