Being honest in political debate means admitting that occasionally, the other side has the better argument. Today is one of those days where the Left is right.
The issue is the spat between Georgia Republican politicians and Delta over the company’s partnership with the National Rifle Association, which Delta wants to end amidst the latest debate over gun control. The liberals are correct both on Delta’s right to break ranks with the NRA and on the unseemly behavior of GOP politicians in reaction.
Delta is a private company. It clearly has every right to sever its special contractual relationship with the NRA. It’s not as if the airline is refusing to carry NRA members. As a common carrier, that would be inappropriate. It would be akin to a public accommodation — say, a baker — refusing to sell a cake to someone who was in the NRA. But a discount for NRA members is not a matter of common-carrier behavior. It’s a discreet contractual arrangement. The more precise analogy would be to a baker who will sell cakes to all comers, but who won’t enter a catering contract for an NRA convention or a gun-rights rally, or who conscientiously refuses to to bake cakes that look like guns or celebrate gun culture.
A business’ self-determination without government interference matters. Gun control is, for many people, a deeply moral issue — a matter of conscience. Yes, the NRA is a grassroots lobbying group, and the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech are sacrosanct. But Delta isn’t trying to stop anyone from lobbying on gun rights or joining gun groups. Delta’s executives are simply refusing to take part in a partnership they find contrary to their values.
It’s hardly a defense of State Sen. Rick Jeffares to say his threat against Delta merely involves a tax break. Only a despot would actually try to force a business into a contractual arrangement that violates the consciences of its owners or executives. What’s more, it reeks of corruption. And here, the Left has another good point: Politicians shouldn’t be in the business of using heavy-handed industrial policy to steer companies towards politically favored activities.
Let’s look closer at the argument Jeffares’ critics on the Left are making. Sen. Jeffares, again, isn’t threatening a special tax hike on Delta. He’s threatening to oppose a special tax break for Delta. We know that liberal politicians would never dream of giving special treatment of certain industries or giant corporations — not in a million years. So, at bottom, their argument is about the whole spectacle of a politician dangling special favors and threatening to withhold them.
Tangling business and government together creates a situation where these two powerful entities become dependent on one another and gain power over one another. The result: The powerful in politics and business accrue more power, while the regular guy gets left out. Whenever government gets deeply involved in industry, it provides a ripe opportunity for corruption.
In the current fight, the harsh liberal criticisms of Jeffares and his allies provide as clear an argument as we’ve ever seen for the separation of industry and state, and also for government respect of individuals’ consciences. So, let me be the first to applaud the liberals today for discovering these ideas. Maybe conservatives can even learn from them.
