Crossposted from The People's View.
Hmm? Sharron Angle to refuse corporate cash? Oh yes, yes she will refuse money from corporate PACs. But you see, there's a catch. She will do so only if the corporation running the PAC happens to offer benefits to spouses or partners of their gay and lesbian employees. Doncha feel better?
Greg Sargent of The Plum Line broke the story today. Evidently, Crazy Queen of Nevada Sharron Angle was filling out a questionnaire by the Washington-based "Government is not God PAC" (noooo, really?) and she slapped a "Yes" next to everything they asked, including the following gem:
In question 35A of the questionnaire, Angle was asked:
Would you refuse PAC money from those who are fundamentally opposed to your views on social issues?
Angle checked the Yes box. The questionnaire then asked:
In reference to question 35A, Intel Corporation supports "equal rights for gays" and offers benefits to "partners" of homosexual employees. Would you refuse funds from this corporate PAC?
Angle again checked the Yes box.
The problem for Sharron Angle is, on an intellectual level -- and by this I am in no way implying that she is capable of actually having an intellectual level -- this is in total conflict with her purported support for the free market as well as freedom of contract. After all, corporations in the free market, according to economic conservatives, ought to be able to make whatever contract they want with their employees, no? Talking Points memo makes the point succinctly:
So where would Angle draw the line? Does she refuse to buy any personal computer that uses an Intel chip? The fact is, of course, that thanks to the invisible hand of the free market that Angle claims to support, a great many national corporations offer domestic partner benefits in one form or another.
Well, to be honest, I'm kind of hoping Sharron Angle refuses to buy any personal computer that uses an Intel Chip. That would exclude all Macs and a great number of PC's. But you see, the Intel's closest competitor in the chip market, AMD, also provides partnership benefits. I guess that means no PC's for Angle. As a matter of fact, on this issue, corporate America is a bit ahead of the curve. HRC's 2010 Corporate Equality Index found that of the nation's top corporations that offer health benefits to families or spouses, 70% offer them to same sex partners as well.
Even heavy hitting Republican corporate donor and oil giant Chevron provides benefits for same sex couples and has a 100% HRC Corporate Equality Index score. No Chevron money for Angle either, then.
Before I end, on a serious note, the right wing's craziness has reached dangerous levels. Now candidates for national office for the GOP aren't just opposing legal rights for gay couples but also the very right to contract - which they claim to hold so sacrosanct. As we celebrate the truly American moment of Proposition 8 being overturned in a federal court, the right wing's hostility is getting more and more transparent. We have right wing groups asking the question not whether a candidate would refuse corporate PAC money, but if she will refuse it if the corporation treats its gay employees well, and we have the candidate answering in the affirmative. And it's not just gay people. I cannot believe we are actually trying to debate whether children born in America are American! That's absurd.
If we allow the GOP to gain power -- whether by consent or by abstention -- the Sharron Angles of the world would be writing our national policy. We cannot let that happen.
Self-plug: You can read this and other thoughts of mine on my blog, The People's View. You can also follow me on Twitter @thepeoplesview.