"I think a number of elected Republicans are taking a look at their donors, and are listening to their consultants, and they are seeing that people that are donating big amounts of money to them want amnesty. That's number one. Do not make the mistake of deemphasizing or not placing enough emphasis on this, because it is true in this instance. A lot of people about would like to believe that all this is about ideas and consequences.
My friends, there is a growing phenomenon in this country of crony capitalism taking place. For example, there's an old wives' tale, an old myth that basically holds that big money, moneyed interests always support Republicans. And that just isn't the case anymore. Big money supports government. Major American corporations, corporate America doesn't criticize big government at all. Have you noticed? I have over many recent years.
I forget when I first noticed this but I remember the first time the realization hit me, I was genuinely surprised. Because I used to be a believer in this old wives' tale. Wall Street, big money CEOs were Republicans, because they wanted government out of their way. That used to be true. When it first started registering on me that that's out the window and that major corporate interests now get in bed with government...
Corporate cronyism is on the increase.
In fact, there's a story about it at TheAtlantic.com, "The Security-Industrial Complex," and it is all about the new relationship that corporate America has with government. Government's willing to give it money, enable it to profit in order for partnerships with Obama. There were a number of these partnerships that kind of raised eyebrows during Obamacare, for example. Hospitals and insurance companies got in bed with Obama to fund Obamacare TV ads.
Now, these people happen to want the influx of illegal immigrants because they are cheap labor. ... So in this whole amnesty bill, immigration, path-to-citizenship, comprehensive reform, I would urge you to stop thinking about ideas and consequences and the Constitution, because that's not at play here. What's at play here is money. If these elected Republicans are told by their donors that the money is gonna dry up if this amnesty thing doesn't happen, what are they gonna do? And if there's a lot of it, if there's a lot of corporation PAC money, corporate personal donation money coming from people who want amnesty, what's gonna happen?"
Rush names names...
Yeah, I stuck Rove in there too. And it's this consultant/corporatist cabal whom the politicians are abiding by over the voices of the constituents who placed them in office that's killing the party. Yet another element that might work for Democrats, but not so much for Republicans.The key thing, I think, for everybody to really look at here, you know, forget how many are gonna vote Democrat and how many are gonna vote Republican, that's not how the Republicans are looking at this. I guarantee you they're not. They're looking at it financially, number one. All of their big money wants the bill. All of the Republican major donors want this bill. I'll give you some names. The Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson. I mean, they want the bill, because they want the influx of new labor. They want it. They're not concerned with how anybody's gonna vote down the line. As long as these guys can stay aligned with whoever is running government, they're in fat city. So it doesn't matter what party runs government, as long as they're in bed with 'em.
Meanwhile you and I naively sit out there and talk about the Constitution and right and wrong and the law and this kind of stuff, when that is not really a factor here. There are other factors. And I think Senator Graham saying (paraphrasing), "Look, we're in a demographic death spiral. The Hispanics hate us and we gotta get back in their good graces. The only way to do it is pass," I think they do believe that. Remember, their consultants are telling them this. The people they hire, the people they pay to run their campaigns are telling them this. Why wouldn't they believe it? If Frank Luntz comes in and tells you that's what his focus group says, what are you gonna believe? If Mike Murphy, or take your pick, Steve Schmidt, if he comes in and tells you, "You know what, you're never gonna get another dime if you don't do..." what are they gonna do? These are the people they trust.
