Last Friday Delta Air Lines told employees they were part of crafting Georgia’s voting restrictions bill offering that their “state government affairs team..heavily engaged on this issue, holding meetings with state elected officials on both sides of the aisle in order to make sure the Delta voice was well represented and heard.”
CEO Ed Bastian refused to condemn the legislation, claiming they made it better, and at most was willing to acknowledge that “concerns remain.” Today the airline released a video to employees defending this position.
Bastian on Tuesday released an internal video to defend Delta’s position and his comparative silence. His basic premise was that the company sought to shape the legislation behind the scenes and not fight the battle in the media. He noted that with a Republican-controlled state legislature, there was no way for any company or group of companies to get lawmakers to completely quash the bill.
My question is this: what is a government-subsidized airline, now part-owned by the federal government (each round of bailouts required surrendering warrants), doing tinkering with laws about how people can vote and when? If they can influence the outcome of elections, of course, they can better position themselves for further largesse.
What’s ironic is without the GA US Senate runoff going the way it did — prior to all the voting restrictions— Delta says adios to the latest govt cash truck dumping gobs of money in their lap. Talk about cutting of the hand that feeds you.
Good for Delta for standing up for a good bill that will help ensure fair elections for both sides. Can you check into a hotel without an ID? Can you rent a car without an ID? Can you board a flight without an ID? Can you visit the white house without an ID? No you cant do any of those things. Why should you be able to vote without an ID? You shouldn’t. Great job Delta.
@Matthew
It’s way more than that.
Sure ID is necessary but this law goes far beyond that with the crazy restrictions such, times, places and access. All designed to disenfranchise those that have to do a headstand in order to vote.
@ Matthew — Lots of poor uneducated people can’t afford to do any of the things you listed simply because they are poor and uneducated. I suppose they shouldn’t be entitled to vote like rich, highly educated people? Stop for one second and try empathizing with someone who does not come from a background of privilege.
I see it differently. Standardization to prevent either side from gaming the system. Im for a voter ID card for everyone and register everyone who wants to. Make registration mandatory when renewing your DL. I want everyone to vote. Im all for expanded access to registration but standardization of voting.
This bill does that. But my point is that corporations standing up to the woke mob deserve praise not scorn. The mob calling this bill Jim Crow needs a history lesson about what true disenfranchisement was. This isnt it at all and glad Delta is standing up against the mob
Getting a state ID is easy. Id gladly support with my tax dollars programs to help ANYONE who cant seem to do this on their own get it done. There is zero excuse for someone over the age of majority not having at least a state ID (not necessarily a DL).
According to the current “New Yorker” Delta is calling for “fair, secure elections processes.” They must think people are stupid as these are obvious code words for what the state legislature just did to democracy. Manuel Noriega once pulled back the curtain by saying, “You have to create a problem in order to solve it.” Repeated investigations have found no voting problems in this state. Now if you are an inner city Democrat or a person of color you have them. Fortunately such gross actions will boomerang.
Biden got 4 Pinocchio’s from the Washington Post today for this false reporting about disenfranchisement. Lol. Thank you Delta.
Forget the ID issue. What was the legitimate rationale for the law to make it a crime for supposedly free people to give food or water to someone waiting for hours in line to vote?! As Jesus said,
“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” *
—Matthew 25:35
*Offer not valid in Georgia.
InLA-its about ensuring no ones vote can be bought influenced or intimidated. The law also prevents armed MAGA people from indimidating voters if you actually read the law. No one from either side can try and influence anyone in line. Bring your own water.
If you are not competent enough to figure out how to get a state ID or DL, you are not competent to vote.
What an insult to poor people, saying they are too stupid to accomplish the most basic life tasks.
the people against this law are ignornat and buying into fake news. Voter ID is a good thing and only a fool would be against it.
That is correct. Plus its really demeaning when politicians tell groups of voters how incompetent they are that they cannot do basic tasks without government help. The woke mob equates poor with incompetent. Id be furious at being labeled like that due to my socioeconomic status.
And what an insult to poor people to imply that they are too stupid and weak as to accept a drink a water without it changing their vote.
@Gene
NO they shouldn’t vote then.
@MIAZiggy
There is no disenfranchisement or suppression.
@InLA
Because warnock and his stoogers were attempting to sway voters standing line at the polls. Thats illegal.
Sorry, “drink of water”
@InLA
People are stupid and there is a law against what was done during the senate runoff election. “GIving people water” was just an excuse as it is now to fool the stupid people that cry about non-existent “supression”. Glad this passed, we need it nationwide.
the water is a red herring from the woke mob. The law prevents intimidation of any kind which is awesome. No one with any agenda should be allowed anywhere near polling places be they BLM or MAGA. They dont belong anywhere near polling places.
@Gene +1
Delta should have stayed out of it. Public corporations should not violate the right of minority shareholders by donating to charity, making political contributions, or giving an opinion on a public issue or politics unless it directly affects the business (like taxes or transportation rules).
However, it should be noted this Georgia Bill secured more fair and honest elections in Georgia. Anyone who opposes voter ID does so because he or she wants fraud to happen. As others have said, we need an ID to fly, to buy beer, to get a library card, to cash a check, and etc. It’s ridiculous that some pretend showing ID is too much. Fraudulent mail in ballots are common as it’s very easy for wrongdoers to fill them out for recent people who died or people who are in a nursing home and don’t intend to vote. A lot of elections are neck and neck. A few thousand fraudulent votes is all it takes to turn the results.
The Georgia votes were counted and recounted. There was no major fraud found. This is a ‘solution’ for a problem that does not exist. These are sore loser politicians trying to pick the voters for the next election(s), instead of letting the voters pick the politicians.
@Gene
Sooooo…. you need to be rich and highly educated to get a state ID or to be at a certain place at a certain time? Tell me more.
PS, I just booked 4 trips (in first) on DL. More expensive than AA……but hey, voting with my wallet.
I’ve long stated that corporations should stay far away from politics unless the issues DIRECTLY affect their business. Obviously, voting regulations don’t. This strategy is particularly important now as the Left prefers to go nuclear whenever they don’t get what they want. The Georgia law makes it easier to vote than in Biden’s Delaware, but this reality is lost on rabid partisans and fools. Delta should not be involved in this nonsense.
Liberals claim that there are people that are too dumb and poor to obtain and produce an ID to vote. Liberals believe these same exact people are wealthy and intelligent enough to own a smart phone and know how to download a government vaccine passport on that phone to be presented whenever they go to a public venue.
Yes, everything is the fault of the “woke mob.” Who is it that was responsible in the first place for closing down or “consolidating” polling places in predominately minority areas, creating long lines? If the GA GOP just did it’s job and made polling places as accessible as in other developed countries (where voting is on a weekend and waits are less than 10 mins) then we wouldn’t be talking about people trying to feed water to voters waiting on a 2-hr long line. But no, apparently the problem are those dastardly people who just want to help.
Just to be clear, that Matthew above is not Live and Live Let’s Fly…
I’ll publish my take on this later today.
This law was designed to make it extremely hard to vote. Living In Fulton County I can tell you in all my years I’ve stood hours in line to vote. My job alliwss me the flexibility and time, but there are many who don’t have same “luxury” . Taking away drop boxes and limiting mail in votes (which is how Trump votes in Florida) is disenfranchishing.
Reading above comments is disheartening and y’all probably don’t even live in Georgia. Shame on you
ACLU filed suit today and I’m confident they will succeed.
I have never, ever, in the U.K. taken more than 5 minutes to vote in 30 years of voting. Can’t help thinking you’re all being taken for a ride …..
This new law is over-hyped in many echo chambers. It doesn’t make typical in-person voting much harder than traveling to a liquor store and buying a 6-pack of beer. Sure there may be a line at the store but you’ll still need to get there and maybe even produce ID to make that purchase.
You can find out many more facts at https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/03/27/what-does-georgias-new-voting-law-sb-202-do which has a really nice summary. Sure changing absentee voting limits from 180 days to 77 days is a real racist move but maybe we could just have people vote on, well, election day like normal.
My son was in Army basic training in Georgia during this past election cycle and was not even offered the chance to vote in the November election. Maybe would could fix things like that as well in the future.
As far as Delta goes, who cares. They will have issues not matter what stand they take on an issue like this.
All the racists in the thread who claim this is just about ID. Very sad.
Gary, Delta backtracked this morning.
https://news.delta.com/ed-bastian-memo-your-right-vote
Funny too that the ID Police here don’t realize you can actually fly w/o ID…just have to take extra steps to prove your identity. Kind of like voting.
And of course all the MAGA trolls will go to their grave believing the Big Lie their false idol told them…so much fraud! Fraud everywhere! Millions of dead/illegal voters! Totally swung the election! LOL you sheep.
First, everyone, even the GA republican election officials agree that there was no fraud in the 2020 election ergo, there was no need for new laws to restrict voting based on the fraud big lie. To all those here who are ok with making it a crime to give water or food to people waiting in hours-long voting lines: Those lines are for some reason only long in inner city, minority neighborhoods.
Since those people would not let the lines deter them, the GA legislators needed to do more to deny them. I venture to guess that everyone on this thread is not subject to this kind of Jim Crow stuff and so bloviate on how easy it is to vote. If you are already registered to vote, you have already proven your identity and your citizenship. Why does one need to provide further proof? Why is it okay for the legislature to throw out the local electors if they don’t like the results of the election?
There is too much un-American, un-democratic stuff in these new laws to justify any support from businesses or other citizens of Georgia. It’s not just about food and water or an ID. It is about denying some citizens their right to vote for their representation. Delta, Coca-Cola, UPS, Home Depot and all the other major Georgia-based businesses donate large sums of money to the legislators who passed these laws and to the Governor who signed them. If they truly “tried to make it better,” they could have stopped them by withholding their donations. I am withholding my support of all of these businesses in protest. Status match for me.