Some of us on the left may have written off the Republican party as nothing more than drones in service of big business. So, let us take due note of this stirring statement of principle from the California Republican State Party chair:

Saying big business should be punished for turning its back on the California Republican Party, state GOP Chairman Shawn Steel on Monday called for an end to corporate tax breaks and said he may push a 2004 ballot initiative to raise corporate property taxes.

"Any special tax breaks for these large corporations, I'm not interested in that -- that's over," Steel told a luncheon audience of the Sacramento Press Club. ...

In a 45-minute speech billed as a post-election analysis, the outgoing party chairman blamed two forces for Republicans' shutout in their bid for statewide office this year: investor Gerald Parsky, who has used his influence as President Bush's point man in California to whittle away at Steel's power, and what Steel called the "betrayal of big business." ...

Steel said corporate executives, from developers to bankers to high-tech manufacturers, put tens of millions of dollars behind Gov. Gray Davis and the Democratic-controlled Legislature, under the assumption that Republicans will represent their interests regardless of their political support.

For those of us accustomed to thinking of Republicans as mere corporate shills, this naked display of personal powerlust is a most refreshing change of pace...

(via Max Sawicky)