Republicans aren't about to bite the hand that feeds them. When Reagan fired the air traffic controllers in 1981, it began the systematic dismantling of the labor movement that had financed the Democratic political machine for years. The Citizens United decision gave Republicans the upper hand in fund raising. Low taxes and almost zero enforcement of the remaining tax laws among the wealthy is how they reward their benefactors. Anti-abortion legislation and anything else to "own the libs" is how they reward the rural rubes who continue to vote for them.