SCOTUS: Money Not Root of Political Evil

The Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission includes this howler:

...independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. That speakers may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that those officials are corrupt. And the appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy [U.S. Supreme Court, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 2010.01.21, Syllabus, pp. 5–6].

Dang. Maybe Rep. Herseth Sandlin was right when she said supposing a connection between campaign contributions and undue influence is "ridiculous." Not that I take much heart from our Democratic Congresswoman sounding like a small group of conservatives.

But that last line, about the electorate losing faith... how do my Tea Party friends feel about that?

The conservative justices do make their case (read the full opinion), but I'm still shaking off the effects of a failed laugh test.

Mercer Chooses Incomplete Math on Renewable Energy/Sales Tax Equation

Bob Mercer throws Senator Russell Olson (R-8/Madison) a lifeline to defend his vote against renewable energy and tax breaks. Mercer blogs about the "hidden costs" of Senate Bill 58:

Every kilowatt-hour produced by one of these small generators for personal or business consumption is a kilowatt-hour of electricity that isn’t purchased. And every kilowatt-hour of electricity not purchased is a kilowatt-hour on which no sales tax is collected. The purpose of the PUC’s exemption is to encourage small-renewable systems. The unintended effect however is a permanent erosion of sales tax revenues that could eventually grow to the millions of dollars annually [Bob Mercer, "Hidden Costs to State Treasury of PUC's Exemption Plan," Pure Pierre Politics, 2010.01.24].

Mercer carefully avoids saying this cost is a reason to vote the bill down... but his language makes pretty clear he doesn't think highly of SB 58 and the seemingly "inevitable" conversion to renewable energy.

Mercer's logic is short-sighted. All he's looking at is the electric meters of folks who will take advantage of the PUC's Small Renewable Energy Initiative to install wind and geothermal and hydrogen units to produce some of their own energy. His calculus doesn't include...

• increased sales of renewable energy equipment;
• increased purchasing power from employees of new renewable energy sales and service companies;
  
• savings to consumers and electric companies who don't have to build new peak-load facilities as quickly (meaning more purchasing power for other goods, and more sales tax revenue).
  

Mercer also declines to acknowledge the social and environmental benefits of small renewable energy. South Dakotans will make more of their own energy. We'll be less dependent on the grid. When snow and ice knock out power for 10,000 South Dakotans, more of those folks will have affordable back-up power. We'll reduce pollution from coal-burning power plants.

By Mercer's logic, my electric co-op, Sioux Valley, is doing the state wrong by shifting its focus from growth to energy efficiency. The same logic would discourage rummage sales and do-it-yourself carpentry (how much lumber and equipment do woodworkers buy?). The same logic would say our Department of Health shouldn't fight obesity: after all, how would we replace all the sales tax we get from fat people ordering seconds?

Mercer's argument indicates the foolishness of the sales tax. The state becomes wedded to ever-increasing consumption. When faced with a good bill like SB 58, short-sighted conservatives like Senator Olson can argue, "But people will buy less stuff!" A state taxing food and energy purchases has a motive to encourage gluttony and waste. A state taxing income has a motive to encourage industry and wealth.

SB 58 will indeed cause a reduction in sales tax revenue—or at least in the growth thereof—if all you look at is the electric meters. But if our legislators look at more than the back of Bob Mercer's envelope, they'll see an increase in jobs, purchasing power, and energy self-sufficiency.

Pastor Nussbaum Ashamed of Anti-Gay SD Family Policy Council

Curtis Price has provided excellent blog coverage of the anti-gay bullying the Rapid City School Board faced from gubernatorial candidate Gordon Howie and other religious fundamentalists for restoring a policy specifically addressing discrimination against homosexual students.

Price reminds us that we must not equate Christianity with prejudice. He cites the example set by Pastor Martin Nussbaum:

The other day at the school board meeting I met the wonderful Pastor Martin Nussbaum of Rapid City, who told the assembled at the Jan 7 Rapid City School Board meeting that he felt "ashamed" when he received an invitation from the South Dakota Family Policy Council urging him to push the school board to NOT protect LGBT people.

He's been a long time voice in support of Christians that don't agree with Focus On The Family's contention that The Gay™ is a threat to their faith!

Anyway, the news is that Martin is interested in help start a LGBT-friendly church -- they may meet at the BHCFE, it's still in the drawing-board stages. But it's a good thing since the Met Church in Rapid City folded more than five years ago now, and this was a big loss [Curtis Price, "A New LGBT Ministry in Rapid City?" Robbinsdale Radical, 2010.01.23].

Long time voice... indeed! Martin graduated a year ahead of me from Madison HS. He was a fellow debater and thespian. Even in high school, he was an outspoken advocate of strong and tolerant Christianity. I still remember his letter to the editor telling off the local fundagelicals who were busy striking poses over Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ. The West Twin Theater had advertised with a whiff of self-righteousness that it would not be showing Scorcese's film. Martin scolded his fellow believers, noting that his God was strong enough to withstand any piece of celluloid. Martin's example back then helped me move away from my juvenile rejection of religion to a recognition that believers can be intelligent and compassionate allies in the fight for justice (not to mention good company at breakfast).

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An intriguing Google twist: Do not confuse Pastor Martin Nussbaum with L. Martin Nussbaum, who was the lawyer for New Life Church in Colorado Springs when Ted Haggard revealed his own tolerance for homosexuality.

Legislative Roundup: Toothless Legislation, Jail Bait, Beavers...

This week in the South Dakota State Legislature:

Genocide Concerns Us, But Keep Investing in Iran: The Senate Retirement Laws Committee stamped SB 21 "Do Pass." They did amend the state's request for unfettered investment in terrorist states. The amendment calls on the State Investment Council to "engage and promote compliance" with federal divestiture laws and authorizes the Legislature to "express its concerns" about state investments that may fund evildoers. In other words, more toothless paperwork. No sign yet of Rep. Lederman's promised legislation to outright ban the state from investing in Iran. Stay tuned....

Sex Sex Sex...: And you thought the budget would be all our legislators had on their minds. There are a slew of proposals relating to sex offenders and the life sentences our state imposes on them. There's also HB 1110, which eases the penalty for statutory rape for certain young and restless penetrators fondlers.

[Update 2010.01.24: HB 1110 primary sponsor Rep. Rich Engels drops by the comment section to clarify! See below! This bill is about sexual contact, not sexual penetration! Errors from the original post are corrected below—sorry for the mess!]

(Read carefully: this is tricky!) Right now, sex with someone under 16 is a Class 3 felony. However, if you're less than three years older than the victim, it's only a Class 1 misdemeanor.

HB 1110 changes the law to read thus:

If the victim is at least thirteen years of age and the actor is less than five years older than the victim, the actor is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Let's try to clarify, kids:

Under HB 1110, if you are this old...	...[correction] serious necking is a felony if she/he's this old (or younger)	..but a misdemeanor if she/he's this old
16	12	13–15
17	12	13–15
18	13	14–15
19	14	15
20	15

Correction: The rules on rape remain the same. basically, kids, don't go all the way! If either party is under 16, it may be rape... and it's probably stupid. And for pete's sake, don't do it a second time: HB 1110 makes second offense a Class 2 felony.

So under HB 1110, two legal adults, one 19, one 18, could perform the same act, sex heavy petting with a 14-year-old. The 19-year-old could get 15 years in the pen and a $30K fine. The 18-year-old could get a year in the county jail and a $2K fine.

Hmm... could we just issue stainless steel underpants to everyone and hand out keys with high school diplomas? (Now that would cut the drop-out rate.)

Darn You Beavers!: In the unnecessary legislation department, HB 1113 adds prairie dogs, raccoons, skunks, and beavers to list of critters GF&P can target on the animal damage control list. Thing is, current statute already says that list can include "other wild animals" deemed injurious to the general welfare. I guess certain legislators just want to say, "Skunks! Coons! Beavers! We mean you!"

Update 13:05 CST: But wait, there's more!

Tightening the Auto Insurance Noose: Driving without insurance could get harder: SB 87 would require folks registering any noncommercial motor vehicle to show their proof of insurance to the county treasurer.

Make Your Own Gun, Dodge Federal Rules!: A majority of the Legislature has already signed on to sponsor SB 89, which will exempt firearms, firearm accessories, and ammo made and used exclusively in South Dakota from federal regulations. Do whatever you want with your weapons, as long as you don't invade Minnesota.

Sure enough, the "Firearms Freedom Act" is a coordinated national effort. SB 89 copies language used in a "Firearms Freedom Act" proposed in Minnesota last year. Montana led the way, passing the first version of said law last year and now fighting Uncle Sam in court to keep it. Interestingly, the NRA may not be supporting this law.

Anti-Abortion Crusaders Incur Wrath of God?

No, it's just raining and snowing.

Last night's pro-life march in Sioux Falls was cancelled due to bad weather. Northern Plains Anglican, an eminently more reliable theologian than I, notes with what sounds like a chuckle that you probably shouldn't attribute the storm to any of the following:

• Perhaps the marchers had a bad attitude, and were not going to represent God well.
• Perhaps the marchers were in danger from abortion zealots or just plain crazy folks, and God wanted to protect them.
• I suppose one can argue that demonic forces called out the storm to stop the march, although what that says about God gets interesting.
• &c &c &c [Father Timothy Logan Fountain, "Another reason to refrain from putting a moral judgment on natural phenomena," Northern Plains Anglican, 2010.01.22]
  

For those of you still taking your Haiti cues from Pat Robertson, see also Matthew 5:45 (sun and rain, righteous and not).

Another Opponent of the Cadillac Tax...

...or maybe the cow-methane tax?

Seen around town, some truckular humor from Kvernevig Trucking of Webster (click pix to enlarge):


And then, on the back of the sleeper, a note for the oxymoron file:

...with a touch of class? That might be about as logically coherent as Gordon Howie's campaign slogan.

Blog Heaven: Obama Admin Releases Huge Database to Public

You want government transparency? President Obama's got your transparency right here, with a huge upload of public data to the Web:

The Transportation Department will post ratings for 2,400 lines of tires for consumer safety based on tire tread wear, traction performance and temperature resistance. The Labor Department will release the names of 80,000 workplaces where injuries and illness have occurred over the past 10 years.

The Medicare database has previously been available for a fee of $100 on CD ROM. Under the Obama initiative, it can be downloaded free, providing detailed breakdowns of payments for Medicare services. The Medicare data will be sortable by the type of medical service provided.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration database rates car seats for ease of use, evaluating the simplicity of instruction sheets, labels, vehicle installation features and securing the child.

"We're democratizing data," White House Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra said Thursday in an interview [Pete Yost, "Government Posting Wealth of Data to Internet," AP via Miami Herald, 2010.01.22].

The Medicare database—once $100, now free, and in Excel and Google-Maps-ready format (well, only csv/txt for now, but they're working on it)! And the LAIC wanted $250 for its measly one-binder housing study? Take a transparency memo, Dwaine!

The Obama Administration still has a long way to go on improving government openness (expect the comment section to fill with the right's favorite talking points). But making these gobs of government data so freely available is a huge step forward. Full and easy access to government data is a necessary step toward full and easy participation in government.

--------------------------
Update 2010.01.28: But the President still needs to crack some skulls down through the bureaucracy. His people are still fighting more FOIA lawsuits than his predecessor did.

Free Speech for Corporations: What Proper Constraints?

A just society would be one in which liberty for one person is constrained only by the demands created by equal liberty for another.

Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality, 1973, p. 41

A corporation is not a person. The law and a majority of the current Supreme Court say it is, but they are wrong. As Justice John Paul Stevens said from the bench in dissent yesterday, "corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires."

But let's set that argument aside (as does the Roberts-Scalia wing of the Court). While I read the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allowing corporations to donate to political campaigns, consider this scenario:

Suppose I, a person, amass a vast sum of money (through hard work and wise investing). I run for state senate against Russ Olson. Two weeks before the election, I offer the Madison Daily Leader, KJAM, and every other media outlet that reaches our district four times their going rate to buy every available ad space. Good capitalists all, they accept. I even buy up Pat Powers's whole sidebar (and send his seven kids to college). For two weeks before the election, my disproportionate wealth drowns out the message of my opponent.

Wealth is power. When is my power to "speak" so great that it threatens the liberty of others? What proper constraints may society place upon my use of my wealth to "speak" in the public sphere?

---------------------------------
While we think about that, here's some more reading on yesterday's remarkable Supreme Court ruling:

1. Dahlia Lithwick, "The Pinocchio Project," Slate, 2010.01.21.
2. What's next: voting rights for corporations? Lyle Denniston, "Analysis: The Personhood of Corporations," SCOTUSBlog, 2010.01.21.
3. See also Erin Miller's great SCOTUSBlog round-up of first-day reaction to Citizens United v. FEC.—beaucoup links!

Update 2010.01.28: Dr. Newquist understands the question of disproportionate power at which I'm driving.

Wind Juices Local Economies in Nebraska & Dakotas

More folks across the Great Plains are figuring out that wind power is a key part of economic future. Today's notes:

• Thanks to a $5-million tax credit from Uncle Sam, TPI Composites will open a wind turbine blade factory in Grand Island, Nebraska. What does Grand Island get out of the deal? More than 200 jobs.
• As reported here earlier, Iberdrola is building enough wind power in Brookings and Deuel counties to replace more than half of the capacity of the canceled Big Stone II coal plant... and doing it for less cost per megawatt. The Brookings County Commission is taking its time to make sure the Buffalo Ridge wind developments don't cause interference with ITC's phone lines. Tuesday, the commission got a reminder that Buffalo Ridge is good for local business: local concrete contractor Winter, Inc. is pouring concrete bases for towers that may be 484 feet tall.
• Every little bit helps: Art Mariner started GR-8 Country Wind Power about a year ago. He's sold a handful of small turbines for home and farm use. His wind company employs himself and two others. Thre jobs here, three jobs there... that's exactly the kind of rural job creation SB 58 and the other components of the PUC's Small Renewable Energy Initiative will support.
  

Sen. Olson: Forget Renewable Energy; Let's Play Bingo!

Another note from the "I can't make stuff like this up" department:

Senator Russell Olson (R-8/Madison) has a vision for rural economic development in South Dakota. That vision does not include small renewable energy projects or tax breaks for those who build them. His employer, Heartland Consumer Power District, probably loathes the thought of individuals producing their own power, becoming more energhy independent, and messing up their pretty little grid. Senator Olson voted against Senate Bill 58 in the State Affairs Committee yesterday.

What is Senator Olson's vision for rural economic development? Our man Russ is a prime sponsor of House Bill 1095. This legislation permits local industrial development corporations to conduct bingo games and lotteries.

Bingo. Lotteries.

So that's how Senator Olson's previous employer, the Lake Area Improvement Corporation, is going to fulfill the Forward Madison goals: they're going to hire 400 people to sell lottery tickets and run a bingo hall in the renovated depot. (I assume the LAIC is one of the "industrial development corporations" created by SDCL 5-14-23.)

To review: Olson is a Republican voting against (1) business opportunities and (2) tax breaks, but promoting games of chance as an economic development strategy.

I want to use renewable energy for economic development. Russ wants to use bingo.

Ah, vision.

-------------------------
Of course, if HB 1103 passes, you'll be able to drive your golf cart to the bingo hall. Say, couldn't we charge those carts with wind turbines?

SDGOP Mud Wrestling Begins; Dark Horses, Keep Riding!

The Dave Knudson for Governor campaign sends me its fun little press release tweaking Dennis Daugaard for his apparent flip-flop on Governor Rounds's budget.

Part of me goes Tee-hee! at the prospect of Republican mud-wrestling. But part of me thinks of 2002 and gets a little antsy. Daugaard and Knudson have their differences, but they are cut of similar pragmatist cloth. They'll lead the fight for the mainstream Republican vote.

But as they start fighting—and they will, they have to, that's a primary reality—they may find themselves rolling down the same road as Steve Kirby and Mark Barnett in 2002: the road to defeat at the hands of a dark horse challenger.

And who are our dark horses this year?

Well, there's rancher Ken Knuppe, who's probably going to Wasson out on us any day now.

There's Scott Munsterman, whose events calendar does look distressingly empty this month. I wouldn't go so far as to say the wheels are coming off the Munsterman campaign, although his campaign manager has certainly been making a push to supplement his income with more blog ads.* I find it hard to believe that Munsterman would bail on the campaign after selling his business and driving all over kingdom come last year. If the two big guys are fighting, why not stay and fight to be the Mike Rounds surprise of 2010?

Because, as Badlands Blue points out, there's another dark horse who may have an even better shot at gobbling up the remnants of a GOP electorate split by a Knudson–Daugaard bloodbath: Gordon Howie. Yes, he's a nut, but he might be the right kind of nut.

Daugaard and Knudson can split the sensible GOP–Chamber of Commerce vote. Munsterman has that good-old fundagelical Wesleyanism in him, but for all his signals to the theocracy crowd, he's still a relatively practical policy wonk (read the briefs, read the book). The radical right knows Munsterman isn't quite the rabid anti-abortion crusader of their dreams.

The great non-wonk right that votes on nothing but fetuses and fags† knows Gordon Howie is their man. He's built his reputation in the crusade for theocracy. The moment he submits his petitions for governor, he has a lock on the Unruh block of the GOP. Munsterman will be left playing for the scraps of the sensible Republicans, and unless he and Knudson roll over to save the party, Howie could be the nominee.

...at which point, Heidepriem wins.

Gee, I guess all of me is saying, Tee-hee!

---------------------------------
*Powers's latest ads include the Pothole Fairy! Hmmm... conservative blogger advertises for lobby supporting more government spending—wrap your brain around that one!.

†I apologize now to my friends on the left who may be offended by my use of the term. I use it for alliteration and to capture the homophobic thinking the Howie crowd's bullying and bias demonstrate. As always, the comment section is open.

I'm a Marxist Voodoo Priest, Sibby's a Nut...

...and no one else cares.

Because Steve Sibson is so far off topic on my post about the state GOP's mud-wrestling and the window of opportunity for the Gordon Howie theocrats, I'm deleting his whole nutty thread from that comment section. Lest Steve think he has scored some victory by driving me to censorship, I reprint (against my better judgment, but I'm a sucker for lost causes like Sibby) the entire whacky discussion here. Steve, feel free to continue your crush on me on this post.

Steve Sibson said...

Cory,

To you believe in:

"Under God the people rule"?

1/21/2010 3:43 PM

Steve Sibson said...

There I go hitting the publish button too soon.

"Do you believe in:"

1/21/2010 3:45 PM

caheidelberger said...

Steve, you know I'm an atheist. How could I believe in that statement? Or is there some other meaning to your question?

1/21/2010 6:54 PM

Steve Sibson said...

Cory,

That is South Dakota's state motto and is found on the state seal and in the South Dakota Constitution. So I can add anti-South Dakotan to the anti-American Christian hating Neo-Marxist agenda you are a part of as described in this excerpt I copied and pasted on my web site five days ago with a title that included your name regarding attacks at Brett Hume for expressing his Christian beliefs:

"This is the way Jon Stewart and his staff operates: Take a deliberately truncated clip from the person you want to attack, then self-righteously mock and ridicule him and the statement whose meaning you have just distorted.

This tactic is straight out from the playbook of Neo-Marxist humbug Saul Alinsky, the author of "Rules for Radicals," one of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's favorite books."

Thanks for your post as it proves the point made five days ago. Your distortion was this:

"He's built his reputation in the crusade for theocracy."

1/21/2010 7:11 PM

caheidelberger said...

[Steve, you are hilarious! Because I disagree with on the existence of a supreme being, I hate South Dakota? Wow! With logical acrobatics like that, who needs Cirque du Soleil? (Besides, their name is French, and Marx lived in France; therefore, Cirque du Soleil are Marxists!)]

[Or try this: I haven't eaten pheasant or walleye lately. Pheasant and walleye are the state bird and fish of South Dakota. Therefore, I'm anti-South Dakota! Yaaarrr!]

[Steve and I could play nutty playground non-logic all day long. But I'm not news. Neither is Steve's crush on me. I'd rather hear comments about the actual substance of the post.]

1/21/2010 7:25 PM

Steve Sibson said...

"Steve, you are hilarious! Because I disagree with on the existence of a supreme being, I hate South Dakota?"

No Cory! There you go with the distortions directed at Christians. The truth is that you rejected South Dakota's state motto. Again you prove my point about your Neo-Marxist tactics. And if you are up to it, research John Locke's positon regarding the role of atheists.

1/21/2010 9:02 PM

caheidelberger said...

[No, Steve, it's voodoo tactics: I'm trying to make an earthquake happen! (So far, only my heat pump is rumbling. I should have that looked at.) ]

[I am desperately writhing in the crushing grip of Steve's cleverly sprung bear-trap logic... oh, wait, sorry: that's actually just writhing with laughter. Steve makes it so easy to confuse the two. 8-D ]

[If I delete this thread, it will only be because Steve is totally off topic.]

1/21/2010 9:34 PM