The kids desires for pancakes will keep this short.
But the outrage du jour calls for a call out.
THis morning we find on the front page advertising the California proposition 16 ad. the "Taxpayers Right to Vote Act" proposition. Kos keeps his ad policy very open to all comers, which in light of our outrage over superbowl ads, I have to support, now that angrymouse has pointed it out.
I'll also put in a plug for sponsorship (which I had forgotten was an option, since it's not that heavily advertised, I think)
So in that spirit, let me rip PG&E and let you folks know what that ad is all about.
Also known as Pacific Gas and Electric's kill alternative energy and local control Act. Let's say, progressives hate this thing, and are gearing up for a fight
Be sure to educate yourselves on prop 16 an oppose this thing.
Let's give a little back ground:
This initiative represents the confluence of three horrible aspects of California politics: overbearing abusive corporate power that victimizes average Californians, rabid right wing anti-tax, Grover Norquist's, and the effects of endless corporate cash used to buy up the political discourse (
First, let us return to the early days of the century. They economy was still ruled by "the smartest guys in the room" at Enron, and the invisible hand of the market delivered massive increases in electricity rates and stole millions from Grandma Millie. In response, the California State legislature passed AB117 to permit local communities to use their combined buying power to acquire clean energy at more favorable rates on the wholesale market. Think of it as the local "public option" in the energy makets here.
San Francisco, and more recently Marin County, where I live, formed CCAs to purchase renewable power for county residents. Majorities of the residents and city councils representing 70% of Marin elected to join the CCA.
Needless to say, PG&E flipped out and has bullied the Marin Energy authority and pushed up a lot of misinformation out there to try to doom the CCA. PG&E has also pushed back hard against the San Francisco authority.
Second, as many here know, California is in part paralyzed by a series of supermajority requirements to raise taxes and state constitutional amendments that prevent property taxes from being raised to support schools, or even make it hard to raise the money to buy light bulbs for street lamps (I kid you not. For a city to maintain public infrastructure, special "landscaping and lighting districts" have to be formed and voted on the by residents of the block. Massive procedural hurdles and expensive process await any city that wants to do basic housekeeping.) Thanks to the Paul Jarvis Foundation and friends, California has been the largest experiment in making government small enough to drown in a bathtub. Consequently our formerly fantastic schools and universities and infrastructure are falling to pieces.
Lesson? If you want to stop something, tie it up with supermajorities and procedural hurdles. We have the fillibuster on steroids here.
Third, as human rights activists know, it is insanely easy for anyone with enough money to amend our constitution (see prop 8).
Tying those three elements together, PG&E (who is far from the worst of utilities) has decided to spend vast sums of money preventing any further CCAs from being formed so it can retain its monopoly on energy delivery. If I had time, I'd go into the other efforts, such as threatening to withhold electricity transmission (the Enron trick ), suing anyone who decides to work with the Marin Energy Authority, etc.
so, even though this diary started off as a "I hate you kos for running this ad" let's go with "This ad brings up an important issue for us to educate ourselves about. Thanks for the heads up, PG&E!!"
yeah, I am laughing as kos goes to the bank to deposit PG&E's rather ill spent monies.