Monday, February 8, 2010

Supreme Court Ruling on Campaign Spending by Corporations

In my view the recent Supreme Court decision on campaign spending by corporations is based on two false premises. One is that corporations are entitled to the same first amendment rights as actual persons. The second is that money equals speech. One cannot find support for either proposition in the Constitution or its Amendments. Can you possibly imagine Jefferson or Madison supporting giving artificial constucts like corporations full First Amendment rights? Any argument that the current majority are strict constructionists has gone out the window with this recent decision. Instead, we saw a wholesale abrogation of precedents in favor of one set of interests over others. Elections DO matter, for they result in this kind of outrageous miscarriage of justice. That whirring sound you hear are the founding fathers spinning in their graves. One day this decision will be overturned. May it be soon.

There's been a lot of theoretical talk about the impact this Supreme Court ruling may have. But, if you want a real life, actual example of how the system can be abused by this ruling, look at how the CEO of Massey Coal put $3 million into the race for a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court. His candidate was elected and shortly afterwards voted in favor of Massey in an important case. Read all about it in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co.


Sunday, February 7, 2010

Free speech is something we should all support. But that doesn't mean that everyone's opinion is entitled to equal weight. Brian Bolig's Jan. 17 letter to the Harrisburg Patriot-News says that climate change is a hoax. He cites as his proof the fact that Hannibal used a pass in the Alps that is snow covered today. He doesn't name any scientists who support this "proof" of a hoax.

As far as I know, there are none. According to Bolig, everything in this world is politicized.

It seems that way, if all you watch is Fox News Channel and MSNBC. If Mr. Bolig would widen his search a bit, he will discover that the overwhelming scientific consensus supports the position that man is responsible for a substantial portion of our gradually warming climate.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, seven of the warmest years on record have occurred in the last 10 years. The consensus prediction is that the Arctic Ocean will become navigable in about 30 years. The snows of Kilimanjaro will be gone in less than a decade.

Mr. Bolig and others such as Rush Limbaugh can always find a lone gadfly scientist who will support their silly position. Meanwhile our earth continues to warm and our window of time to act continues to close.
The Harrisburg Patriot-News just ran an article stating that eighty-three employees connected to the state legislature pulled in six-figure salaries last year.

I think some of in the media are being somewhat irresponsible in covering this issue. I spent my entire career in the private sector working for large corporations. When analyzing how much a particular position should be paid, we looked at industry studies. Why aren't you comparing what, say, an accounting manager in the private sector is making as compared to state government. That is the only fair comparison. When the media doesn't look at the issue this way, they are playing into the hands of the anti-government firebrands who, I guess, think that there shouldn't be any government employees at all.