A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

The Politics of Atheism

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Barbara Bradley Hagerty, writing for NPR, has an article entitled “A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists.” (h/t Tom D.) The article describes a debate among atheists about how best to engage with believers. It describes peaceful, polite coexistence as the more traditional view as opposed to a newer, more confrontational approach.

What struck me is that it seems reminiscent of a debate that took place (or is still taking place) in pretty much any other minority group movement you care to name. Martin Luther King versus Malcom X are the examples that leap to my mind first. But, gays and feminists have had this debate as well. Do you go along to get along or do you get in their faces and try to shatter their prejudices?

I’m definitely no student of such movements, but from my perspective it seems that the more peaceful approach worked better in terms of black rights while a more aggressive approach has worked better for gay rights. As for atheism, I don’t know how closely it parallels some of these other movements. One huge difference is that there is nothing innate about religious belief or lack thereof. By and large, it seems to reflect what is stuck in your head at a young age (note, for example, the very large number of people who adhere to the same religion as their parents.) But, certainly there is nothing immutable about that belief. I was raised as a Presbyterian, for example.

I think atheists need to be open and unapologetic about their lack of belief, but they don’t need to be jerks about it; at least to people who are being respectful to them. Being open about it is necessary for the mainstreaming effect this has. Others who aren’t religious should be able to see that, even if they’re in the minority, they are not isolated.

The article mentioned Christopher Hitchens saying, “I think religion should be treated with ridicule, hatred and contempt, and I claim that right.” In my mind, that approach makes him kind of like the Ann Coulter of atheism. It will make him money and earn him a certain hardcore following, but ultimately, it will probably be counterproductive as it leads to people digging in and refusing to communicate very well. On the other hand, responding with contempt when contempt is being dished out is probably necessary at times. But, in my mind, disrespect is only appropriate when directed at the disrespectful. Where you have a person of faith treating you as an equal with whom there is an honest difference of opinion, I don’t think there is any upside to behaving rudely.

Indiana is behind the times on Net Metering

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Per a story by Lana Kunz in the Evansville Courier Press, a group called Network for New Energy Solutions reports that Indiana is behind the times on net metering – the ability to generate electricity from alternate sources and “feed the grid.”

Currently Indiana’s regulations only require power companies to buy energy from residential and K-12 schools, even though some facilities “sometimes go above and beyond” what is required, Cotton said.
. . .
Current state law limits not only the type of consumer that can sell back energy, but how much they can sell, the size of the system generating the alternative energy, the types of energy utilities are required to buy, pays only a wholesale rate back to the consumer and does not require all power companies to net meter.

Something to watch, I guess. I don’t know how substantial power generation from alternate sources going back into the grid could become. Still, the ability to sell back excess power would probably be an incentive for people to start using alternate energy sources. And, ultimately, a more flexible power grid with “a thousand points of light” (to borrow a phrase) would probably be a good thing.

Poor Poor Pitiful Steve

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I’d lay my head on the railroad tracks
And wait for the Double “E”
But the railroad don’t run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These lobbyists won’t let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

(With apologies to the late, great Warren Zevon.) The Indianapolis Star finally gets into the act and covers Rep. Steve Buyer’s uncharity, the Frontier Foundation. In response, Rep. Buyer goes to the “woe is me” routine he first trotted out in the puff interview with the Monticello Herald Journal. He works so hard and so selflessly for this charity, you see, that he is wounded by critics who would suspect him of anything unpleasant. This is a jarring departure from his previous position — one not apparently pursued in the Indianapolis Star article — that the Frontier Foundation was not an organization with which he had any special involvement.

June 2008. The Frontier Foundation is just another charity Rep. Buyer helps:

In an interview, Buyer said “there is no connection” between his legislative actions and donations to the foundation. “I’m not an officer. I’m not a board director,” he said of his role in the non-profit. “Do I help the foundation? Yes, I do. Do I help other charity groups? Yes, I do.”

October 11, 2009. Still in denial.

Attempts to reach Buyer for comment were unsuccessful. His press secretary referred questions to Frontier Foundation and said there was no connection between Buyer and the foundation.

“It’s not Congressman Buyer’s foundation,” press secretary Anjulen Anderson said.

Buyer is, of course, inseparable from the Foundation. With no Buyer, there is no Foundation. Its board is made up entirely of Rep. Buyer’s friends and family. It shares office space with his campaign office, etc. Aside from letting him off the hook on this abrupt about face, the Indy Star article does a pretty good job of describing where the money comes from and where it has gone.

Sources are:
• Pharmaceutical interests: $465,000.
• Telecommunications interests: $215,148.
• Tobacco and alcohol interests: $65,000.
• Health insurers: $60,000.
• Other: $53,124.
• Unknown: $25,000.

There have been $10,500 in distributions, primarily to a foundation run by an Eli Lilly lobbyist, the NRA, and a guy in Monticello who had a fire. The “charity” is purportedly for providing scholarships to Hoosier students with a 2.75 g.p.a. An advertisement for the scholarship was attached to the 2007 tax return (page 22 or so). It said two scholarships of $10,000 were available. However, a total of $0 (not a typo) has been devoted to scholarships for the period 2003 – 2008. Most of the expenditures have been expenses, including a lot of what are described as fund raising expenses in the form of golf outings in swanky locations:

In 2004, the first Frontier Foundation golf fundraising event was held at the Fenwick Country Club in New York. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Buyer said, the golf outings were held at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. The outings in 2008 were at Atlantis and the Boulders resort in Phoenix, and at Boulders and Disney World this year.

But if we think the Bahamas or Disney World are “fun,” we are sorely mistaken, says Rep. Buyer. It’s hard work! And for this selfless labor, what does Rep. Buyer get? (Aside from the trips — which he hates). He is made to suffer the slings and arrows of journalists, Democrats, and random bloggers. The Indy Star article quotes a fundraising professional who suggests it’s not out of line to try to stockpile a bunch of cash before handing out money in order to make the charity sustainable; though, apparently, staffing the board with family members and fund raising through destination golfing isn’t typically the best way to do things.

But, the big problem in all of this is the source of the funding. It’s coming from people doing business with the United States Congress for whom Buyer is in a position to do favors. He says he’s not. And, I very much suspect that Rep. Buyer would be favorably inclined toward these huge corporate interests even without the giving. But you can’t expect people to trust their Congressman when an organization entirely controlled by him is taking in large sums of money from lobbyists and not distributing it except to go golfing.

Social Conservatism and Cincinnatus

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Fred Clark at Slacktivist has an ongoing series about Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind” series. The latest installment has a digression into the comfort of social conservatives with the idea of a dictator in the mold of Cincinnatus. The short version of the Cincinnatus story is that he was a Roman general who had retired to his farm. When enemies threatened Rome, he reluctantly accepted the position of dictator, beat the enemy, and returned to the farm.

Clark drops a footnote that I found interesting:

[The notion that the ideal leader is a virtuous dictator] is another division distinguishing the social-conservative wing of the Republican Party from its libertarian, free-market faction. The myth of Cincinnatus illustrates social conservatives’ comfort with unchecked power and unlimited authority. That contradicts the Madisonian concern for limited government that’s central to conservatives of a more libertarian bent.

It also helps to explain why the partisan hypocrisy often demonstrated by this kind of social conservative isn’t only partisan hypocrisy. President George W. Bush was, in their view, a virtuous man with Jesus in his heart. That virtue, they believed, was sufficient as a check and balance against any potential misuse of power. President Barack Obama, they believe, is an evil man and therefore must not be trusted with even the constitutionally constrained, limited, checked-and-balanced power of his office. This is why former Vice President Dick Cheney belongs with the social conservatives even though he was, at best, unenthusiastic about their dual obsessions of criminalizing abortion and homosexuality. Cheney believes that virtue and virtue alone is a sufficient constraint on the use of power, and that power ought to be wielded unfettered by any other limit in pursuit of that virtue.

The group of people who think that Barack Obama is not simply wrong, but evil is not as fringe as I would like them to be. Commenter here, “T,” shared with me an exchange he had with a friend-of-a-friend on Facebook who was convinced that Obama was using FEMA to stockpile coffins in preparation for concentration camps. The guy was citing Apocalyptic Bible passages as “supporting authority.” (I liked the responding question about why in the hell an evildoer bent on mass murder would trifle with coffins – departing from the normal tradition of simply dumping the bodies in a hole after mass slaughter.)

Anyway, the idea that a certain group of people sees a virtuous dictator as the preferred model of governance explains some of the schizophrenia when power shifts from one party to another. Suddenly Black Helicopters and the New World Order are a going concern again.

Balloon Boy

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The Balloon Boy saga was like the “Baby Jessica down a well” saga of 23 years ago, except sped up for the Internet age. It took 58 hours to get Jessica out of the well. The Balloon Boy thing lasted a few hours. Recent information, however, suggests it’s more like the “Bart down a well hoax” Simpson’s episode of 17 years ago.

The first “tell” probably should have been that the Balloon Boy family had been on a reality television show. After the prospect of a kid trapped in a run away balloon captured the attention of a nation, the balloon crashed into a field with no kid inside. Then he was “found” in the family’s attic. But, bless the imperfect lying skills of 6 year olds, when questioned by Wolf Blitzer, the kid turned to Dad and said, “you guys said we did this for the show.” The most recent thing I saw was that the kid threw up during morning show interviews. I don’t blame the kid at all. Indications are that the dad is consumed with fame-seeking. If this is a hoax – and I’m 99% sure it is – I hope the world comes crashing down on the guy.

Hunter, of Daily Kos fame, made a pointed media critique: “horrible thing, happening live” does not equal news. It’s a snuff film with anchors. This incident caught our attention at the same time most of us ignore the much greater number of children at risk from non-balloon related causes. I suppose it goes back to the Stalin quote about how one death is a tragedy, one million deaths is a statistic.

Nobody could have predicted that FSSA privatization would be a problem

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Gov. Daniels finally decided to pull the plug on the State’s privatization contract with IBM/ACS to provide welfare eligibility services.

“It wasn’t resources,” Daniels said. “It wasn’t effort. It was a flawed concept that simply did not work out in practice.”

But, in Daniels’ defense, it’s not like anyone else saw anything bad coming down the line.

Update Niki Kelly and Angela Mapes Turner have more for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. One interesting bit of information is that an IBM spokesperson says:

[T]he company had invested great amounts of money and resources in a process complicated by the severe recession, high unemployment and natural disasters that increased the number of people seeking help.

“IBM rejects the state’s claims and believes the state’s action is unjustified,” Buscemi said.

IBM would take action within the guidelines of the contract to stop its termination, Buscemi said, but declined to be provide specifics.

To date, the State has spent $361 million on this contract. I believe that’s a gross figure – to determine the impact on the state, I suppose you would want to figure out how much the state would have spent if the contract had never been pursued and also try to quantify how much worse the service was.

Urban renewal in Indy

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Francesca Jarosz has an article for the Indy Star about an Indianapolis urban renewal plan that has a warm and fuzzy vision for the area north of downtown around the Monon Trail.

Neighborhood renewal leaders picture a landscape of energy-efficient homes, cozy shops and restaurants bustling with patrons, a light-rail station and plentiful manufacturing jobs — maybe even jobs making solar panels to power nearby homes.

No word on the unicorn petting zoo. But, don’t mind me, I’m kind of a grumpy skeptic when you peel away my sunny exterior. The article cites the downtown Canal District as a previous successful revitalization effort. However, take a look at the lengthy and persuasive article written by the Urbanophile on the Indy Canal District entitled Indy: The Failure of the Canal Walk. With respect to that project, he cites the hermetically sealed areas that surround the Canal. The result:

The Canal Walk can be viewed as a success in some regards – the Canal itself is quite nice, there is new development along it where previously there were rundown buildings or weedy lots, and at times you’ll see a few people strolling along it. However, if viewed against the aspirations that were publicly set for it – that it would be another San Antonio Riverwalk – the Canal has clearly failed. There is very little retail development along the canal, the developments there have generated effectively no organic spin-offs, and the Canal is generally lightly patronized.

But, back to the near north Monon project. The Monon Trail is obviously a good starting point. There has been discussion of a stop in the area along a proposed light rail system from downtown to Noblesville. Proponents have apparently identified federal funds that can be used. There is also a goal to avoid displacing existing residents. Beyond that, visions of who will live there and why seem to be kind of all over the map. IU professor David Reingold noted an “if we build it, they will come” aspect to the project. Being less refined than the good professor, I see a South Park underpants gnome aspect to the project: 1. Build stuff. 2. ???. 3. Neighborhood revitalization!

But, like I said, I can be a grumpy skeptic. I hope it works out for them.

Rokita in Campaign Mode

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Niki Kelly has an article about Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s recent high profile. He ventured beyond the scope of his office by spending money to have legislative redistricting maps drawn up. Now he has anti-investment scam ads up where Rokita features prominently. It seems pretty clear he’s trying to get his profile up in preparation to run for something; the presumption has to be Governor when Gov. Daniels steps down. He was coy about it though:

Finally, though, he concedes he would consider elected office in the future.

“If we thought we could add value to the state, if it makes sense for us, if people want us to run, absolutely it would be an honor to consider that,” Rokita said.

That quote is preceded by some talk about doing what was right for his family – otherwise, I would be tempted to give him some ribbing about the royal “we.” Also, it turns out he and his wife have a second child on the way. So, regardless of any political differences I might have with the man, I can certainly extend good wishes on that score without reservation.

Deny, Deny, Deny: Steve Buyer & the Frontier Foundation

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Back in college, I had a friend. Let’s call him “Dom.” Dom wasn’t one who was much given to following society’s “rules” or obeying its “laws.” He had a simple rule when it came to potential repercussions for his transgressions: “deny, deny, deny.” One time he told me, “I don’t care if they have you on tape. Deny it. ‘I don’t know what this is! That isn’t me!'”

So, naturally, I thought of Dom when TPMMuckraker followed up on its coverage of the Buyer/Frontier Foundation story:

And the award for boldest denial in the face of evidence of financial mischief goes to … Rep. Steve Buyer!
. . .
He and his office have repeatedly denied that the Frontier Foundation has any special connection to Buyer.”

To recap: There are campaign finance laws in place. They exist to avoid undue influence by individuals and corporations over elected officials who are in a position to do them favors. One dodge to these campaign finance laws is for moneyed interests to contribute to non-profit organizations closely associated with the elected officials. Those organizations can, in turn, employ family members, pay for travel and dining expenses under the guise of helping the organization, and, potentially, create a nest egg the elected official can use after retiring from office – perhaps becoming employed at a nice salary to “manage” the organization. In Buyer’s case, the Frontier Foundation was ostensibly created for the purpose of providing scholarships to Indiana students. Despite taking in donations from lobbying organizations having to do with the pharmaceutical and broadcast industries for years, the Foundation has yet to provide a scholarship.

Buyer’s claims that he has no special connection to the Frontier Foundation is ridiculous. TPM Muckraker has provided a handy list of some of the reasons why:

*The foundation shares an address and phone number with Buyer’s campaign headquarters on North Main Street in Monticello, IN.

*Buyer’s daughter Colleen was the president of the foundation until August 1 of this year.

*His son Ryan is a director of the foundation, according to filings with the Indiana Secretary of State.

*Answering the phone number of the campaign office (and foundation) today, Stephanie Mattix, until recently the secretary-treasurer of the foundation, told TPMmuckraker that the foundation shares the office but works out of “a separate room.”

*The real estate company that owns the space says the lease is for Buyer, and adds that the foundation is not subleasing the space. Mattix told TPMmuckraker, though, that the foundation does pay rent.

*While drawing an annual salary in the $12,000-$17,000 range from the foundation, Mattix also served as the executive director of Buyer’s Storm Chasers PAC. She is currently the finance director of his campaign and the webmaster of the campaign Web site.

*Buyer was listed as the “honorary chairman” of the foundation on a 2004 donor solicitation, sent from Buyer’s office, the Lafayette Journal & Courier reported.

*Companies have made donations to the Frontier Foundation “in honor of” Buyer.

One of the amazing things is just how little effort Buyer has made to dress this foundation up into something that looks vaguely above board. It would take very little to put a veneer of plausible deniability on this thing. Get a P.O. Box. Sign up for a different phone number. Give out a couple of scholarships. Do that, and suddenly you’re in the gray areas of how close a relationship is “too close” and how little scholarship money is “too little.”

At the moment, he looks like he is being just a little too greedy and a little too brazen for his own good. As a resident of this district, it seems too much to ask to get new representation. It’s very unlikely that a Democrat will win in this district. For good or bad, that’s just the nature of the district drawing game. More frustrating, in my opinion, is the acquiescence of the local GOP. There are plenty of honest, smart Republicans around here. One of them should really be moving to take his place.

Update Looks like Rep. Buyer is changing his tune about having a special relationship to the Frontier Foundation. In a soft ball piece run by the Monticello rag, Buyer is suddenly very closely involved with the Foundation.

Compare
June 2008. The Frontier Foundation is just another charity Rep. Buyer helps:

In an interview, Buyer said “there is no connection” between his legislative actions and donations to the foundation. “I’m not an officer. I’m not a board director,” he said of his role in the non-profit. “Do I help the foundation? Yes, I do. Do I help other charity groups? Yes, I do.”

October 11, 2009. Still in denial.

Attempts to reach Buyer for comment were unsuccessful. His press secretary referred questions to Frontier Foundation and said there was no connection between Buyer and the foundation.

“It’s not Congressman Buyer’s foundation,” press secretary Anjulen Anderson said.

But, now that the heat is on, October 14, 2009 in an “exclusive interview” with his friendly hometown newspaper, the Monticello Herald Journal, Buyer is “creating a sustainable foundation.” He founded the organization. Everything in the article speaks to (now that it’s abundantly obvious) an extremely close relationship between Buyer and the Frontier Foundation. He says that he didn’t give out any scholarships or really advertise its existence because he wanted the organization to stockpile a bunch of cash. That part I believe. It’s the part where he intended to give out a bunch of scholarships with no intent of enriching himself or his family where I get a little skeptical, particularly given his rapid shift in stories about his involvement with the organization.

Lafayette Lilly Plant Gets Reprieve

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It looks like a bit of good news for the Eli Lilly plant in Lafayette. According to John Russell, writing for the Indianapolis Star, Lilly has sold the plant to German conglomerate Evonik Industries AG. The plant had been potentially on the chopping block.

I hope the change in management won’t significantly reduce the commitment the people at that plant have shown to the Lafayette community.