Oklahoma: Here Comes The Sun-- Now Pay Up

Monday, Oklahoma's Republican governor, Mary Fallin, a lock-step right-wing ideologue and pawn of the Koch brothers, signed a bill fining or taxing Oklahomans who want to use solar power. It had passed both Houses of the Oklahoma legislature, and, in fact the House passed it 83-5. (Now this is a very, very red state but there are still 29 Democrats in the state House--72 Republicans-- and 12 Democrats in the state Senate--36 Republicans). Many of those Democrats, however, aren't Democrats that actual Democrats would recognize as Democrats. Many of them, for example, went right along with voting to tax the sun for the Koch brothers, a bill that reversed a 1977 Oklahoma law that forbade utilities to charge extra to solar users.

Americans overwhelmingly support green, renewable energy, even if the Koch brothers have ordered the GOP-- and conservative Democrats-- to oppose it. The most recent Gallup polling on the subject is crystal clear: "No fewer than two in three Americans want the U.S. to put more emphasis on producing domestic energy using solar power (76%), wind (71%), and natural gas (65%). Far fewer want to emphasize the production of oil (46%) and the use of nuclear power (37%). Least favored is coal, with about one in three Americans wanting to prioritize its domestic production." Although those numbers are so high because normal people-- 87% of Democrats and 74% of Independents-- favor solar energy, even among grassroots Republicans, if not GOP legislators, 68% favor solar power.

Last week, before Fallin signed the bill, Paul Moines, an energy reporter for the The Oklahoman wrote that "it’s the prospect of widespread adoption of rooftop solar that worries many utilities. A report last year by the industry’s research group, the Edison Electric Institute, warns of the risks posed by rooftop solar."

“When customers have the opportunity to reduce their use of a product or find another provider of such service, utility earnings growth is threatened,” the report said. “As this threat to growth becomes more evident, investors will become less attracted to investments in the utility sector.”

The report urged regulated utilities to move quickly to change their rate tariffs to recover fixed costs from distributed generation… [W]ith the prices of solar panels declining each year, installation costs are looking more attractive for many homeowners.

Chris Gary, owner of Sun City Solar Energy in Oklahoma City, said a 10-panel setup with a mirco-inverter now costs about $15,000, not including installation charges. A similar system cost almost twice that six years ago, he said.

Gary said the effects of SB 1456 won’t be known until the new tariffs get approved by the Corporation Commission. But news of the bill has sparked interest from potential customers.

“It may affect our business, but we don’t know yet,” Gary said. “Is it a killer for solar in Oklahoma? I don’t believe so, but when you open the door to a charge, that means it can always be increased. A speedbump could turn into a roadblock.”

So where were Democrats? Voting with Republicans… or ducking the bill altogether and hiding in the men's room while the vote was taken… apparently a common tactic for political cowards unwilling to stand up for Democratic values, even when they're overwhelmingly popular like solar energy. We've run into Democratic state Senator Al McAffrey before. He's the corporate shill running against progressive Tom Guild for the OK-05 congressional nomination. This is standard operating procedure for him.

You would think that the furious push back when McAffrey was MIA on the bill-- now law-- that went through the state senate to outlaw raising the minimum wage in Oklahoma, would have caused him to trim his MIA behavior. He didn’t vote against the bill that suspends the right of Oklahomans to petition the government for redress of grievances by adopting a higher minimum wage at the local level. The state senator decided to run against the progressive candidate Tom Guild, for the Democratic Party nomination for Congress in the Oklahoma City area, after James Lankford decided to follow his political social climbing instincts and run for the U.S. Senate instead of running for re-election to the house. Tom Guild is solid as a rock on the minimum wage issue both in word and in deed. He and his campaign helped gather over 60,000 signatures nationally to raise the minimum wage, Tom has carried the local petition and gathered signatures to raise the wage in Oklahoma City, and his campaign has gathered petition signatures at Guild for Congress events. McAffrey, refused to sign the local minimum wage petition when presented with an opportunity a few weeks back.

Well, disgracefully, he was at it again with the sun tax!  Does he ever oppose bills being pushed by ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council)? McAffrey was again missing in action and didn’t vote against the bill-- again, now law-- in a déjà vu all over again repeat non-performance. He once again didn’t do his main legislative duty and vote at all on the legislation when it came before the state senate. Senate Bill 1456 levies extra charges against homeowners who use solar panels or wind turbines. As Rachel Maddow asked last night, “Did warming yourself with the sun instead of coal just become a punishable offense in Oklahoma because it’s Oklahoma?”  Well, yes Rachel, that is just what happened, and McAffrey offered no resistance and didn’t bother to vote against this clunker of an uncommonly silly idea. The Koch group Americans for Prosperity must be giddy with celebration. Do we need to follow the money and see who in the fossil fuels branch of the energy industry has contributed to the various Oklahoma congressional candidates?

As we've been showing for the last couple of months, being an openly gay candidate (such as McAffrey)-- or an openly gay legislator (New York's Sean Patrick Maloney is the worst example)-- does not necessarily a progressive make. The choice is clear as a bell for Democratic voters in Oklahoma City. If they want the minimum wage and competitive renewable energy sources, the only dependable option is Tom Guild in the June 24 Democratic primary. If you'd like to help him get the message out, you can do that here.

Congressional Status A Big Negative Among This Year's Gubernatorial Candidates

There are two states with primaries coming up this month: Georgia and Oklahoma. DWT readers know that this coming Tuesday Blue America-backed Regina Thomas goes up against reactionary Blue Dog John Barrow in the 12th CD and the following Tuesday (July 27), late entrant Jim Wilson takes on even worse Blue Dog Dan Boren in eastern Oklahoma's 2nd CD. What we haven't discussed, however is that both states have gubernatorial primaries as well. Taylor Dolven has pointed out in The Hill that members of Congress aspiring to governor's mansions-- as is this case in both Georgia and Oklahoma-- are finding their congressional experience an albatross. These are the members of Congress-- two of whom, Nathan Deal and Neil Abercrombie, have recently resigned from that body-- who decided to leave Capitol Hill for a shot at running the show in their own state's capitals:

Nathan Deal (R)- GA
Mary Fallin (R)- OK
Artur Davis (D)- AL
Gresham Barrett (R)- SC
Pete Hoesksta (R)- MI
Zach Wamp (R)- TN
Neil Abercrombie (D)- HI

Fallin, better known for her times at Lt. Governor than for her short stint as a congressional, backbencher, is considered a lock and so is Abercrombie. The rest have either already lost-- Davis and Barrett-- or look like they will lose.

Once Davis, who represents one of the most overwhelmingly Democratic districts in the South (Obama have thrashed McCain 72-27%) decided to run statewide, his moderate voting record turned sharply right, ignoring his own constituents to make a play for... the KKK? His vote against the healthcare reform legislation was widely seen as the last straw for his cowardly and craven pandering-- and the death knell for an idiotic campaign. He lost to Ron Sparks. He lost 10 of the 12 counties in his own congressional district and only managed 37.6% statewide. Why should Democrats vote for someone who votes with the GOP in their own primary when they have a plausible alternative?

Gresham Barrett didn't change a thing to run. But the South Carolina GOP changed. No one can deny that Barrett has a long career as an ultra-conservative corporate hack, long the ticket to higher office in one of the most historically reactionary states-- going right back to colonial days-- in the U.S. But Barrett, like virtually the whole House Republican hierarchy, including teabagger hero Joe Wilson, I might add, followed the lead of John Boehner and Paul Ryan-- as well as party standard bearers George Bush and John McCain-- to support Bush's 2008 no-strings-attached Wall Street Bail-Out. The same deranged, demented teabaggers in South Carolina who were ready to erect statues of Joe Wilson in their town squares after he screeched "You Lie" at President Obama at the State of the Union, were unwilling to accept Barrett's abject daily apologies for voting the same way as Wilson. No doubt if Barrett would have campaigned on a "platform" of Obama being an Indonesian, Mexican or Kenyan-born Muslim terrorist, he would have won the GOP primary. But he didn't-- and he lost.

Congressional experience has been a boon in the past for lawmakers running in gubernatorial races, according to Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with the Cook Political Report.

“Now that experience is a liability because of Congress’s poor image,” she said.
Georgia Republican Nathan Deal will be the next former lawmaker to test voters’ anti-Washington mood.

A recent Mason-Dixon poll showed Deal, who left the House in March after casting his vote against healthcare reform, locked in a three-way battle for the GOP gubernatorial nomination with state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and former Secretary of State Karen Handel. 

Deal this week joined Oxendine in attacking Handel, who is seen as the front-runner after securing the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Observers say he may not make the expected runoff between the top two finishers in next Tuesday’s vote. 

His third-place position in the race comes despite leaving Congress in the hopes of improving his chances in the primary. 

“It was important that he devote 100 percent of his time to the election,” said Brian Robinson, a Deal spokesman.

Being out of Congress also eliminates the chance a candidate will have to make a controversial vote. This cycle, members from both parties who ran for governor were forced to defend tough votes. 

Wamp's membership in the radical right C Street Cult probably isn't hurting him in his primary bid, but just the fact that he's a congressman is. He's trailing the multimillionaire mayor of Knoxville, Bill Haslem. There are so many Republicans running in Michigan-- with no clear front-runner-- that the party nod is completely up for grabs. Aside from the bumbling and lackluster but well-known Hoekstra, Attorney General Mike Cox and Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder are contenders, with Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and state Senator Tom George lagging.

Far Right Extremists Gresham Barrett (SC) And Mary Fallin (OK) Running For Governor

Governors, who actually have to govern, are generally less extreme than members of legislatures. Jim DeMint, the fanatic senator from South Carolina is the worst extremist in the Senate. His state's governor, Mark Sanford, is nearly as extreme-- and probably the most extremist governor in the nation. In this case we can be grateful for term limits inasmuch as we probably won't have to hear any of Sanford's hypocritical bullcrap after that. There is one drawback-- it looks like his successor will be even worse!

This morning the most radical right member of South Carolina's House delegation, Gresham Barrett, announced that he would like to run for governor. His district, SC-03, takes up most of the western counties of the state, bordering on Georgia, from Aiken in the south to Pickens in the north. While Barrett won re-election in November with 65%, McCain had almost the same percentage (64) against Obama in the district, when has a PVI of R+14-- much better than he did statewide (54%). It's pretty much the reddest part of the state-- a bizarre area where people still have a chip on their collective shoulder about Yankees, alienated from America and from the most vibrant currents of contemporary culture and thought.

Barrett's closest comrade in the House is another radical wingnut, Mike Pence-- who has been blabbering all over today about how he, like Limbaugh, absolutely wants Obama to fail. No one has to ask Barrett. He hates blacks-- and was one of only 33 members of Congress to vote against renewing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He also hates gays; he hates unions; he hates taxes; he hates peaceniks; he loves nuclear energy.

South Carolina has an even worse unemployment problem than the rest of the U.S. so an anti-working family fanatic like Barrett is the last thing in the world the state needs. His primary opponent is likely to be a mainstream conservative ally of John McCain's and Lindsey Graham's, Attorney General Henry McMaster. Barrett will probably beat him in a primary where it's impossible to be too far to the right.

Though Barrett advisors will portray him as an underdog in the race for governor, other South Carolina political observers say he has a good chance to knock off the two statewide elected officials.

"Barrett's my odds-on favorite to win this primary. Solid conservative, great support base in the vote-rich Upstate, and he connects well with voters on the stump," said Jason Miller, who managed Sanford's successful re-election campaign in 2006. "As long as the money comes in, and he has an excellent fundraising team, he should win this thing."

Democratic state Senator Vincent Sheheen of Camden is the first Democrat to jump into the gubernatorial race.

And speaking of wingnut extremists looking to jump from the House to the state house, Oklahoma City's congresswoman, Mary Fallin-- almost as ideologically out of sync as Barrett-- has let it be known that she's running to replace termed out Democratic Governor Brad Henry. She's a sophomore congresswoman with a robotic right wing voting record across the board but between 1995 and 2007 she was the state's lieutenant governor.

Obama only managed a third of the vote in Oklahoma and the chances of a Democrat winning the governor's mansion is pretty much zero. Dan Boren should run, although the state's current lieutenant governor, Jari Askins is likely to be the sacrificial lamb. There is also a chance that the failed ex-chair of the NRCC, Tom Cole, who's as far right as Fallin, will also jump into the race.