A Right Wing Cannot Flap Alone, or, Donald Trump Screwed the Putsch

[A Black Falcon]

Here in Maine we have eight -- yes eight -- ballot measures on the ballot next week.  Well, more accurately we have four ballot measures plus four constitutional amendments suggested by the secretary of state's office.  Those four fix some constitutional issues and aren't anything major, they should all pass hopefully.  Of the first four, two are major and one other noteworthy.

The less major one is a right to repair [cars] referendum which puts a right for auto shops to access car data in state law.  Apparently carmakers are starting to block this so only dealers can get data from newer cars, which is obviously a problem.  Perhaps because there's already a law like this in Massachusetts, carmakers aren't putting a lot of money into fighting this.  I'm guessing this passes but we will see.

The big question is about whether the state should buy the two main power transmission companies, CMP and Versant, and make them into a state-run power company.  For anyone who doesn't know, CMP and Versant are both highly unpopular.  CMP is one of the most unpopular utility companies in the country, in act.  Power outages are common in Maine, could this be improved on?  (Perhaps not given how scattered our population is and since this is the most forested state in America, but who knows.)  And on top of that, both companies have foreign ownership -- CMP is owned by a Spanish company, and Versant by a Canadian government (that of Calgary, Alberta, apparently).  Should our power companies be foreign-owned?

So, this referendum to try to solve this problem by buying the two companies and ... nationalizing them I guess. State-izing them?  Heh.  Obviously, it's highly controversial and CMP and Versant are spending very heavily against the referendum.  Most of the advertising is on the no side.  Claims include that "It will cost $13.5 billion!", 'they have no plan for what to do after the purchase so it won't improve reliability', and more.   From the paper it's clear that some of the questions about the referendum are fair, as it could be expensive, if passed it will certainly be tied up in the courts for quite some time as CMP and such will sue, it could reduce municipal taxes paid by the power companies though supporters claim it will not, and more.

What do I think though?  I'm deeply conflicted.  On the one hand, I've never supported nationalization of industry, and haven't had CMP do anything bad to me in particular.  On the other hand, the foreign ownership of power companies issue is something I think is probably a valid concern, and certainly CMP's service is expensive and not exactly the most reliable, could we do better?  So I'm still not sure how I'm going to vote.  I predict it fails, though, as even many Democrats sound like they aren't voting yes.  But with how hated CMP is I guess you never know.

The other referendum is related to the power company one, as it would ban companies owned by foreign governments -- such as, as previously mentioned, Versant -- from spending money on political ads in Maine.  It is illegal for foreign governments to spend on ads for federal elections, but that isn't the case for state ballot measures, that is a state law issue.  This one's mostly going under the radar, CMP/Versant aren't going all out against it like they are the main one above.  Since the idea sounds reasonable when you read the measure, my guess is that is passes.  I don't know how much of an effect it would actually have though, dark money always finds a way in this country, it seems.  Ah well.