‘Market’ scams, taxpayer backlash

By Carter Bundy

There seems to be much confusion of late about what constitutes private property and freedom. Today’s conservative political, business, energy and developer leadership, and the think tanks they fund, flatly state that things belonging to all of us — all Americans — should in fact be owned by a handful of energy companies or developers.

It’s happening at the local, state and federal levels. To a large degree, it’s the central philosophical battle between the major parties, although there are some Democrats who have fallen prey to the nearly unlimited financial and political clout of those who wish to raid general funds and public lands for corporate gain.

Contrary to the big-business spin, this isn’t about whether energy companies or developers should be allowed to conduct their business or whether they add something to our society and economy. They should and they do, but that’s not the debate.

This is about whether the rest of us are obligated to turn over our own hard-earned tax dollars and publicly-owned lands to further fatten the profits of out-of-state energy conglomerates and developers.

Local: gutting general funds

The best example at the local level is also the most bi-partisan: Republicans and Democrats alike have been persuaded that the only way to have good development is to guarantee that developers have no risk and that taxpayers pick up not only traditional infrastructure costs, but also development costs usually borne by the developers.

That’s not a free market at all. Even for excellent developments like Mesa del Sol and SunCal in Albuquerque, it’s a misappropriation of the commonwealth for private gain. Out-of-state private gain at that.

In fairness to many legislators, when well-connected developers initially pushed for tax-increment-financing legislation at the state and local levels, very few taxpayer watchdog groups or smart-growth advocates understood the scope of what the developers were doing. As a result, the lobbying was terribly one-sided, and both the Roundhouse and Civic Plaza caved to developer giveaways without objection.

Since then, dozens of organizations, including traditional adversaries like public-employee unions and taxpayer watchdogs, have figured out the game, and now voters are catching on at the local level.

Earlier this month, some incumbents who were generally good on labor and worker issues invoked the wrath of liberals and conservatives alike for forcing taxpayers to underwrite multi-billion dollar conglomerates’ profits. It’s a shame to have lost some long-serving public servants, but voters in Albuquerque have had enough of seeing their tax dollars subsidize billionaires.

State: money for nothing

Congressman Pearce has fired the latest salvo in the battle to permanently change the definition of private property and freedom. His bill to virtually give away hundreds of thousands of acres of our most treasured land to corporate interests amounts to nothing less than a taxpayer rip-off.

Forget about whether you think the Organ Mountains are beautiful, or whether you value hunting and fishing. Think economics. The land leased out by Bureau of Land Management all over America is offered at a price that is well below market and that barely pays for the administrative costs of overseeing the leases. Any good free-market conservative would at the least hold out leasing any more public land until the taxpayer got a good return on investment.

Unfortunately, true free market conservatives are so endangered that, if we had an administration that believed in protecting species, they’d be covered.

And by the way, some of us can’t simply forget the Organ Mountains, or the gorgeous open spaces of Otero Mesa, or the other gems of southern New Mexico. Some of us want them around for generations of New Mexicans to enjoy. If the simple Native American test of whether any action will adversely affect the next seven generations were applied, Pearce would fail miserably.

Federal: the great land and sea grab

The best example of the ripping off of taxpayers to guarantee profits and eliminate corporate risk is the Pharma-authored non-negotiation clause in Medicare D (passed by the GOP alone), but that scam is old news.

The newest federal scam, preying on the economic insecurity of virtually all Americans, is the claim that the reason oil prices are high is because we don’t drill off the publicly-owned coasts of Florida and California.

Baloney. Those who claim to love freedom, private property and free markets should know that government subsidies and taxpayer giveaways to corporations undermine all three.

The truth is that oil companies already have been given a bonanza of leases on dry land and at sea. The new demands to open up virtually every square mile of the Gulf of Mexico and both coastlines are nothing short of a last-minute attempt by big oil to secure more taxpayer goodies before the two oilmen leave Washington.

Senator Bingaman, who has generally been a moderate on many energy issues, laid out some of the facts underlying this assertion. In a recent press release, he states:

“We also need to find out why companies have yet to begin producing on the millions of acres already leased — both onshore and off — that are ready for production, but remain idle. Thirty-one million of the 45.5 million acres of public lands that have been leased out are not currently being produced. Likewise, there are 33 million acres in the Outer Continental Shelf that are under lease yet no drilling has begun.”

We’ve already given away trillions of dollars of public property to these oil companies. Until they take advantage of those giveaways, further taxpayer gifts can only be construed as a scam. There’s a lot of it going on today, and it’s about time that the entire country follow the lead of Albuquerque voters and stand up against it.

Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME in New Mexico. The opinions in his column are personal and do not necessarily reflect any official AFSCME position. You can learn more about him by clicking here. Contact him at carterbundy@yahoo.com.