[EL] CPA/Zicklin

Wed Sep 24 13:41:32 PDT 2014

"You don't win against a political power structure where you don't have the
votes. But you can win against an economic power structure when you have
the economic power to make the difference between a merchant's profit and
loss." - Some community organizer

On Wed, Sep 24, 2014 at 4:31 PM, Smith, Brad <BSmith at law.capital.edu> wrote:

>  It's not disdain, Eric, but sadness.
>
>  *Bradley A. Smith*
>
> *Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault*
>
> *   Professor of Law*
>
> *Capital University Law School*
>
> *303 E. Broad St.*
>
> *Columbus, OH 43215*
>
> *614.236.6317 <614.236.6317>*
>
> *http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx
> <http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx>*
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Eric Hallstrom [eric.hallstrom at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 24, 2014 4:21 PM
> *To:* Smith, Brad
> *Cc:* David Ely; law-election at UCI.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [EL] CPA/Zicklin
>
>   Many people in this country have limited avenues to affect the
> political process. They can vote, but they don't have a lot of money to
> donate to political causes and they don't have a lot of time to get active
> in political campaigns. Much of their financial engagement with the world
> takes place when paying for basic goods and services. Is it really that
> surprising that they might want to make a political point when they do?
> Many religious people try to patronize businesses owned by people that
> share their faith. This hardly seems miserable.
>
>  I read a draft of Sarah Haan's "The CEO and the Hydraulics of Campaign
> Finance Deregulation" earlier this summer and thought it was provocative.
> The article posits that ordinary Americans feel they have lost the ability
> to influence policy makers because they can't compete with the donor class.
> As a result, they are trying to engage with the donor class economically.
> One way they do this is by trying to leverage their consumer activity. I
> don't think the essay expresses view on the desirability of this phenomena,
> but I think does make a strong case that the "increasingly politicized
> retail economy" is one consequence of campaign finance deregulation. I
> personally don't have a strong view on the efficacy of such activity. But
> it is hard to say that trying to make use the tools available to express
> one's political viewpoints is living a miserable existence.
>
>  There isn't much on this list that bothers me anymore. Egregious
> self-promotion and allegedly academic discourse dripping with sarcasm and
> condescension; fine. But the disdain articulated in this thread for people
> who are trying to live out their values in their day-to-day lives is really
> off-putting and disheartening.
>
>  -ECH
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 24, 2014 at 2:26 PM, Smith, Brad <BSmith at law.capital.edu>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>  Is regulation of campaign spending really just an attempt to gain
>> advantage (and eventually political favors and redistribution) against
>> political opposition? Or, as they say, one man's effort to "buy off the
>> regulatory structure" is another man's "sound public policy."
>>
>>  Really, a miserable way to live one's life, refusing to do business
>> with those of differing political views, and even worse, pressuring others
>> to do the same. But it is how some want to live, I suppose.
>>
>>  *Bradley A. Smith*
>>
>> *Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault*
>>
>> *   Professor of Law*
>>
>> *Capital University Law School*
>>
>> *303 E. Broad St.*
>>
>> *Columbus, OH 43215*
>>
>> *614.236.6317 <614.236.6317>*
>>
>> *http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx
>> <http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx>*
>>   ------------------------------
>> *From:* David Ely [ely at compass-demographics.com]
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 24, 2014 2:06 PM
>> *To:* Smith, Brad; 'law-election at UCI.edu'
>> *Subject:* RE: [EL] CPA/Zicklin
>>
>>    To put a finer point on it,  is the political spending of for-profit
>> corporations really just an attempt to buy off the regulatory structure and
>> allow themselves to externalize costs to a maximum extent?
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
>> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *David Ely
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 24, 2014 10:58 AM
>> *To:* 'Smith, Brad'; 'law-election at UCI.edu'
>> *Subject:* Re: [EL] CPA/Zicklin
>>
>>
>>
>> Which is why markets do such a poor job of dealing with external effects
>> of economic activity. It’s hard for a consumer to separate worrying about
>> political views and activities from worrying about economic decisions that
>> externalize public costs from the price of a product.
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [
>> mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>> <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu>] *On Behalf Of *Smith,
>> Brad
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 24, 2014 9:03 AM
>> *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
>> *Subject:* [EL] CPA/Zicklin
>>
>>
>>
>> CPI writes:
>>
>>
>>
>> "Watch your Netflix show, wear your Ralph Lauren shirt, brew your Keurig
>> coffee and deposit your paycheck at M&T Bank.
>>
>> Just know that you're patronizing some of the nation's least politically
>> transparent companies,"
>>
>> What a horrible, impoverished way to live one's life, worrying about the
>> political views and activities of everyone you come into contact with, and
>> using that to decide whether to do business with them.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Bradley A. Smith*
>>
>> *Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault*
>>
>> *   Professor of Law*
>>
>> *Capital University Law School*
>>
>> *303 E. Broad St.*
>>
>> *Columbus, OH 43215*
>>
>> *614.236.6317 <614.236.6317>*
>>
>> *http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx
>> <http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx>*
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Law-election mailing list
>> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>>
>
>
>
>  --
> Eric Hallstrom
> (202) 486-2441
>
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