Try this and watch Corporate America run away from Citizens United

OK, I know Americans have short attention spans so here is a brief recap.

A little after 6 in the evening, on September 9th, 2010, there was an explosion in the California city of San Bruno.  A gas line exploded, killing 8 people and destroying 38 homes.  The owner of the was pipeline was Pacific Gas and Electric.  It was later revealed that 100 million dollars that was supposed to be used for safety operations was diverted to executive pay, including bonuses.

The California Public Utilities Commission is considering levying a 2.25 billion dollar fine against Pacific Gas and Electric.  That is exactly the wrong thing to do.

They correct thing to do?  Charge Pacific Gas and Electric with negligent homicide, or even first degree murder.

The Citizen's United decision says corporations are people.  If people commit murder, they go to jail, even face the death penalty.  Here is the perfect case to put a lie to that.

The San Bruno district attorney should be filing murder changers against Pacific Gas and Electric.  It was their job to ensure the safety of the pipeline, they had the money to do it, they used the money for something else.

When people are killed in a bank robbery, it is first degree murder.  It does not matter if the robbers planned to kill someone.  They walked into a bank with guns prepared to kill someone.

This is the same.  The corporation stole money, and in the process, and as a consequence, people died.  If a corporation is a person then that corporation must face the same penalties as any other person would face.

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The effect wears off after a while

Each work day morning I stop at the Park and Ride.  If there are a line of cars waiting for riders I pick up two riders.  If there are line of riders waiting for cars I pick up three.  I drop them on Howard, before proceeding to my parking garage on Polk.

In the afternoon I stop on Beal Street and repeat the process.  Two riders when there are more cars than riders, and three riders where there are more riders than cars.  The on ramp I use is the last east bound entrance on the south side of the bridge.  During commute hours, it for is trucks and carpools only.  Except that lately, that has not been true.

Every now and then, one or two CHP cruisers will stake out the on ramp, directing drivers off to the side and issuing tickets for those using the ramp without at least three (two for two-seater vehicles) occupants.  The tickets are not cheap, they are going to cost something move than $300.  An afternoon of catching HOV cheaters could put someone through one of our state colleges.

It has been a long time since I saw anyone on that on ramp writing tickets, and apparently the lesson needs reinforcing.  Today as I got onto the bridge, traffic was very slow, so I looked around a little.  The car in front of me, and the three cars to the left of me (it is a two lane on ramp for most of the length, so the one next to me and the ones in front and behind the one next to me) all had single occupants.  And none were 'exceptions', with the HOV lane stickers.

So, if any CHP read this blog, it is time to get back there and start writing tickets.
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