Only the Government
Faced with serious questions after the Solyndra failure as to their ability to make intelligent investments, the government is reacting by.... accelerating the approval of other green energy loans. Again, the difference with the private sector is not that the private sector makes no mistakes, but there is real accountability for those mistakes which lead to changes in behavior.
Smock Puppet, Professional Clue Rhabdomancer:
Oh, it's even better than that -- They don't NEED Congress to approve anything:
The Secret Government Bank That's Financing More Solyndras
Nice to know that Congress has created a bank that's off its own books that can take as much money as it wants from the Treasury whenever it wants to.
Where was this allowed in the Constitution, again?
Rather clearly, what we have here is "failure to communicate": We're sick of the corruption, you @$%^%&$^#%& BASTARDS
That's THREE things for the New Government After the Revolution >:-/ to have as a direct requirement:
1) ALL FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES ARE TO BE DONE USING GAAP. The books of not less than 95% of GDP of all such financial activities are to be fully open and public. Not more than 1% will be held out of public view for more than 10 years at a time. Nothing will be held out of view for more than 25 years. Criminal sanctions for any politicians or bureaucrats who misuse this process for any reason other than National Security purposes, to be judged by a "Grand Jury" pool of 100 people selected at random from the general populace, with a 75% "Wrong!" vote being sufficient to prosecute.
2) There shall be no "off book" operations unless National Security is the cause. Period.
3) Congress does not have the power to delegate its lawmaking ability. Period
September 28, 2011, 2:49 pmSmock Puppet, Professional Clue Rhabdomancer:
I would also recommend that Congress only be allowed to convene and act for a grand total of 30 days a year, in DC, in August, in un-air-conditioned offices, great rooms, and meeting rooms. All decisions outside this timeframe shall have no force of Law.
September 28, 2011, 2:53 pmTVH:
Gateway Pundit and some other blogs have discovered that Nancy Pelosi's brother-in-law is the #2 exec in one of the main investment firms that owns the company that got the $737 MM loan from Obama today. This makes Solyndra look like a warm-up act. I sent the link to Warren to check out.
September 28, 2011, 9:41 pmJohn Moore:
Ah, but the Arizona project is okay because a stupid buyer signed a 20 year agreement to buy the output.
The buyer: Pacific Gas and Electric (i.e. California).
September 28, 2011, 10:36 pmcaseyboy:
Smock Puppet, you are on to something. I like your ideas but I'd like to add a few more. Before enacting new legislation:
September 29, 2011, 7:49 am1. Bill must not exceed 100 pages.
2. For every new bill 3 current laws must be repealed.
3. All legislators must affirm from the chamber floor that they have read a bill before they can cast a vote on it.
Jim Collins:
It was my understanding that this money has to be spent by Sept. 30th or it can't be spent. I mean they have to get it out there so it can be laundered and put in the DNC coffers by the first of next year.
September 29, 2011, 9:13 amsch:
Be interesting to see how long it takes the Sierra club, "Friends of the
September 29, 2011, 9:52 amDesert" and other environmental groups to start viewing with alarm and
filing suits and demands for environmental impact statements, parsing out
how much carbon is dumped to make and build the projects etc etc.
Likely turn out just as well as the Mojave project did. That should
chew up $50-100M in studies, consultants and legal costs and 3-5yrs time wise, or with luck, a la the Twin Towers, 10-12 yrs.
MJ:
Happy to say that I predicted this one.
September 29, 2011, 11:03 amTed Rado:
There should be a moratorium on all alternative energy subsidies until someone can produce a scheme that includes economical backup and/or energy storage. No intermittent energy source is viable without it. At the present time, there are no economically viable backup or storage methods. Thus, we are wasting money.
Sooner or later, when it becomes obvious even to the greenies and the idiots in Washington that there are no such backup/storage methods, the whole alternative energy movement will collapse, and every dime spent thereon will go down the drain. Solyndra is a preview of things to come.
September 29, 2011, 5:35 pmJohn Moore:
sch:
They're tied up right now trying to stop the new pipeline from Canada, but they'll get around to it shortly.
September 29, 2011, 10:39 pmmarco73:
As any good bureaucrat knows, if you do not spend 100% of your budget, then you are asking for cuts the next time budget season rolls around. There is no incentive to spend wisely, just spend everything you've got, so at the end of the fiscal year all accounts are at zero.
September 30, 2011, 4:36 amSmock Puppet, Proposer of Alternative Governmental Schemes:
>>> 2. For every new bill 3 current laws must be repealed.
RAH had an interesting proposal along these lines (Starship Troopers? Or The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress) --
Two houses of Congress, one whose job it is to pass laws, with a supermajority of 2/3rds.
The job of the other house is to REPEAL laws with as little as a 1/3rd minority, the idea being that, if 1/3rd of the people didn't like a law, it pretty much had no business being Law.
THIS I think would be a good idea. Be interesting to see what kind of issues someone could reasonably, responsibly find with it, as with any idea, I'm sure there are ways to manipulate/game it.
October 2, 2011, 1:04 amSmock Puppet, Proposer of Alternative Governmental Schemes:
>> Happy to say that I predicted this one.
Yes, well, a gibbering lunatic could have predicted it, so, your "happiness" bar is set perhaps a little low... (8^D
October 2, 2011, 1:07 amTed Rado:
What is interesting is the way Sen. Grassley and others who voted for ethanol susidies are criticizing the Obama administration for the Solyndra loan. At least the Solyndra loan was not already proven to be a farce. The whole ethanol thing is a horror story. We cause high food prices, third world starvation, do nothing for the environment, and have a net fuel production of essentially zero, all at high cost. Anybody that can vote for that and criticize others for Solyndra is a hypocrite of the highest order. We are lead by morons and crooks. The only question is: do we want red or blue morons running the country?
October 3, 2011, 3:33 pm