Another Republican Scam

In the upper left hand corner of this page is a search feature that allows a
viewer to review topics like NUCLEAR ENERGY and discover that it is
100% US taxpayer guaranteed, costs overruns and defaults simply passed
along to you. You'd even find a few articles about Fukishima, but the FACTS
were so distressing, the widespread contamination, the Nuclear Industry's
failures so egregious, few would understand.

Fukishima is a FOREVER disaster that will survive our species in damage.

Congressmen, bought and paid for with generous campaign contributions
have ignored Americans, dismissed the future, and simply prostituted
themselves to the highest bidder because we, as voters, have allowed it.  

From Nuclear:

Consider this -- Nuclear Energy costs

$7,500 per kilowatt to build
That’s more than double the capital costs for solar power and three and a half times the cost for wind.

the most heavily subsidized industry in the energy sector.

In 2005, Congress handed the nuclear power industry $13 billion in federal aid, and two years later went on to approve an additional $20.5 billion in loan guarantees, making U.S. taxpayers the cosigners on loans for new nuclear projects -- half of which are expected to end in defaults.

In other words, all of the hysteria about Solyndra doesn't compare to the Nuclear Industry's
scam.

This from Taxpayers for CommonSense -

The "Even" More Solyndras ActVolume XVII No.33: September 7, 2012

Racing toward an election and the end of the fiscal year, this month should be a flurry of legislative action. Instead, Congress will probably just kick a number of cans down the road, passing a bill to keep the government running after September 30th and probably a farm bill extension as well. Amidst all the inaction, we will certainly be treated to political speeches and symbolic votes unlikely to lead to actual change. Perhaps the best example is the “No More Solyndras Act,” which we expect the House to take up this month. This bill claims to save taxpayers from more losses like the now infamous Solyndra, but like most political rhetoric, it over promises and under delivers.

By now, we’re guessing you’ve heard of Solyndra, the small solar start-up that received a federally backed loan guarantee and then went bust, costing taxpayers about $500 million. As a long time critic of the Department of Energy loan guarantee program, we wish Congress had noticed its problems before this costly default, but that aside, we wholeheartedly agree that something must be done to stop future costly defaults.

Unfortunately, the “No More Solyndras Act” isn’t a real solution. As the bill stands, all current applicants remain eligible to receive federal backing. The bill simply prevents companies from requesting any new loan guarantees, meaning taxpayers could still be on the hook for billions of dollars worth of loan guarantee applications already in the pipeline. Recent hearings revealed that approximately 50 applications are considered “active” at the Department of Energy. The potential projects include an $8.3 billion loan guarantee for a nuclear reactor project in Georgia, a nearly $2 billion loan guarantee for a liquid coal facility in Wyoming, and another $1.7 billion loan guarantee for a coal gasification plant in Indiana. There are also more than 15 solar projects in the pipeline!

Some of these applicants are obvious duds. Under this bill a $2 billion loan guarantee for a uranium enrichment project that has received a delisting notice from the New York Stock Exchange is in the on deck circle ready to receive a loan guarantee. Talk about taxpayers striking out, the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) is currently in line to receive a loan guarantee for its enrichment facility in Piketon, OH. But its stock prices have been trading at less than $1 per share for months, and with a junk-bond credit rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s under their belt, it is shocking that this project would move forward.

In spite of these fatal flaws, the "No More Solyndras Act" breezed through the Energy and Commerce Committee just before the Congressional summer recess and its prospects on the floor look equally bright. But we shouldn’t be too surprised—it is much more popular on Capitol Hill to give lip service to our fiscal woes than actually do something about them.

To be fair, the bill does do a few good things. It eliminates DOE’s ability to make taxpayers last in line when it comes to reclaiming lost assets in the event of default, and it brings the Department of Treasury into the evaluation process. But these actions are far too little to be presented as a solution.

The reality is the entire energy loan guarantee program needs to go. It’s structurally flawed and the secretive process for picking recipients has shown itself highly susceptible to abuse. Already several other companies have defaulted or are headed down that road. A few tweaks to business as usual just won’t protect taxpayers.
At the end of the day, if Congress doesn’t strengthen this legislation and stop the loan guarantee program, the bill could be more aptly named the “Even More Solyndras Act.”

While Taxpayer for CommonSense and I part ways frequently, the issues raised are
sensible - subsidies for Dirty Coal? And much else.

It's time to restore sanity and transparency that begins with eliminating the Tea Baggers so that Americans can have a functional Congress.