Yale University’s “Skull and Bones Society,” an elite secret club, has all sorts of conspiracy theories that swirl around it. Sen. John Kerry and former President George W. Bush are members, or “Bonesmen,” as they’re called. President Barack Obama is not a member but Austan Goolsbee , his former top economic adviser, is and he met with a group of Bonesmen last year. What was the meeting about? It’s not public information and it doesn’t look like we’ll be finding out. Goolsbee won’t talk about it and neither will the members who attended the meeting. From BuzzFeed : The secret society doesn’t release the names of its members, referred to as “Bonesmen,” but the Ivy League gossip blog IvyGate regularly has the roster leaked to them. Cross-checking their list with the White House visitor log on March 4 reveals that at least eight members of the 2010-2011 class were present at the Goolsbee meeting. According the White House records, the students met with Goolsbee in room 234 of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at around 4:00 p.m., proceeded to a tour of the White House, and then returned their I.D. badges by 5:00 p.m. BuzzFeed e-mailed Goolsbee, who left the White House last June and returned to the University of Chicago, to find out. He responded with this parenthetical reference to the society’s tradition of requiring that its members walk away from any conversation in which it’s invoked. “(sound of people leaving the room),” Goolsbee emailed.
Super PAC-men: Obama’s bundlers gone wild! by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2012 The White House didn’t blow a dog whistle for deep-pocketed liberal donors on Monday. No, the administration whipped out a supersized vuvuzela. Blaring message: Let loose the campaign finance-bundling hounds of super PAC war! President Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, who served as White House deputy chief of staff for operations before assuming 2012 re-election duties, announced the super PAC super-flip-flop in a mass e-mail to supporters and a blog post published on the left-wing Huffington Post website. In a related conference call to major campaign finance bundlers, Messina encouraged these high-dollar donors to start funding Priorities USA Action. That’s the Democratic super PAC founded by former White House staffers Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney. Super PACs and campaigns are barred from coordinating with each other. Nevertheless, Messina said that “senior campaign officials as well as some White House and Cabinet officials will attend and speak at Priorities USA fundraising events.” Of course, they “won’t be soliciting contributions.” Wink-wink, nudge-nudge. This brazen about-face for Team Obama is a goldmine of campaign lies, contortions and epic hypocrisy. Let us count the ways. – A bundle of contradictions. “Bundling” is the rustling up of aggregate contributions from friends, business associates and employees, a practice to circumvent individual donation limits that Obama has long condemned. When he announced his presidential intentions in 2007, candidate Obama decried “the cynics, the lobbyists, the special interests who’ve turned our government into a game only they can afford to play.” He indignantly singled out “the best bundlers” who get the “greatest access” to power. Last week, Obama acknowledged raising at least $74 million through his team of big-time bundlers who have been showered with access, tax dollars and plum patronage positions. This elite group of Hollywood celebrities (such as open-borders actress Eva Longoria), political cronies (such as Chicago bagman Louis “The Vacuum” Susman) and politically correct businessmen (such as bankrupt Solyndra investor George Kaiser) now totals a whopping 445 gold-card members. – The roar of the revolving door. In his Monday announcement, Messina bragged about how the White House has enacted “sweeping” reforms to “close the revolving door between government and lobbyists.” In truth, the administration has widened the carousel and removed the brakes. The Obama-cheerleading Fishwrap of Record (The New York Times) itself identified at least 15 bundlers “involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies.” Moreover, “at least 68 of 350 Obama bundlers for the 2012 election or their spouses have served in the administration in some capacity; at least 250 of the bundlers visited the White House, and another 30 have ties to companies that conduct business with federal agencies or hope to do so in the future,” according to a recent iWatch News report. Several first-time 2012 bundlers already have snagged administration posts: – Norma Lee Funger, of Potomac, Md., who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for Obama, was appointed last month to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. – Glenn S. Gerstell, of Washington, D.C., who bundled the same amount, was appointed to the National Infrastructure Advisory Commission last fall. – Richard Binder, of Bethesda, Md., another $50,000 to $100,000 bundler, was appointed to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health last spring. And note: The most transparent administration ever still refuses to disclose recusal orders involving the nearly 100 lobbyists and ex-lobbyists on its payroll. – Super PAC super-hypocrisy. “Super PACs” are federal political action committees that only make independent expenditures in support of, or in opposition to, candidates. Their birth and growth were fueled indirectly by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruling in 2010. The decision overturned severe campaign finance restrictions that essentially criminalized certain forms of political speech. As Chief Justice John Roberts put it during oral arguments: “We don’t put our First Amendment rights in the hands of FEC bureaucrats.” Until this week, the Obama administration vehemently condemned the Citizens United decision and vowed to eschew super PACs. The entities are a “threat to our democracy,” Obama railed two years ago. The ruling would “open the floodgates for special interests,” he warned. And last July, Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt kept talking the anti-super PAC talk. “Neither the president nor his campaign staff or aides will fundraise for super PACs,” he asserted. Now? President Obama and his wife won’t fundraise for the democracy-undermining super PACs. But countless other Cabinet members and advisers, partying with Obama bundlers gone wild, will. In 2007, Obama lambasted rival Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards for criticizing independent expenditures while raking in big PAC bucks: “So you can’t say yesterday you don’t believe in them, and today you have three quarters of a million dollars being spent on you. You can’t just talk the talk.” Obama 2012 campaign motto: Empty talk? Yes, we can!
Originally posted here:
Super PAC-men: Obama’s bundlers gone wild!
“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” – Thomas Jefferson Longtime readers of my work know that I’ve been exposing the compulsory-union dues racket since my days as a columnist at the Seattle Times. Here’s my 1999 column on how public school teachers in Washington state challenged their union over their political dues power grab. Here are your rights as a union worker. Here is a backgrounder on the permissible use of forced dues. As I wrote on Labor Day in 2010, free speech not only means the freedom to voice your political views, but also the freedom from being forced to pay for someone else’s. U.S. Supreme Court precedent established by the D.C.-based National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation guarantees the right to full financial disclosure from a union and a right to challenge the figures in court if they disagree. More and more rank-and-file union members have been speaking up against the confiscation of their dues for political purposes they oppose. Remember this Chicago SEIU member from 2010 ? Or this letter from a Wisconsin teacher last year? As events have unfolded in Wisconsin, I have been reflecting on my nearly 10 years in public education. My parents were both teachers and I greatly admired the work they did with their own students. I began with that same passion for teaching that they instilled in me, but am finding it more and more difficult to keep that flame alive. The hold that unions have over the public educational system is nothing short of toxic. Year after year, I have a lot of money taken out of my paychecks for union dues. What do I get for my money? I am bombarded with emails and flyers “urging” us to vote for candidates that coincidentally always have the letter (D) after them. I get to be lectured to by union reps about the evil Republican candidates are and why they know what is best for me. Now I am being hit with email after email “urging” me to stand with the teachers of Wisconsin. One teacher who is very tight with our union replied to our district making fun of Republicans directly. You might ask why I don’t forward this to human resources, but the repercussions would be brutal. The truth is that any teacher who does not hold down the talking points of the unions, DNC or Obama White House needs to keep quiet to keep their job. The vitriol I heard over the Bush years was deafening but acceptable and expected. I can hardly remember a week that went by where teachers, sometimes in front of students, were not making fun of Republicans. I’ve personally been the subject of much ridicule and scorn from fellow teachers and will continue to be as long as I am in public education. I believe in what I am doing in my own classroom by focusing on educating students, but as time goes by it is becoming more and more likely that I will leave education all together. Not because of students, but because of the unions and the teachers that support them. Frustrated in Minnesota Well, today on Capitol Hill, more brave union members are testifying about the Big Labor money machine forcibly fueled with their hard-earned money. You can watch the proceedings live at 10am at the House Oversight website . You can read the prepared testimony of Mr. Terry Bowman of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Ms. Claire Waites of Daphne, Alabama and Ms. Sally Coomer of Duvall, Washington here . Chairman Darrell Issa’s opening statement: Every worker should have the choice to decide whether their money is taken from their paychecks and used to fund political activity. When this occurs, a worker should also have the right to know how their money is spent. Individual freedom and personal choice are cornerstones of our democratic government—they are also at the heart of union participation in America. Today’s hearing will examine the process by which union dues are collected and how transparent unions are about this process. The Committee’s focus is not an examination of the validity of unions or their right to exist, but rather an effort to ensure that the political activity of unions does not infringe the freedoms of workers. Because of recent court decisions and a systematic effort by the Obama Administration to reduce union transparency and reporting requirements, union workers do not currently know how much of the money from their paycheck dues is being funneled to SuperPACs or used for other political activity. The Administration has also drastically reduced the Department of Labor’s ability to effectively audit labor organizations. These actions will have far-reaching consequences. I welcome the union workers who have agreed to testify today and appreciate their willingness to speak their mind about what they see as unjust restrictions on their freedom of choice in our democracy.
See the original post here:
On Capitol Hill today: Union members testify against forced dues racket
Less than a week ago a baby girl was born to the Meske family in Crystal Lake, Ill. This new addition’s name wasn’t chosen by parents Lindsey and Dave though — at least not completely. More than 4,000 people helped make this momentous decision.
Lindsey Meske with her two daughters. The newest bundle was born Jan. 31. (Photo: Facebook)
(Image: Facebook)
Madelyn Rae Meske (Photo: Facebook)
See original here:
Would You Let the Facebook Community Pick Your Baby’s Name?
Wayne Allyn Root is a former Libertarian vice presidential nominee and the author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian.” He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Campaign Committee. He is a regular guest on Fox News and hundreds of radio shows across America. He is also a gun-slinging, riverboat gambling, entrepreneur and capitalist evangelist. His web site: www.ROOTforAmerica.com Here is the speech Obama would give if only he was able to tell the truth: “I know…I know…the State of The Union Is desperate…Frankly, I don’t care. Through my magical stimulus I’ve delivered tens of billions of dollars to my union supporters and made hundreds of my campaign bundlers multi-millionaires. They, of course, kicked back hundreds of millions in contributions to me and my fellow Democrats to make sure we are re-elected, so we can keep the taxpayer money flowing back to them. Don’t ‘ya love it when a plan comes together? “Yes, I know deficits are destroying America. Quite frankly I don’t give a damn. I need to buy votes and there’s no better way than by redistributing wealth from those who vote against me, to those who vote for me. And since the GOP is blocking my tax increases, and even China isn’t dumb enough to lend it anymore, I’ve got Ben Bernanke printing money 24 hours a day. I then shower it on unions, lawyers, lobbyists, Jeffrey Immelt of GE, and my personal favorite scam…green energy. I’m getting re-elected with ‘Obama money!’ So what if your kids and grandkids will be enslaved to high taxes for generations to come…blah, blah, blah. “Of course I know GM and Chrysler are going to go broke – again . I squeezed out a few more years of bloated salaries and obscene pensions to my union buddies, who will re-pay me with hundreds of millions in contributions just in time for the 2012 election. With those union pension and healthcare obligations, only an idiot could think these companies would actually survive long term. But think of the timing? I stole enough money from taxpayers to keep these corpses alive for a decade. By the time they fail, I’ll be gone. “I know most of you hate Obamacare- TOUGH! Those of you who hate it weren’t going to vote for me anyway. You’ve got to look at what a great scam…I mean plan it is for me. I’ll funnel hundreds of billions to my corporate friends who will, of course, kick back hundreds of millions to my re-election campaign. As a bonus, I get to unionize every health care worker in America! More union dues, more kickbacks, MORE DEMOCRATS! Who says Christmas comes only once a year? “Speaking of my crony friends…how about Warren Buffet? Is he the greatest or what? Humble…caring… a patriot…a benevolent billionaire begging me to raise taxes on the filthy rich. What a scam…er sorry, plan. Everyone listens to a billionaire. He complains to the media about taxes on billionaires and I get to raise taxes on all those Republican small business owners that make $250,000 to $500,000 a year. It’s better than three-card Monte from the streets of Chicago! “Those higher taxes on the upper middle class give me more money to hire more government employees, who will automatically vote Democrat to protect their jobs. But wait, it gets even better… “All those new government employees will pay union dues- more kickbacks and contributions to Democrats. And we were able to afford it by punishing wealthy voters who vote Republican. They’re paying me to beat them for years to come. Even Fidel couldn’t think up anything this good! “Here’s the best part of Buffet’s scam- he’s already got his $50 billion. Higher taxes don’t affect him one iota and he’s killed the competition. After we cripple them with taxes, they’ll never be able to compete with him. What a guy! “But wait. For helping me raise taxes…I also push all the crippled companies begging for government bailouts like B of A and Goldman Sachs straight to Buffet, who then loans money to them at loan shark terms. All those companies then write big checks to my re-election campaign. Even the Gambino crime family wasn’t this ruthless. “Is this brilliant, or what? Let me say it again about Warren… what a scammer…er, WHAT A GUY! “Now to the most important part of the State of the Union. I know ’green energy’ is the biggest fraud in world history. Do you think I’m a complete idiot? Well, at least the biggest fraud since we made up ‘global warming.’ But we took care of that little mistake. We’ve changed the name to ’climate change.’ That covers us whether it gets hotter or colder. Either way we demonize business so when American manufacturers move jobs offshore to get away from our anti-business scheme, guess who I get to blame? American business! Isn’t this country great? “Moreover, I’ve been able to damage the domestic coal and oil business by blaming them for harming the environment. That’s created a boom for the rest of the world to supply us. Oh, I know, most of these other countries support terrorism and hate America. But that’s a small price to pay so Michelle and I can travel the world and be treated like rock stars. “And, as a bonus the U.S. economy has been weakened, making American citizens even more dependent on big government (that’s me). Soon, everyone will be either working for government (me), or collecting a handout from government (me). After that, no one will ever question big government again. “You know what I call 45 million Americans on food stamps? A small start. “You know what I call twelve million illegal aliens? As soon as I pass amnesty, you can call them twelve million Democrat voters. That puts me and my socialist cabal in control of D.C. forever. “Finally, let me be clear…I don’t care about the state of the union. I care about the teachers union, autoworkers union, SEIU, and government employees union. “I get shivers just thinking about Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky looking up at me from hell and smiling. I’ve done what even they thought could never be done. Who said you can’t fool 51% of the people all the time? “God Bless Me and God Bless America.”
Continued here:
Obama: The TRUE State of the Union
A flack for Media Matters for America, the Soros-backed one-trick GOP-bashing pony, sent an e-mail peddling the group’s latest anti-Keystone XL “study” to the Senate Democrats’ communications director at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Mary Kerr. For some reason, Senate Republican EPW communications director Matt Dempsey with GOP Sen. James Inhofe’s office also ended up cc’ed on the e-mail. Ooops. Their mistake is our gained insight (or rather, confirmation of what we already assumed). Read on: From: Emilee Pierce [mailto:epierce@mediamatters.org] Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 09:11 PM To: Kerr, Mary (EPW); Dempsey, Matt (EPW) Subject: Heads up – MMFA study on media coverage of KXL out tomorrow Mary and Matt, I wanted to flag that MMFA will be putting out a major, quantitative report on media coverage of KXL tomorrow morning. The study will be similar to our EPA counting study (http://mediamatters.org/research/201106070010) — and will drill home the point the media bought right into Big Oil’s desired frame on KXL, focusing largely on the (inflated) number of jobs that could be created, without paying due attention to the many other important issues at stake. (Ranchers’ land, spills, climate change, etc.) We are hoping for a big media splash, but – more importantly – we’re hoping that allies will be able to leverage it to gain favorable coverage. I’ve pasted a very brief summary below – and will be sure to send along the final study as soon as it’s up. If you have any questions, please let me know. All the best, Emilee STUDY: The Press And The Pipeline A Media Matters analysis shows that as a whole, news coverage of the Keystone XL pipeline between August 1 and December 31 favored pipeline proponents. Although the project would create few long-term employment opportunities, the pipeline was primarily portrayed as a jobs issue. Pro-pipeline voices were quoted more frequently than those opposed, and dubious industry estimates of job creation were uncritically repeated 5 times more often than they were questioned. Meanwhile, concerns about the State Department’s review process and potential environmental consequences were often overlooked, particularly by television outlets. – ————————————– Emilee Pierce External Affairs Director for Climate and Environment Media Matters for America Matt Dempsey e-mails: “It’s not often that Senator Inhofe’s office receives emails of a heads up to promote the Media Matters agenda! So I will do my part and share with you tonight to help them get the ‘favorable coverage’ they want from their ‘allies’ on Capitol Hill.” We know at least one Democrat recycling the Media Matters talking points: Chicago Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), who tried arguing today that 20,000 jobs “is not that many.” Chicago Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) drew fire from Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) on Wednesday when she dismissed the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, suggesting the 20,000 jobs it could create were relatively insignificant in the scheme of the greater economy. “Twenty thousand jobs is really not that many jobs, and investing in green technologies will produce that and more,” she said on Chicago’s WLS Radio Don Wade and Roma Show on Wednesday morning. “But I’ll tell you what, you know it seems to me that the Republicans would rather have an issue than a pipeline.” Coats, a vocal proponent of the project, which would transport oil from Alberta, Canada, to America’s Gulf Coast, swiftly responded in a separate interview on the same show later on Wednesday morning, suggesting Schakowsky has spoken insensitively. “Tell that to the 20,000 people that woke up this morning and didn’t have a job to go to,” said Coats. “ ‘Well, these don’t really matter’ — I mean, this not only is jobs, this is less dependence on Middle East oil.” “And here we have, you know, the president talking about becoming energy independent, but he turns down the easiest way to do that,” the freshman senator continued.
Read the original here:
E-mail of the day: Media Matters coordinates with Capitol Hill “allies” on Keystone XL; Plus: 20,000 jobs “is not that many”
Obama’s Green Robber Barons by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2012 Had enough of fat cat Barack Obama, his jet-setting wife and his multi-millionaire Chicago consigliere/real-estate mogul Valerie Jarrett attacking the “rich”? Well, brace yourselves. You’ll be hearing much more from the White House about the “wealthy few” who aren’t paying their “fair share” as Obama’s re-election campaign doubles down on class-war demagoguery. As usual, there’s always a set of immunity charms for the privileged friends and family of the ruling class. When it comes to all the Green Robber Barons who’ve reaped an obscenely unfair share of billions of tax dollars from the Obama administration, the envy trumpeteers will be quieter than a nest of mute church mice. Obama’s State of the Union address defiantly pitched a new round of clean energy spending orgies to help the “middle class.” But how have the serial bankruptcies and near-bankruptcies of several federally subsidized solar companies — all under Obama’s watch — helped anyone but an upper-crust elite of eco-crats and their lobbyists and consultants? Bankrupt Solyndra, billionaire George Kaiser. In the wake of the half-billion-dollar Solyndra stimulus bust, company officials revealed plans to hand out hefty bonuses totaling $500,000. Months before the politically connected solar energy manufacturer went belly up, it was doling out bonus payments of between $40,000 and $60,000 to several executives. Last week, a local CBS News crew caught employees at the Silicon Valley headquarters trashing solar panel glass tubes worth an estimated $10 million. The now-abandoned Taj Mahal complex cost ordinary Americans more than $733 million. But billionaire Democratic donor and frequent White House guest George Kaiser, whose nonprofit foundation was Solyndra’s biggest investor, is still sitting pretty. He and the other private investors of Solyndra will recoup their losses ahead of taxpayers. And while they blast their GOP opponents, double-standard Democrats will remain AWOL on the glaring tax-avoidance strategies of the wealthy Kaiser Family Foundation. Bankrupt Beacon Power, fat Democratic coffers. This green energy storage plant filed for bankruptcy last fall after a $43 million injection of Obama Department of Energy loan guarantees. Federal election record filings show that CEO William Capp contributed to the 2008 Obama campaign, as well as several left-wing New England Democratic candidates. Beacon Power lobbyist Steve Wolfe was a former aide to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Beacon sought bankruptcy shelter two days after the White House responded to fiscal watchdogs’ demands for a review of the DOE’s shoddy loan monitoring programs. Bankrupt SpectraWatt, red-faced Goldman Sachs. A solar cell company based in New York, SpectraWatt went belly up last August despite a half-million-dollar federal stimulus boost and lucrative backing from politically connected Goldman Sachs — whose ties reach deep into the Obama Treasury Department, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, White House National Economic Council and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. itself. The eco-failure was dumped in a fire sale for less than $5 million. Teetering Nevada Geothermal, cheerleading Harry Reid. Despite $150 million in federal DOE and Treasury Department subsidies — not to mention personal lobbying by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — this alternative energy project is on the brink of failure. A Deloitte and Touche audit grimly concludes that the company “has incurred net losses over the past several years, has an accumulated deficit of $44.0 million and an anticipated inability to retire its long-term liabilities.” According to CBS News, the company’s latest SEC filings warn of multiple defaults. My scouring of White House visitor logs shows nine visits from another Green Robber Baron, Illinois-based Exelon’s CEO John Rowe, who met with the president and former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel multiple times. As Forbes magazine reported: The clean energy company “has very deep ties to the Obama Administration. Frank M. Clark, who runs ComEd, helped advise Obama before he ran for president and is one of Obama’s largest fundraisers. Obama’s chief political strategist, David Axelrod, worked as a consultant to Exelon. Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, helped create Exelon” — where he raked in more than $16 million over two years. Remember: “Fairness” is in the eye of the wealth redistributors.
Excerpt from:
Obama’s Green Robber Barons
Obama’s Green Robber Barons by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2012 Had enough of fat cat Barack Obama, his jet-setting wife and his multi-millionaire Chicago consigliere/real-estate mogul Valerie Jarrett attacking the “rich”? Well, brace yourselves. You’ll be hearing much more from the White House about the “wealthy few” who aren’t paying their “fair share” as Obama’s re-election campaign doubles down on class-war demagoguery. As usual, there’s always a set of immunity charms for the privileged friends and family of the ruling class. When it comes to all the Green Robber Barons who’ve reaped an obscenely unfair share of billions of tax dollars from the Obama administration, the envy trumpeteers will be quieter than a nest of mute church mice. Obama’s State of the Union address defiantly pitched a new round of clean energy spending orgies to help the “middle class.” But how have the serial bankruptcies and near-bankruptcies of several federally subsidized solar companies — all under Obama’s watch — helped anyone but an upper-crust elite of eco-crats and their lobbyists and consultants? Bankrupt Solyndra, billionaire George Kaiser. In the wake of the half-billion-dollar Solyndra stimulus bust, company officials revealed plans to hand out hefty bonuses totaling $500,000. Months before the politically connected solar energy manufacturer went belly up, it was doling out bonus payments of between $40,000 and $60,000 to several executives. Last week, a local CBS News crew caught employees at the Silicon Valley headquarters trashing solar panel glass tubes worth an estimated $10 million. The now-abandoned Taj Mahal complex cost ordinary Americans more than $733 million. But billionaire Democratic donor and frequent White House guest George Kaiser, whose nonprofit foundation was Solyndra’s biggest investor, is still sitting pretty. He and the other private investors of Solyndra will recoup their losses ahead of taxpayers. And while they blast their GOP opponents, double-standard Democrats will remain AWOL on the glaring tax-avoidance strategies of the wealthy Kaiser Family Foundation. Bankrupt Beacon Power, fat Democratic coffers. This green energy storage plant filed for bankruptcy last fall after a $43 million injection of Obama Department of Energy loan guarantees. Federal election record filings show that CEO William Capp contributed to the 2008 Obama campaign, as well as several left-wing New England Democratic candidates. Beacon Power lobbyist Steve Wolfe was a former aide to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Beacon sought bankruptcy shelter two days after the White House responded to fiscal watchdogs’ demands for a review of the DOE’s shoddy loan monitoring programs. Bankrupt SpectraWatt, red-faced Goldman Sachs. A solar cell company based in New York, SpectraWatt went belly up last August despite a half-million-dollar federal stimulus boost and lucrative backing from politically connected Goldman Sachs — whose ties reach deep into the Obama Treasury Department, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, White House National Economic Council and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. itself. The eco-failure was dumped in a fire sale for less than $5 million. Teetering Nevada Geothermal, cheerleading Harry Reid. Despite $150 million in federal DOE and Treasury Department subsidies — not to mention personal lobbying by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — this alternative energy project is on the brink of failure. A Deloitte and Touche audit grimly concludes that the company “has incurred net losses over the past several years, has an accumulated deficit of $44.0 million and an anticipated inability to retire its long-term liabilities.” According to CBS News, the company’s latest SEC filings warn of multiple defaults. My scouring of White House visitor logs shows nine visits from another Green Robber Baron, Illinois-based Exelon’s CEO John Rowe, who met with the president and former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel multiple times. As Forbes magazine reported: The clean energy company “has very deep ties to the Obama Administration. Frank M. Clark, who runs ComEd, helped advise Obama before he ran for president and is one of Obama’s largest fundraisers. Obama’s chief political strategist, David Axelrod, worked as a consultant to Exelon. Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, helped create Exelon” — where he raked in more than $16 million over two years. Remember: “Fairness” is in the eye of the wealth redistributors.
View original post here:
Obama’s Green Robber Barons
