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Begich Earmarked Millions for Bankrupt Green Energy Company

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Photo Credit: APAs Sen. Mark Begich (D., Alaska) seeks to shore up his energy policy credentials, a now-bankrupt green energy company to which he steered federal subsidies could cloud his message.

Begich received campaign contributions from a lobbyist for an Alaska geothermal plant after helping the company obtain federal financing. The company is now bankrupt, but Begich continues touting his support for alternative energy.

The senator, who is facing reelection in November, will address the Alaska Wood Energy Conference on Wednesday. The conference brings together leaders in the state’s biomass industry.

He has also promoted fossil fuel development, including effort to open areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, and to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

However, Begich’s critics are pointing to his involvement with a now-bankrupt Alaska utility as evidence of a troubling record on energy policy.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hill’s Newest Earmarks: Sequester Exemptions

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Photo Credit: AP

Sequestration exemptions are shaping up to be Washington’s newest version of earmarks.

Agencies, companies and other groups are on the hunt for Capitol Hill allies with the juice to save their pet issues from the full force of the across-the-board cuts. Some have already been successful.

The campaigns are just one example of Washington slipping back into business-as-usual, where powerful players are open to satisfying special interests, even on sequester — which wasn’t supposed to play favorites.

“This parochial interest nature of Congress is re-emerging in, I think, an unseemly way,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

“We’re moving into some dangerous territory if we just allow every member to pick areas that they think ought to be changed,” added Sen. Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who made a name for himself in the House by ridiculing earmarks in appropriations bills.

Read more from this story HERE.

Senator Rand Paul Takes On Alaska Delegation Over Earmarks in Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill (+video)

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photo credit: gage skidmore

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul took on Alaska’s Senators yesterday over earmarks for Alaska fisheries placed in the appropriation bill designated for Hurricane Sandy relief, suggesting that if the spending was necessary it should be pushed through the Senate in a stand-alone bill.

The comments came on the Senate floor in the middle of a speech in which Senator Paul took on wasteful spending, of which the Alaskan earmarks were just one example of the problem.

Paul has suggested he would agree to further infrastructure spending if it were taken from appropriations that have already been designated as wasteful, or funds from the foreign aid budget designated for countries who have demonstrated hostility to America.

See video below:

Tea Party Was Not The Election Day Loser

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In the days following last week’s election, Beltway pundits have put a lot of names on the table as “Tea Party casualties,” as if referring to a third political party.

The Tea Party is not a political party; it’s an informal community of Americans who support a set of fiscally conservative issues. And when you take a look at the roster of new fiscal conservatives being sent to Congress next year, it’s clear our issues are winning.

In the Senate, Ted Cruz (Texas) and Jeff Flake (Arizona) will join a growing bloc of fiscal conservatives, including Marco Rubio (Florida), Mike Lee (Utah), Pat Toomey (Pennslyvania) and Rand Paul (Kentucky).

In the House of Representatives, a long list of fiscal conservatives will qualitatively improve the composition of the Republican majority. Among them are Ted Yoho (Florida-3), Ron DeSantis (Florida-6), Trey Radel (Florida-19), Jackie Walorski (Indiana-02), Thomas Massie (Kentucky-4), Andy Barr (Kentucky-6), Kerry Bentivolio (Michigan-11), Ann Wagner (Missouri-2), Steve Daines (Montana-at-large), Richard Hudson (North Carolina-8), Robert Pittenger (North Carolina-9), Mark Meadows (North Carolina-11), George Holding (North Carolina-13), Kevin Cramer (North Dakota-at-large), Brad Wenstrup (Ohio-2), Keith Rothfus (Pennsylvania-12), Randy Weber (Tekas-14), Roger Williams (Texas-25), Matt Salmon (Arizona-05), Tom Cotton (Alaska-4), Doug Collins (Georgia-9), and Jim Bridenstine (Oklahoma-1). To name a few.

Now that the dust has settled, the electoral trend of 2012 is clear: when candidates run on a message of conservative economic policy and limited government, they win.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Admin: “Proud” that stimulus produced jobs at $738k each (+video)

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Photo credit: merfam

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told The Daily Caller that he is “very proud” of the Economic Recovery Act of 2009 that put 65,000 people to work with $48 billion in federal funds for the Department of Transportation, amounting to $738,461 per job.

The Recovery Act of 2009, which in total cost taxpayers $825 billion, has been criticized because it did not prevent the unemployment rate from rising above 8 percent, contrary to what the Obama administration predicted.

“Yeah, we spent $48 billion and we put 65,000 people to work in 15,000 projects in two years with no problems,” LaHood told The Daily Caller in a video interview in Alexandria, Va., on Friday. “I’m very proud of that. I know that the governors can spend this money because over two years we gave them $48 billion, they created 65,000 jobs in 15,000 projects. This is doable. We’re going to get the money out and get people to work.”

TheDC also asked LaHood about the Obama administration’s decision to send an additional $473 million in unspent earmarks to states.

“You know what? These are old earmarks. There are earmarks that were set aside by members of Congress going back several years,” LaHood said. “We’re in the no earmark era. There are no more earmarks. This money needs to be spent because we need to get people to work.”