The 2010 mid-term elections were all about big government and spending. Republicans gained the House majority and picked up substantial seats in the Senate. Republican leadership has looked a gift horse in the mouth and once again demonstrated their lack of intestinal fortitude, lack of courage leaving them open at cowards.

Coming down, once again, to a deadline to fund the government and save it from itself and a shutdown instead of standing firm against Democrats and Barack Obama they went North on spending and South on less government.

Congressional “leaders” reached a deal on a trillion-dollar “mega-omnibus” nine-bill appropriations package that sadly is yet another disappointing failure to rein in government spending. A vote is expected today. Fiscal discipline in nowhere to be found in this package of garbage.

Patrick Louis Knudsen, the Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs at The Heritage Foundation, explains this piece of legislation – “allows everyone to vote for something he likes, while taxpayers pick up the tab.” Imagine that!

What does the omnibus bill Final Consolidated Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3671) have in it?

1. Spends a total of $914.8 billion in annualized budget authority (BA) for fiscal year 2012, which started on October 1.
2. Total discretionary BA for the year comes to $1,042.9 billion.
3. Is $31.6 billion above the House-passed budget resolution.
4. The House will consider an additional $8.1 billion “disaster” relief measure to pay for past events like Hurricane Irene or even, believe it or not, Hurricane Katrina.
5. Brings disaster spending to $10.4 billion over and above the spending limits in the BCA.

With all the spending deals the US Senate has still not passed a budget for over 1,000 days.

The brand new leadership in the Beltway, brought in with the Tea Party tide of 2010, pledged to become truly serious stewards with the people’s wallet. Through last evening’s mega-omnibus bill, people who had been serious in righting the budgetary ship have been completely silenced as a result of leadership which favors even bigger federal government, increased spending, as well as sneaking away from the Capitol having an appropriations package deal which comes up short by shelling out more taxpayer money.

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Obama's Green Jobs Black Hole of Corruption

If green jobs were a fact of life the private sector would be creating them. There would be a viable niche and some entrepreneur would be seeking loans from banks the old fashioned way – with financial projections termed pro-forma’s, a formal, written business plan and a full demonstration on how the business will succeed and grow into the future.

But with the Obama administration donations may very well buy you the money you need if your well connected and proclaim a wish to save the environment on your way to take taxpayer dollars while sidestepping the formal process of loan procurement.

I’ve often heard people say that money in their budget must be spent or they will lose it. My retort was to ask why not just put in back into the cash account? No – we must spend it or lose it. But why? Because it’s in our budget.

So now the Obama administration is up against a deadline and more deals are pending before the $18 billion program funded by the 2009 stimulus expires Friday, September 30th.

If you believe the $535 million Solyndra scandal had chastened the fearless “venture capitalists” of the Obama Administration, think again. The Department of Energy shovelled out $1.1 billion in new loan guarantees to solar projects in Nevada and Arizona Wednesday.

In a statement yesterday, Secretary Steven Chu said:

“If we want to be a player in the global clean energy race, we must continue to invest in innovative technologies that enable commercial-scale deployment of clean, renewable power like solar.”

That statement tucked inside a business plan would never pass the smell test with any honest banker or venture capitalist for that matter.

Chu said the department has completed a $737 million loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar Energy for a 110 megawatt solar tower on federal land near Tonopah, NV and a $337 million guarantee for Mesquite Solar 1 to develop a 150 megawatt solar plant near Phoenix, AZ.

The loans were approved under the same program that paid for a $528 million loan to Solyndra Inc., the California solar panel maker that went bankrupt after receiving the money and laid off 1,100 workers.

But wait! Mr. Chu says this will create jobs. Yesterday’s $737 million loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar Energy will create “600 construction jobs and 45 permanent jobs,” according to the company. The $337 million loan guarantee to Sempra Energy “will fund up to 300 construction jobs.” That’s $1.1 billion for 45 permanent jobs.

However, the government is blocking the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to carry crude oil from Western Canada to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast would create some 13,000 union jobs and around 118,000 “spin-off” jobs and taxpayers wouldn’t have to risk a dime.

The “green” jobs may end up like the one’s created but not saved at Solyndra. Keystone XL is making money, creating jobs in Canada and the US indirectly and the projections are that Keystone is viable, making profits and is waiting for the US government to approve movement into the US project.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) chairman of a House energy subcommittee that is investigating Solyndra, said the impending deadline was no reason to complete loans before they are ready.

“Solyndra was the product of a bad bet rushed out the door, and taxpayers are now on the hook,” he said. “We cannot afford DOE rushing out more Solyndras in these final hours.”

A government watchdog group said the Solyndra bankruptcy shows the need for greater oversight of all the department’s loan guarantee programs.

“It is time for a full audit of their activities, their management and their results,” said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, Washington-based advocacy group.

“Candidly, it might be time for the federal government to rethink the whole idea of loan programs,” Schatz added, calling the government’s track record on loan guarantees “lousy.”

It doesn’t stop with bad loans and political donors.

Tonopah Solar, a subsidiary of California-based SolarReserve and Pacific Corporate Group is an investment partner with SolarReserve. Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law, Ronald Pelosi, happens to be the number two man at PCG. Analyzing Mr. Pelosi’s qualifications, how he came to PCG and the history of PCG is a mystery in connecting the dots.

It doesn’t stop here. A Daily Caller investigation has found that in addition to the failed company Solyndra, at least four other solar panel manufacturing companies receiving in excess of $500 million in loan guarantees from the Obama administration employ executives or board members who have donated large sums of money to Democratic campaigns. Questions were being deflected by the White House to the Democratic National Committee.

This could end up being the Watergate for Barack Obama and possibly the whole Democrat party. While funding these “green” job companies with federal tax dollars the Obama Department of Justice and US Attorney for North Dakota hauled seven oil and natural gas companies into federal court for killing 28 migratory birds that were found dead near oil waste lagoons. You may not be surprised to learn that the Administration isn’t prosecuting wind companies for similar offenses. Unemployment is 3-percent in North Dakota and business is booming.

Corruption for green jobs and prosecution for companies producing jobs and creating economy. This is the anti-business, anti-job growth Obama way.

The Green Jobs Black Hole  -  The money goes in and nothing comes out. Except corruption!

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While we sit around and look at the “top-tier” GOP presidential field Herman Cain is winning straw polls, Michele Bachmann is quickly disappearing, Rick Perry is attempting to self-destruct and Mitt Romney continues to flip, flop, spin and tread water near the top.

Defending Romneycare, providing meaningless answers to questions, tap dancing and avoiding hard questions. This is what Mitt Romney seems to do best as candidate Romney.

One more glaring reflection on Mr. Romney is he seems to think the Department of Education is a good thing and that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has the correct mojo with the latest destructive federal takeover called “Race to the Top.”

Race to the Top is one more federal ploy, one more liberal policy intended to takeover state responsibility and pay off the union thugs with stimulus slush money for votes and power.

During a townhall meeting last week in Miami Mr. Romney touted Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and praised Race to the Top which rewards state education systems for reaching specific goals.

“I think Secretary Duncan has done some good things,” he said. “I hope that’s not heresy in this room.”

Romney has some views but how do we decipher the conflicting statements?

1. Education should not be confined to a teacher’s union only. There should be involvement from parents, the state, federal government with the support of the teachers.
2. He supports the concept of ‘No Child left behind’.
3. Romney supports the elimination of Federal Department of Education and favored keeping educational reforms to the lowest level involving parents, teachers and community.
4. Romney supports a means tested school voucher programs which gives students opportunity to attend any public or private school of their choice.

I see a conflict here. Surprise, surprise! In bold print above you see contradiction. Romney wishes to involve everyone including the federal government while supporting the federal program “No Child Left Behind”, supporting the elimination of DOE all while praising Obama administration follies such as Race to the Top.

It’s time for Mitt Romney to come clean on his education stance and to tell the American public exactly what he would do to reduce the size of government, if he would dismantle the Department of Education and if he would turn education responsibility over to the states.

Much has been written about Rick Perry and his support for higher education and illegal immigrants in Texas. As Governor Perry said to Heritage in October 2010:

“Our reforms that we’re putting into place that have been fine-tuned for Texas and our very diverse population out there [are] working.”

Texas doesn’t need a one-size-fits-all plan from Washington, and its social studies standards are a good case in point. Governor Perry has reaffirmed Texas’s commitment to the principle of federalism in education.

I would hope Mr. Perry feels this way about other states and their individual state’s rights. Mr. Romney needs to leave the comfort of his special spin room and answer the questions specifically. Also, the other GOP candidates need to back off of Rick Perry and start pointing to Romney and themselves with more specifics on all their programs and how they will reduce the federal government and return to the principles of the US Constitution.

Race to the top or a race to the founding principles of America? Mitt Romney and all the candidates owe that much to American’s prepared to take America back in 2012.

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