Dems risk government shutdown so they can fund Democratic-linked 'slush fund'

Ed Lasky

The Senate Democrats are playing a high-risk game at America's expense. They are refusing to vote for a House-passed continuing resolution to assure the government stays operating after October 1st. They will pin the shutdown and financial chaos on the Republicans. But what is their real goal? They want to ensure continued funding for yet another "green program". But this one has had two big beneficiaries that are linked closely to two Democrats people may be familiar with: Al Gore and Joe Biden.

Investors Business Daily has part of the story:

Senate Democrats voted down the spending bill. But the only reason they could find for doing so is a provision that would cut $1.5 billion from a Department of Energy loan program.

But look at who's been getting this federal largesse.

According to DOE, almost $1 billion in loans have gone to two companies - Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors - that specialize in super high-end luxury electric cars. The Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid has a base price of around $95,000; Tesla's Roadster starts at $109,000.

Investors Business Daily also mentions that Ford and Nissan also have benefited and the paper focuses on the waste.

But people should also focus on the cronyism that the paper does not cover.

Fisker Automotive received a 529 million loan to help build a hybrid sports car . The companywas tiny until it was engorged with taxpayer money. But who is backing this company? None other than Al Gore.

As for Tesla, its investors are donors to Democratic campaigns.

The Wall Street Journal covered this cronyism back in 2009:

A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster. Tesla is a California startup focusing on all-electric vehicles, with a number of celebrity endorsements that is backed by investors that have contributed to Democratic campaigns.

Matt Rogers, who oversees the department's loan programs as a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, said Fisker was awarded the loan after a "detailed technical review" that concluded the company could eventually deliver a highly fuel-efficient hybrid car to a mass audience. Fisker said most of its DOE loan will be used to finance U.S. production of a $40,000 family sedan that has yet to be designed.

Fisker's top investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a veteran Silicon Valley venture-capital firm of which Gore is a partner. Employees of KPCB have donated more than $2.2 million to political campaigns, mostly for Democrats, including President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions.

But there is also another reason Democrats like this giant slush fund.

Fisker Automotive decided to locate its operations in....Delaware. This is the home state, lest we forget, of Vice-President Joe Biden.

Now why in the world would Fisker open an auto plant (actually move into an old and abandoned GM factory) in Delaware when most auto plants built in the last few decades have been built in the south? The south has become a Mecca for auto plants because Southern states have good workers, have relatively low operating costs, and operate in congenial work environments. Car companies locate there because it is more profitable for them to do so. But apparently the company, flush with our money, has some payback in mind.

Not only is Joe Biden showing the love to the people of Delaware who have supported him as Senator over the years but he is also helping the budding Biden dynasty -with our money.

Joe Biden's son, Beau Biden, is currently Delaware's Attorney General and undoubtedly has future political plans beyond serving in that office.

The Fisker plant is a bright spot for Delaware's economy and one that will help Beau Biden's political future.

We paid for it and they will benefit from it.

No wonder the Democrats want to keep this program operating-it is just one more giant slush fund to reward their friends, donors, and fellow Democratic politicians.

They know a good thing-for them, if not for us-when they see it. But to risk a government shutdown just to keep this scam going on?

Spendthrift spending is an addiction. Sadly, we are the ones that end up paying for politicians' payoffs and boondoggles. Delaware is not only benefiting from the Biden family via the Fisker plant, but the Washington Times reveals yet another green scheme coming to Delaware.

Bloom Energy manufactures supersized fuel cells that generate electricity. They do so at high costs relative to electric power generated by coal or America's vast reserves of natural gas. But economics do not matter when there is other people's money to spend. In this case, Bloom Energy seems in line to receive a "substantial grant" from the Department of Energy when it opens a factory in the Bidens' home state of Delaware.

John Nichols and Paul Driessen write in the Washington Times, "Delaware's Very Own Solyndra:"

This crony capitalism means Bloom Energy gets risk-free cash, enabling it to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) of its stock. As a privately held company, it gets to keep its finances a secret. Meanwhile, U.S. and Delaware taxpayers will take another big risk, and families and businesses will pay well above market rates for electricity.

This grant will harm citizens, waste taxpayers money but the Bidens will have a nice shiny factory to show off in the years ahead.

Will Biden fly in for another photo-op as he did for Solyndra?