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We are about to close with the final two installments of this Special Seven series––the renewable energy (mainly solar) firms that not only received billions in Department of Energy (DOE) loans and federal grants, but those that received “preferential treatment” from the Department of Interior to lease federal land in a no-bid process, meaning that they were approved without “adequate vetting.” Whereas the review process for establishing an oil and gas lease on federal land can take up to five years, some of these favored green-energy projects were pushed through in less than a year.

Our first five chapters on Solar Reserve, BrightSource Energy, Nevada Geothermal, Ormat Nevada (the two Nevada companies were featured in one report), and First Solar; revealed a convoluted and tangled trail of political ties in each of these green-energy crony-corruption cases.

This chapter looks at the Spanish company Abengoa that received more than $2.8 billion in loans and grants—making them the second largest recipient of the $16 billion doled out through the DOE 1705 loan guarantee program.

From the introduction of this serialized book, the thumbnail says:

Abengoa has two solar projects: Solana and Mojave Solar. Solana’s Fitch rating is BB+. Just before Christmas, 2010, the company received $1.45 billion from the DOE for a solar thermal plant, to use parabolic trough technology in Gila Bend, AZ. Mojave Solar’s rating was BB. Yet the company received $1.2 billion in September 2011 for its solar assembly collection project in San Bernardino County, CA. Abengoa has connections to California’s Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.

In addition to the two solar projects listed above, Abengoa also has a biofuel project located in Kansas, which Fitch rated CCC, that got a $132.4 million loan in August 2010.

As a report on Abengoa from the Institute for Energy Research says: “It’s true, a loan guarantee is not the same thing as an explicit subsidy. So long as Abengoa Solar doesn’t default on its loans, the US taxpayer hasn’t kicked in anything. Nonetheless, the whole reason Abengoa Solar had to get the guarantee from the government is that no private lender thought the risk was worth it. It is not ‘costless’ for the US taxpayer to be on the hook in this fashion.”

So how did such a poorly rated, non-American company get billions in US taxpayer loan guarantees? Can you say “crony corruption?” In short, Abengoa has a cadre of cronies in high places which includes Al Gore, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and, of course, President Obama—plus, many others whose names you’ve probably never heard of.

Friends in high places

In 2007, Gore’s UK-based Generation Investment Management (GIM) bought a stake in Abengoa. He has extolled Abengoa for years, visiting “the largest solar platform in Europe” (operated by Abengoa) in October 2008 and delivering a high-powered speech at the company's Spanish headquarters in October 2010. GIM Advisory Board Member Mario Molino also serves on Abengoa’s Advisory Committee. GIM was started in 2004 by Al Gore and several Goldman Sachs’ big wigs, including David Blood, Mark Ferguson, and Peter Harris. (Note: Goldman Sachs was a top Obama donor in 2008.)

Bill Richardson is who got me chasing this whole green-energy crony-corruption scandal in the first place as my column addressing his crony capitalism is how I got connected with Christine Lakatos—who’s been researching this for years. Here in the middle of the Abengoa story is my former governor! Richardson has long been a supporter of solar energy, giving now-defunct Schott Solar $16 million in New Mexican state funds—so it is appropriate that he be involved here, too. Under President Clinton, Richardson served as the Secretary of Energy—leading the DOE—for three years. President Obama tapped Richardson to be his Secretary of Commerce but personal scandals kept him from passing the vetting—he withdrew his nomination. (Remember, John Bryson—former CEO of BrightSource—did become Secretary of Commerce.) With this vast résumé, Abengoa CEO Manuel Sanchez Ortega, felt that Abengoa was “extremely fortunate” to have Richardson’s “extensive knowledge of the renewable energy sector and his background in public policy” join Abengoa’s Advisory Board in March of 2011—which is reportedly a paid position. Richardson’s policies while Governor benefitted Abengoa. One of Abengoa’s DOE loans came through after Richardson joined the Advisory Board.

My introduction teased California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s involvement in Abengoa. Admittedly, direct connections are minor: she wrote a letter to the DOI on behalf of Abengoa asking the DOI to speed up the permitting process for accessing private land for DOE loan guarantees. One of the projects is in California, so advocating for it would seem reasonable. However, her husband, Richard Blum, is Chairman and President of Blum Capital, an equity investment management firm with investments in bio-fuel companies and Abengoa has a bio-fuel company—though, so far, no Blum investments in Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC have been found. Feinstein has been accused of arranging to have the US Navy buy bio fuels from her husband, so a connection to Abengoa would not be unexpected. Feinstein is no stranger to conflict of interest and PG & E may be the bigger player in this story, as they are one of her largest campaign donors (2010 & 2012), and they have a contract to buy California’s required renewable energy from Abengoa—along with five other projects that got DOE loans. One last Feinstein/Abengoa link: Fred Morse—Senior Advisor of US Operations for Abengoa. Dr. Morse, who interestingly was a member of the New Mexico CSP Task Force, donated $1000 to Feinstein.

 
                             The "Green Corruption" Plot Thickens with Pacific Gas & Electric 

According to The Washington Free Beacon... Pacific Gas & Cronyism: Politically connected utility plays corporate bully, makes bank on green energy

PG&E maintains a strong political presence in Washington, D.C., having spent $81.4 million on lobbying since 2008. The company’s political action committee has given nearly $380,000 to Democrats since 2008, more than double the amount it gave to Republicans during that same time. PG&E corporate officers and board members have given tens of thousands of dollars to President Obama and other Democrats since 2007.

The company is actively involved in California politics as well, primarily in support of Democrats. In 2010, PG&E gave more than $1 million to Democratic candidates, and more than $645,000 to the California Democratic Party. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) received $31,580.

Former PG&E employees currently hold, or previously held, high-ranking government positions at the state and federal level, furthering the company’s influence.

Further, remember those condemning emails exposed by the House Oversight Committee during their May 2012 hearing when questioning John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource. Whereas, Woolard had emailed Matt Rogers, who was then Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy for the Recovery Act and played a significant role in disbursing funds to renewable energy companies. That particular email stated, "Darbee at PG & E talked directly to Obama about the program's challenges and the bad situation it puts him in." Now, "Darbee" refers to Peter Darbee, then-CEO and chairman of Pacific Gas and Electric, and it looks like he had communications with the president, it just remains to be seen how many times and about how many of these energy projects. 

After all, "in large part due to statutory requirements under California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard," PG& E has an "invested interested" in getting these renewable sources going. "PG&E is the sole purchaser of power from a number of green energy projects financed with taxpayer dollars. Six solar projects [Abengoa and BrightSource are just two] that will sell power to PG&E have received a combined $5.5 billion in taxpayer-backed DOE loans, nearly one-third of the total funding allocated for the program in the stimulus package."



                                                               Back to Abengoa
 
Lobbyists

Fred Morse provides a perfect transition to the lobbyists and their connections, as Morse is a lobbyist for Abengoa with DOE roots. Morse was Executive Director of the White House Assessment of Solar Energy as a National Resource, serving in the Nixon, Carter, and Regan administrations and is thought of as Abengoa’s most credentialed conduit to policymakers. He currently sits on the board of various solar industry groups.

While Morse may be the “most credentialed conduit,” he is not the most interesting story. The "most-interesting" moniker would have to go to either Mark Rokala or Santiago Seage—you decide.

Before joining Abengoa, Seage was a partner with McKinsey & Company (another 2008 Obama donor)—where Jonathan Silver, the former executive director of the Energy Department’s loan guarantee program, started his career and Matt Rogers, a former senior adviser on the Recovery Act, was an executive. When Rogers left the DOE in September 2010, he returned to McKinsey & Company at their San Francisco office.  A handful of McKinsey & Company executives sit on Obama’s Jobs Council. Making the connections more provocative, we find that Silver held parties for Gore.

Abengoa’s lobbying efforts are headed up by Mark Rokala, a founding member of Cornerstone Government Affairs—which has received $870,000 from Abengoa in lobbying fees. Rokala came to Cornerstone from the PMA Group, which was shuttered in 2008 following a pay-to-play scandal—in which late Democratic Rep. John Murtha directed $137 million in government contracts to PMA clients, which in turn donated $2.37 million to Murtha and other Democratic congressmen who sat on the appropriations committee. PMA’s president, Paul Magliocchetto, is serving a 27-month federal sentence for illegal campaign contributions. Rokala has been a lobbyist for more than 20 years, the last seven in energy policy, and has served as legislative assistant for a Democrat senator.

Abengoa spent $540,000 on lobbying efforts for just 2011, with $160,000 going to Cornerstone Government Affairs.

Jobs

More than $80 billion was earmarked for green energy in the 2009 stimulus package—which was sold to the American people as a means to stimulate the economy and create jobs. So, what kind of bang for our buck did we get from the $2.8 billion we gave to Abengoa? The Institute for Energy Research reports “the DOE’s own fact sheet claims that the Solana project has created 1,700 temporary construction jobs, while yielding a permanent 60 jobs ‘created or saved.’ Simple division shows that the $1.45 billion guarantee therefore works out to $824,000 per job (when we include the temporary construction ones), and a whopping $24.2 million per permanent job ‘created or saved.’ The numbers are similar for the more recent Mojave Solar project. For a guarantee of $1.2 billion, the DOE estimates it will create 830 temporary construction jobs, and will ‘create or save’ 70 permanent jobs. This works out to $1.33 million per job (including temporary ones), and $17.1 million per permanent job.”

The report from the March 20, 2012, hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee looking into the green-energy, crony-corruption debacle says this about the loans to Abengoa: “A single Spanish firm, Abengoa…reveals excessive risk. … making this concentration of investment in one  company  speculative and highly questionable.”

What is truly questionable is why did the DOE take “excessive risk” in giving $2.8 billion to a Spanish firm? The answer is friends in high places. Abengoa got a good return for its investment. They spent hundreds of thousands in lobbying fees, hired some big guns like former Governor Bill Richardson, and made friends with the likes of Al Gore—and what do they get in return? $2.8 billion in American taxpayer dollars.

What have your friends done for you lately?

Author’s note: Thanks to Christine Lakatos, the Green Corruption blogger, for research assistance.

•  First published August 4, 2012 by Marita K. Noon @Townhall.com
• Also on...
• News New Mexico ––  Why did the DOE take “excessive risk” in giving $2.8 billion to a Spanish solar firm?
• The Strident Conservative –– DOE Took “Excessive Risk” In Giving $2.8 Billion To Spanish Solar Firm
• EPA Abuse –– Why did the DOE give $2.8 billion to a Spanish solar firm?
• USAction News –– How Democrats Say “Crony Corruption” in Spanish: Abengoa

This is Part Five of the Special Seven Series, Obama's Green-Energy, Crony, Corruption brought to you by Marita Noon and Christine Lakatos with the final installment to be published this week. However, we are just getting started –– stay tuned because there is much more Green Corruption to be exposed...

     “The president of the United States, Barack Obama, doesn’t seem to have chosen the right model to copy for his “green economy,” Spain. After the government of José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero demonized a study of different experts about the fatal economic consequences of renewable energies, an internal document from the Spanish cabinet that it is even more negative has just been leaked. 

     PajamasMedia.com

Green-Tech Model Advocated by Obama

Destroyed the Prosperous Spanish Economy

Undisclosed Debt Revelations Startle Voters

     First Greece, then Ireland and Portugal, now Spain, next America?  Two reports by the every vigilant Pajamas Media (PJM); and numerous other revelations from Spain are painting an ugly picture of political corruption, stupidity and rampant cronyism in eastern Iberia.  The Spanish Socialist government has issued a secret report showing that their green-tech jobs program destroyed the country’s once prosperous economy. 2011’s 21.3% UNEMPLOYMENT  figure confirms their confession as did the PJM’s uncovering of the original story.

     In 1997, Spain was the most prosperous European economy and one of the strongest in the world:  unemployment stood at less than 4%.  The country’s most popular political power, the Socialist Party began movement toward a green economy at that time.  Today, unemployment is five and a half times as high.  The elections in Spain in 2010 sent the ruling Socialists out of power; but people are today none too happy with the traditionally weaker Conservative Party either.  Most people believe that all the politicians in Spain pass laws to benefit themselves and do little for the people.  The country’s tiny Moderate Party made big gains in the 2010 elections and is expected to do even better in the 2012 ones.  The Socialists, however, are truly under-the-gun since recent revelations of heretofore huge unacknowledged debt has dealt an angry surprise to the voters and may force the nation to follow in the footsteps of bankrupt Greece, Ireland and Portugal and require a bailout from the international monetary fund (which American voters largely finance).

     Piles of undisclosed debt in local government associated with the operation of the country’s green-tech jobs programs are shaking up a political scene that was pretty much in chaos to begin with.  Spain, which had been doing everything it could to avoid becoming the next European bailout recipient, is far worse off than its people had been led to believe.  The huge debt revelations in 2010 seemed to indicate that the Socialists were waiting for the Conservatives to discover it after the election so the voters might “shoot the messenger” in the next election.  Unfortunately for the Socialists, the truth emerged and anger has remained rampant along the Costa del Sol and throughout the Spanish countryside over the last year.   Even today Spain has had trouble eradicating the debt and regaining a firm economic footing because of contract disputes with green energy companies created by the Socialist’s green energy programs.

     It all began with the first “offseason” government change earlier in 2010 in Catalonia which revealed a budget deficit there more than twice what had been reported earlier.  Piles of “hidden debt” are still being revealed to the new government related to the green program and to health clinics and other suppliers . . . in short, economists and analysts and numerous anecdotal reports from companies that supply local governments in Spain indicate widespread, unrecorded debt.  Companies complained that the Socialists when in power pressured them to do business off-the-books rather than immediately bill for goods and services according to  Fernando Eguidazu, vice president of the Circulo de Empresarios business lobby group in Madrid.  This chicanery continues to add tens of billions of euros to the official debt figures reported by local and regional governments.

     Undermined by a 21.3% unemployment rate and a perceived slowness in reacting to the country’s economic crisis, the Socialists lost control of the municipal governments of Barcelona and Seville, the country’s second- and third-largest cities.  Young people are protesting everywhere including the main plazas of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.  Unemployment among those in their 20’s and 30’s reached 50% in many areas at the height of the Spanish crisis. 

      Pajamas Media’s exclusive original story about the leaked Spanish government report in 2010 was confirmed later by several Spanish newspapers.   Yes, the very same Spanish “green economy” policies  that Barack Obama has modeled his administration’s green-jobs programs upon . . . have been cited by the Socialist government that created them as an “expensive, ineffective and unworkable disaster.”  The first Spanish newspaper on the scent was La Gaceta, a Madrid daily.  At about the time the story “went viral” the Socialist government came out with an admission that it was true. 

For Americans the shocker has to be that the headline in La Gaceta (the Gazette) seemed to be aimed squarely at a USA target audience as it screams out (English Translation Provided by Rajjpuut):

“Spain admits that the green economy

Sold to Obama is a disaster.”

http://pajamasmedia.com/files/2010/05/economia_verde_ruina.pdf

     The Spanish public is still up in arms.  An academic team in Spain revealed all this in 2007 and was treated monstrously by the country’s media and by the ruling Socialists trying to discredit the survey’s purpose as purely political and without merit (Americans will recall that when the results of the Spanis study were brought up in a press conference, Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made fun of the questioner).  Dr. Gabriel Calzada, the Spaniard who first exposed the disaster in 2007 was finally vindicated despite taking mountains of flack from the progressive academic establishment at his own and other universities across the country. 

     Professor Calzada is today often still  featured on all the nation’s most important news and business talk shows.  Despite all the nasty attacks he received, the good professor had enough integrity to stick by his guns these last four years and a year ago even wrote praise for “The dissection of ‘free-ice cream green jobs economics’” on the book jacket of Power Grab:  How Obama’s Green Policies Will Steal Your Freedom and Bankrupt America by American author Christopher C. Horner, a Pajamas Media watchdog whose book bears this enscription on the inside flap:  “Barack Obama’s ‘Green’ Policies Start With Controlling Your Energy…and End With Your Life.”

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Grab-Policies-Freedom-Bankrupt/dp/1596985992

     This scandal associated with deliberately villifying Calzada and covering up the truth for three years, however, pales in contrast with the undisclosed debt still popping up everywhere in the country.  But Spaniards and Americans would do well to remember that the problems associated with our own financial meltdown** and with Spain’s collapse began years ago with misguided and deliberate progressive policies (more later).  For now remember this, in Calzada’s study:

       A)   2.2 real jobs in the real economy were lost for each green-tech job subsidized by the Spanish government. 

       B)   The average subsidized green tech job there (although counted equally with all the lost permanent jobs in the real economy) lasted less than a year. 

       C)   Only 10% of all the Spanish green-tech jobs proved permanent.

       D)  So, in reality, 22 real jobs in the real economy were lost for every permanent green job created in Spain

       E)   The average green tech job there paid roughly $12.20.

       F)   The owners of Spanish solar plants make 12 times more than what they pay for the energy coming from fossil fuel combustion. The majority of this profit comes from subsidies charged to the consumer via taxes.

     The long-run numbers are even scarier for Spain.  The government itself in recent revelation says that the alternative energies sector are stil scheduled to receive 126 billion euros in the next 25 years.  And things bode very badly for America:   Pajamas Media put it like this: 

      “The president of the United States, Barack Obama, doesn’t seem to have chosen the right model to copy for his “green economy,” Spain. After the government of José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero demonized a study of different experts about the fatal economic consequences of renewable energies, an internal document from the Spanish cabinet that it is even more negative has just been leaked.

     To one of the authors of the first report, Gabriel Calzada, “the government has leaked it intentionally in order to turn the media against renewable energies and to be stronger in negotiations with businesses.”  On eight occasions, the occupant of the White House referred to the Spanish model as an example to follow.  Barack Obama wants us to enjoy the same success the Spanish have known from green energy.

Ya’all live long, strong and ornery,

Rajjpuut 

** In America, the second wave of progressive sabotage began with the progressives in the Carter administration in 1977 passing the CRA ’77 legistlation that first forced private sector home lenders to make knowingly ill-advised loans to unqualified home loan applicants.  This travesty was multiplied four times by Bill Clinton (Bush, Sr. has a bit of the guilt on his resume as well); attacked this ridiculous law and exposed its weaknesses using Cloward-Piven Strategy by ACORN which controlled Bill Clintons electoral destiny for eighteen years.  Even ACORN lawyer Barack Obama did his part.  Overall the suspect loan rate in 1975 0.24%; became 0.51% in 1985; 14.2% in 1995 (after a Clinton regulatory expansion and two legislative expansions); and 34% in 2005. 

Thanks to ACORN many of these suspect loans after Clinton’s 1998 steroid version final expansion of CRA’77 put people without jobs; with abysmal credit ratings; with only food stamps to declare as “income” into $250,000 to $450,000 homes at zero downpament.  Bush, Jr. who is getting all the blame now . . . in January, 2005 (one of 19 such speeches and vote efforts) tried to repeal CRA laws and only succeeded thirty months later in getting a very weak version of his law passed in July, 2007.  It all proved too little too late, but did help some.  Today, much of the CRA legislation is still on the books waiting another ACORN push.  Of course, the mainstream media runs with the progressive line that “the conservatives and the free market put our economy into the ditch.”

By the way, the First Wave of sabotage ended when the federal government bailed out bankrupt New York City in 1975.  New York State and many states and other large cities were also driven near the point of bankruptcy and the stock market suffered its biggest losses (46%) since the Great Depression (sound familiar?) . . . thanks to the progressive-left’s implementation of Cloward-Piven Strategy and Alinsky tactics to deliberately double the welfare rolls from eight to sixteen million people in seven years and overload the system as promised. This also was a deliberate sabotage by the progressive left.  Rajjpuut has explained the matter in deep detail in numerous blogs.   Find another take on the Cloward-Piven Strategy history leading to the bankruptcy of NYC, here:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html

“There are liars, damned liars and statisticians . . .” (old saying)

http://rajjpuutsfolly.blogtownhall.com/

specifically quoted:

http://rajjpuutsfolly.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/09/green-pain_in_spain_sends_pesetas_down_the_drain.thtml

Obama Administration’s SEVERE

MISCOUNT of Stimulus jobs

Aims to Hide Sickening Truth

It’s considered unpatriotic by Mr. Obama to criticize him or his administration or their ineptness. If that’s so, you’re about to hear some truly unpatriotic blasphemy. Are you one of those Doubting Thomases very skeptical about the honesty of reported federal government statistics? The word on the street is that “figures don’t lie, but liars sure can figure.” Here’s a case in point, among all the “jobs created or saved by the Obama administration’s $787 Billion stimulus were 384 jobs created at Hormel’s Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar, Minnesota at a cost of $7,144,000 ( a mere $18,600 per job, fantastic by normal government standards). The summary of the grant reads this way: “production and delivery of small cooked deli breasts.” Sounds good. The turkey breasts in question are part of a $100 million package of grants received mainly for canned fruit, canned pork, and sliced ham for stocking food pantries across the nation.

OOOOps, one small problem: the 384 people hired eventually worked for less than 40 hours each. How many actual permanent jobs were created by this grant? ZERO! Cost per day for each of these jobs? $3,720. Are you still impressed? How much REAL money went into the pockets of Obama supporters for FAKE jobs on this one? Unfortunately, those statistics are not available . . . .

This is why virtually all federally released figures must be taken with a huge grain of salt by any intelligent voter. Weasel phrases akin to calling the neighborhood “pool parlor” a “Pocket Billiards Emporium” are the very stock in trade of federal liars like Barak Obama and all the people who surround him and support his efforts all the way right down to the sour-faced neighborhood bureaucrat. Do you remember back when Senator Obama was talking about creating five million new green-tech jobs as soon as he became president? If that was realistic and helpful, surely that’s where the bulk of the stimulus money should have gone, no? Well, Rajjpuut, and a whole hell of a lot of other bloggers around the country put the national media straight and that starry-eyed notion melted away like butter on a hot skillet bottom. Since the “green-tech” lie is a classic example of what we’re up against, it bears repeating . . . .

Admit it, it sounds terrific! Imagine five million new jobs in the green-tech industry helping get our nation off the oil bandwagon and all the pollution it produces. That was NICE. Now let’s face the facts . . . .

Up until about thirteen years ago, Spain was the top job creator among all nations in the European Union. Then they got the starry-eyed notion to pour money into "alternative energy," clean up the environment and create even more jobs via green tech. Sound familiar? One caveat for Mr. Obama, Spain's present unemployment rate at more than 20% is more than double the European Union average. Barak, of course doubles-down on green-tech, steadfastly refusing to let Americans drill off America's shoreline, in the country itself, or even to let Americans use new technologies to drill out old oil wells: all policies even the green-smitten Spaniards would call "absolutamente loco!"

So what do the stats tell us? The Spanish economy lost 2.2 jobs from the wider marketplace for every single green job created. That would mean Obama's program could cost America eleven million other jobs or a net loss of six million jobs, but wait . . . . Remember from our one-day turkey breast example, whenever liberal politicians "create" jobs they tend to count in "funny" sorts of ways, acting as if a one-week job and a permanent job were all the same thing. What happened in Spain was that ultimately only 10% of the green jobs they created were permanent jobs . . . ooooooops that means that instead of creating five million REAL JOBS, Obama will likely be creating five million bogus-counted funny-jobs in green tech that amount to only 500,000 real jobs-- so now we're looking at an overall loss of 10.5 million real jobs . . . that's 22 real jobs lost** by the subsidies needed to fund creation each single green-tech job, OUCH! Here’s a report from another heretic that Rajjpuut loves:

http://bond.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=e87126d9-93a1-2001-2698-ff77496e5690

This info, from the U. S. Senate Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy, concludes that many green jobs pay low wages, require expensive taxpayer subsidies, and require killing existing jobs to subsidize these new green jobs. Of course, Missouri Senator Kit Bond author of that report Yellow Light on Green Jobs and subcommittee ranking member is a conservative Republican and he's surely regarded as "unpatriotic" by Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Obama too??? Senator Bond, by the way, is retiring by choice and will be sorely missed. And also, “sorely missed”? All those jobs created or saved by the Obama stimulus . . . . jobs that upon closer examination all POOF! Disappear into thin air.

Ya’ll live long, strong and ornery,

Rajjpuut

** "How can this be?" you ask . . . . Government canNOT create jobs they can only redistribute wealth. Even creating apparent jobs in the military or the border patrol to carry out obvious and necessary government functions of protecting the nation comes at a cost of real jobs in the free market economy, it just so happens that almost all Americans agree those are worthy functions and don't begrudge the government the cost, but make no bones about it, there is a cost. World War II saw the "creation" of 16 million jobs and brought the Great Depression to an end because of that. What was the cost? Virtually all economic activity was diverted into the military sphere in one way or another and the entire country was under rationing beginning in the spring of 1942. Ordinary citizens found that certain foods were almost impossible to get and they cost much more than previously. Items like metals; gasoline and other fuels; tires and other rubber goods; a lot of food especially coffee, meats, butter, fats, cheese and oils; and even clothing such as nylons and shoes were rationed. In other words the citizens sacrificed greatly by government decree so the war effort could continue. Additionally, huge amounts of time and energy normally devoted to other activities by individuals and businesses was turned toward the war and the needs of the troops: scrap drives, huge drives for war bond sales, virtually all the normal activities of a nation at peace were foregone or dramatically reduced so the military could succeed. Besides the loss in people and in maimed individuals, the material wealth of the nation was greatly reduced, but it could have been far, far worse . . . imagine being a Japanese, Italian or German citizen and not only sacrificing so much, not only losing so many of your relatives, friends and neighbors, but also having your very homeland destroyed and so many of you killed in the process. War is not pretty and all the costs of it should always be understood before it's every embarked upon.

More reading desired?

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/BlogPostView.aspx?id=62a6c0e2-58a6-47ee-a4a6-3dbb5d436ef5

http://rajjpuutsfolly.blogtownhall.com/2009/06/04/the_green-tech_fallacy_or_how_barak_flunked_economics.thtml

http://rajjpuutsfolly.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/09/green-pain_in_spain_sends_pesetas_down_the_drain.thtml