SaddleBrooke Republican Club » stimulus

Morning Bell: Weak Economy Disappoints Again

Mike Brownfield — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:32:59 +0000

Every day, America waits for a brighter future to arrive — the promise of change that President Barack Obama made in 2009 when he set a benchmark for his success on the economy, remarking, “If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.” More than three years later, very little has changed. As today’s jobs report shows, the U.S. economy only added 115,000 jobs in April — well below expectations and far, far below what is necessary to drive the economy back to full employment. … More

After Massive Losses, Stimulus-Backed Company Asks for More Taxpayer Cash

Lachlan Markay — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:15:46 +0000

A financially troubled green energy company has seen its stock prices plummet to below a dollar per share (UPDATE: see below) since receiving a nearly $250 million federal grant in 2009. The company lost $257.7 million last year. Two of its clients make up half of its business, and one is also struggling financially. But none of that has stopped A123 Systems, which manufactures batteries for electric vehicles, from applying for another $233 million in federal backing through the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, according to its latest filing … More

Portuguese Finance Minister Admits Keynesian Stimulus Was a Flop

Daniel J. Mitchell — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:54:17 +0000

By Daniel J. Mitchell

President Obama imposed a big-spending faux stimulus program on the economy back in 2009, claiming that the government needed to squander about $800 billion to keep the unemployment rate from rising above 8 percent. How did that work out? One possible description is that the so-called stimulus became a festering pile of manure. About three [...]

Portuguese Finance Minister Admits Keynesian Stimulus Was a Flop is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Taxpayer-Backed Green Energy Firms Struggle, But Hike Executive Pay

Lachlan Markay — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:42:20 +0000

When insurance giant AIG paid lucrative bonuses to top executives after receiving federal support, President Obama asked, “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” But three years later, numerous green energy companies backed financially by the administration are paying out large salaries and bonuses to their executives, even as the companies struggle to stay financially solvent. Scribe recently reported that Ecotality, a stimulus-backed electric vehicle charging station manufacturer that has received about $141 million in Energy Department grants, increased “executive and director” … More

Congressman May Subpoena DOE on Stimulus Funding for Ecotality

Lachlan Markay — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:19:36 +0000

The Energy Department has yet to comply with a congressional request for information on a stimulus-backed company under investigation for insider trading and facing serious financial difficulties. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), who chairs the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee on Science, Space, and Technology, asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu for “a detailed summary of the Ecotality project” in a letter in late March. Ecotality is a poster-child for the administration’s push to get a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. The company manufactures charging stations for those vehicles, … More

Obama’s Crystal Ball Wrong on Unemployment Once Again

Mike Brownfield — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:18:51 +0000

A little over three years ago, President Barack Obama’s advisers released a chart that purported to predict the future. With the President’s almighty stimulus, they said, unemployment in America would plummet. And the President promised that unemployment would never rise above 8 percent. Well, they were wrong. In the chart below, we take a look at where unemployment is today and where the President’s advisers said it would be. As you can see, there’s a significant difference. (article continued below) In a new report, Heritage’s Rea Hederman, Jr. analyzes the latest jobs … More

Ecotality Examined: Big Executive Bonuses as DOE Keeps Company Afloat

Lachlan Markay — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:51:17 +0000

The final part of a three-part series. As Scribe noted in part two of our series on Ecotality, a company spokeswoman claimed in 2010 that federal support for the company was indicative of the success of the stimulus package. But was Ecotality really a good bet for taxpayers? In addition to the stimulus funds it received in 2010 as part of the EV Project, Ecotality got a $26.4 million Energy Department grant in October of last year as part of DOE’s “Advanced Vehicle Testing and Evaluation project.” The award makes … More

Ecotality Examined: For Electric Vehicle Company, Politics is Business

Lachlan Markay — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:02:59 +0000

Part two of a three-part series. Ecotality “is a great example of the stimulus act doing what it was supposed to do,” explained company spokeswoman Jeanine L’Ecuyer in May of 2010. “ETEC was teetering. It was a company trying very hard to stay in business. This grant has created jobs and put this company back on track.” eTec was the North American subsidiary of Ecotality, which received $115 million in two stimulus grants through the Energy Department to manufacture electric vehicle charging stations. The parent company is now under investigation … More

Ecotality Examined: SEC Subpoena for Stimulus-Backed Company Revealed

Lachlan Markay — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:11:55 +0000

Part one of a three-part series. Scribe has obtained a copy of a Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena sent to Donald Karner, former CEO of Ecotality North America (formerly called eTec), the subsidiary of a company that recieved roughly $115 million in stimulus grants to manufacture charging stations for electric vehicles. Despite its federal funding, and shout-outs from both President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Ecotality fell on hard financial times in 2010. It is now under investigation by the SEC. The company recently failed to file its fourth … More

Congressman Seeks Answers on Stimulus-Backed Company Ecotality

Lachlan Markay — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:24:57 +0000

Congress is asking questions about a stimulus-backed electric vehicle company that received millions in taxpayer dollars even after the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into the company for insider trading. Ecotality, which manufactures charging stations for electric vehicles, was hit with an SEC subpoena in October 2010, a development first reported by Scribe. It had already received nearly $90 million in Energy Department grants as part of the stimulus package. Even after the SEC investigation started, it received another $26 million. The company was a poster child of … More