I'll be on the John Batchelor Show tonight, beginning at 8:15 p.m. (Pacific) discussing the dire situation that many of California's municipalities -- and the state, itself -- face in the near future. (Check local or satellite listings for details, or listen online here.) The focus of tonight's chat will be the great inland port city of Stockton.
As our friend at Via Media points out, "Stockton, California, is well on its way to repeating the mistakes of its sister bankrupt Golden State city, Vallejo: The city manager of Stockton has proposed a deal in bankruptcy court that involves zero pension cuts. Opting instead for slashing workers and health benefits, extending payments and selling buildings, the deal, if approved, would leave Stockton’s ruinous pension system untouched."
Stockton - and Vallejo - are merely California (and the rest of the country) writ sooner and smaller. Brace yourselves.
In this so-called "debate" about austerity and the-mess-that-is-Detroit, Charles Krauthammer hands a know-nothing Keynesian lib (Sally Kohn) her...backside.
Really, Ms. Kohn...you shouldn't engage in a battle of wits when you're unarmed.
From the Washington Examiner:On October 13, 2012, President Obama boasted to Americans in his weekly address that he refused to “let Detroit go bankrupt.” “[W]e refused to throw in the towel and do nothing,” Obama said. “We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt, I bet on American workers, and American ingenuity and three years later that bet is paying off in a big way.” Of course Obama was referring to the auto industry – alluding to Mitt Romney’s unfortunateNew York Times op-ed headlinefrom 2008. With the news of Detroitfiling for bankruptcy today, his line takes on new meaning.
An FBI raid yesterday on Bay Area-based Solyndra Inc., a solar-panel maker that failed after receiving a $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. According to sources, this is just the beginning of an multi-level investigation that will look into the Obama administration’s clean-energy program, how Obama donors might have benefited from their ties to the company and the administration, and how Stimulus money was used and/or diverted.
In addition, there is a dispute over what the company’s CEO told members of Congress about the strength and viability of Solyndra.
According to a Bloomberg News report: “Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman ofCaliforniaand Diana DeGette ofColoradosaid yesterday that Solyndra Chief Executive Officer Brian Harrison assured them in a meeting less than two months ago that the company was in a ‘strong financial position. He did not convey to us the perilous condition of the company, and the committee should know why,’ Waxman and DeGette wrote in a letter yesterday to Stearns. 'At that time, he said the company was projected to double its revenues in 2011, there was ‘strong demand in theUnited States’ for its shipments, and the company was expected to double the megawatts of panel production shipped this year,” according to the letter. ‘These assurances appear to contrast starkly with his company’s decision to file for bankruptcy.’”
The DOE gave Solyndra the most federal backing awarded a solar manufacturer. The George Kaiser Family Foundation, a charitable organization based in Tulsa, OK, and backed by donations from billionaire Obama fundraiser George Kaiser, holds almost 39 percent of Solyndra, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Kaiser raised, or bundled, $50,000 to $100,000 for Obama’s 2008 campaign, according to a list that had been posted on Obama’s 2008 campaign website. He gave $2,300 personally, according to theFederal Election Commission.
In the week before the administration awarded Solyndra with the first-ever alternative energy loan guarantee on March 20, four separate visits were logged. Kaiser, who has in the past been labeled a major Solyndra investor as well as a Obama donor, made three visits to the White House on March 12, 2009, and one on March 13. Kaiser has denied any direct involvement in the Solyndra deal and through a statement from his foundation said he “did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. government regarding the loan.”
White House visitor logs show that Kaiser had 16 meetings with Obama aides, 11 of them in 2009. His first recorded visit to the White House was March 12, 2009, when he met separately with Austan Goolsbee, a senior economic adviser to Obama, Pete Rouse, a senior adviser to the president, and Heather Higginbottom, deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council. The next day he met with Jason Furman, a member of Obama’s National Economic Council.
That month, the Energy Department awarded Solyndra the $535 million loan guarantee to commercialize its cylindrical solar panels.In June, Kaiser met with senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, policy adviser David Pope and then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. His most recent meeting covered by the White House logs was on April 11 of this year, with Rouse.
Obama supporter/fundraiser/Oklahoma billionaire George Kaiser...
Kaiser’s firm, Argonaut Ventures and its affiliates have been the single largest shareholder of Solyndra, according to SEC filings and other records. Under terms of the bankruptcy filing, investors including Argonaut -- which led a $75 million round of financing for Solyndra earlier this year -- will stand in line before the federal government and other creditors to recoup its losses. Energy officials confirmed this arrangement, saying that after private investors including Kaiser recover $75 million, the U.S. government would have a chance to seek $150 million of its investment.
Agents for DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman, who has called the department’s clean-energy loan program lacking in “transparency and accountability,” joined in the search yesterday at the Fremont, California, headquarters of Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 6.
The company borrowed $527.8 million from the U.S. Federal Financing Bank, a unit of the U.S. Treasury Department that’s its biggest lender. In January, the Energy Department agreed to let $385 million in taxpayer support for Solyndra take a back seat to funds from new investors in an effort to keep the company operating.
Folks -- this is just the beginning of this story.
(Huge h/t: Jim Snyder reporting for Bloomberg -- for much of this report)
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From its very beginning – yes, from its concept in some loony brainstorming session where “well-meaning” folks were discussing how they’d take down Rush Limbaugh/talk radio and the ascending Fox News – Air America was in a flat spin. A death spiral.
I’m sure it was a smashing idea...at the time (probably made all the more edible with the help of a few drinks…maybe some other “agents of enhancement”). “We’ll fight fire with fire!” no doubt was the battle cry. “If Limbaugh can steal make empty headed voters pull the lever for those guys with an “R” next to their name, I’m sure we can come up with a host or two – NO! A WHOLE RADIO NETWORK! – dedicated to presenting the other side. And once they hear our arguments, there’s no way they won’t buy it. There’s no way they can resist! I mean, look at the way we suck ‘em in with movies and TV.”
Yep. It was a great idea…just like that time we thought about putting screen doors on all our submarines!
Well, Air America finally landed...today…with a resounding thud.
"Ladies and gentlemen…the pilot has some bad news. Um, yeah. We’re going to be making an unplanned landing here. And, um, well, return your seats to their upright positions lock your trays up and kiss your backsides goodbye. We’re going in – hard. Oh, and thank you for flying Air America."
On Thursday, the all-liberal content/host radio network announced that due to “very difficult economic environment,” it was kaput.
From the start, it was only a matter of time before Air America experienced “Controlled flight into terrain.” The economic model was weak, the entertainment was all but missing and programming/content was so predictable that it was nearly possible to turn off any given show, come back several hours later and know exactly what would be airing. In short, it wasn’t worth listening to unless you were driven by an incessant need to constantly hear someone attack (pick one or more): the GOP, big business, the GOP, the Pentagon, the GOP, America’s history of (fill in your favorite reason to loathe the U.S.)…oh, and the GOP.
“It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding down of the business,” the chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker, said in a memorandum. His statement was published on AirAmerica.com.
You could hear the schadenfreude as far away as Dick Cheney’s house.
“The company, which was founded in 2004, never found a substantial audience or sound financial footing. It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2006, but managed to stay on the air at that time. The network churned through several owners and several attempted reinventions, with little to show for it.” (h/t: NY Times)
The network – founded in 2004, made a point of positioning itself as a liberal alternative to conservative talk radio host Limbaugh and the multitude of others who have worked to follow in his footsteps. At one time, the network was carried nationally on approximately 100 stations, but early on it experienced money woes. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2006 and in 2007, a group of new investors bought a one-way ticket to nowheresville on Air America for $4.25 million.
United States Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn) – who had previously built a career on “Saturday Night Live,” – hosted an Air America show from 2004 to 2007 before running for office. Rachel Maddow, who also hosted on Air America, has since gone on to a lucrative career with her own prime-time show on MSNBC. In addition to those two, Air America had a list of hosts that included Ron Reagan Jr., musician Steve Earle, comedian/actress JaneaneGarofalo and rapper Chuck D.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we know you have a choice when you pick your radio station…so we thank you for…wait – they’re still listening to conservative talk radio? Oh, no…we’re going in!”
I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about the Minnesota U.S. Senate race, but I like to think I did my part to bring Air America down...
Tens of thousands of American Service Members are deployed in hostile and remote regions of the world, including the Middle East, Afghanistan, and on ships throughout international waters. The physical conditions they must endure are difficult and they may be separated from loved ones for long periods of time.Operation Gratitude seeks to lift morale and put smiles on faces by sending care packages addressed to individual Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines deployed in harm's way.** Operation Gratitude care packages contain food, hygiene products, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation, all wrapped with good wishes of love and support.
Through Collection Drives, Letter Writing Campaigns and Donations of funds for shipping expenses, Operation Gratitudeprovides civilians anywhere in America a way to express their respect and appreciation to the men and women of the U.S. Military in an active, hands-on manner.
Learn more - and help out - by visiting Operation Gratitude's website!
