No Valentine For Chuck Hagel Nomination

No Valentine for Chuck Hagel

Today in Washington, D.C. - Feb 14, 2013
The Senate reconvened and resumed consideration of the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture (to cut off debate) on the Hagel nomination. Sixty votes are needed to cut off debate, the nomination would then be able to move ahead to a confirmation vote which would require a simple majority to confirm. It was anticipated the a vote would be Friday morning.

However, Majority Leader Harry Reid pressed for a vote this evening. As a result, the cloture vote failed. The vote was 58 votes to end the filibuster to 40 against, but actually 59 backed Hagel because Reid changed his vote to no so that he could use parliamentary rules to quickly reconsider the nomination when the Senate returns from its Presidents Day break Feb 25. Note this is the first time a defense secretary nominee has been filibustered.  Note, Republicans are opposing a former Republican Senator who they the Democrats know he is as liberal as they are.  But the issue is far more serious.

Sen, John Cornyn (R=TX) said, "The majority leader knows full well that the reason why cloture was denied... is because there are reasonable requests being made on this side for additional information and I hope and trust that that information will be provided here in the next few days and when we come back from the recess. We'll have another vote and another opportunity for senators to express themselves. But this is not any attempt to kill this nomination. This is not a filibuster."

Unfortunately, Hagel's antisemitic (anti-Israel) and pro-Muslim Brotherhood positions as well as his positions on further disarming America's nuclear arsenal do not set well with at least his former Republican colleagues.  And these positions should not have set well with many democrats including senators like Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) whose constituents oppose as a majority Hagal's nomination.  Pryor voted in support of Hagel today making it clear he is more concerned with his liberal colleagues and President Obama than representing the interests of his constituents back in Arkansas. 

Also yesterday the Senate voted 88-12 to confirm William J. Kayatta Jr. to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit.

The House reconvened and debated a resolution to consider H.R. 273 - to eliminate the 2013 statutory pay adjustment for Federal employees, and for other purposes." The resolution finally passed and the House may now consider H.R. 273, possibly tomorrow.

Yesterday the House passed:
H.R. 592 (354-72) — "To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to clarify that houses of worship are eligible for certain disaster relief and emergency assistance on terms equal to other eligible private nonprofit facilities, and for other purposes."
H.R. 267 (422-0) — "To improve hydropower, and for other purposes."

In a Sunday appearance with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) insisted, “It is almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem.” Aside from the fact that this is just wrong and completely out of touch, it’s also impossible to square with the endless news stories of wasteful spending that the federal government engages in. And today’s is quite a story.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a battery company that received $142 million in federal grants was paying “idle workers” who “played board games” and “watched movies” because “demand for the plant's batteries didn't meet expectations.”

According to the WSJ, “The Obama administration's electric car efforts took another hit on Wednesday after a federal inspection found a South Korean advanced battery maker never scaled up U.S. production despite receiving $142 million in federal grants. A Holland, Mich., factory owned by LG Chem Ltd., part of LG Corp., was half-funded by a government grant and estimated to add some 440 jobs building battery cells for General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Volt and other vehicles. When demand for the plant's batteries didn't meet expectations, the company filled orders with cells made at a factory in South Korea, leaving the Michigan plant largely idle, according to the report by the Department of Energy's Inspector General, Gregory Friedman. . . . The inspector general said that to avoid layoffs at the factory LG Chem paid idle workers $1.6 million in the third quarter of last year, about half of which was covered by its U.S. grant, even though there was nothing for them to do. The workers played board games, watched movies, and volunteered at local animal shelters during regular work hours, Mr. Friedman said. . . . ‘Until the shift in production takes place or some alternative use for the plant is developed, U.S. taxpayers will receive little direct benefit from a plant for which they provided up to half of the funding,’ Mr. Friedman said in his report.”

And of course, as The Journal notes, “In 2010, Mr. Obama attended the plant's groundbreaking and said such grants would ‘unleash private sector growth’ and called the factory ‘a symbol of where America is going.’ The facility today has about 150 workers, some of whom are hourly employees and are furloughed one week a month.”

So just like Solyndra, this is another “green energy” company that the Obama administration happily funded with taxpayer dollars without a good sense of the market and touted as economic stimulus spending.

The WSJ makes the same connection: “LG Chem is the latest of several recipients of federal funds, including solar panel maker Solyndra LLC, that haven't panned out. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in 2011. The inspection report on the Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative grant came a day after President Barack Obama lauded U.S. efforts to invest in alternative energy. . . . The DOE initiative that funded LG Chem's factory in total provided about $2 billion in grants to more than two dozen companies building advanced batters and other components for hybrid and electric cars. Another recipient, A123 Systems Inc., got about $250 million in federal funds for plants in Michigan. It filed for bankruptcy in October and its automotive assets have been sold to a Chinese auto-parts firm.”

Earlier this week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell took a dim view of the president’s never-ending calls for more Washington spending of this kind. “Not only is that an ineffective way to create jobs, but it is also the very reason our debt continues to climb to such unsustainable levels. If the President really does want to do something about job creation for a change, he should leave aside the things that we know haven’t worked, and try some things that will: like getting government out of the way. Not only will that help jumpstart the private economy, it will help us get spending under control at the same time.” But at the end of the day Obama si sending "No Valentine" to America

---

Tags: Chuck Hagel, nomination, Secretary of Defense, Barack Obama, the economy, no valentine To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!