Internet Taxes, Max Baucus, and Energy Dept Loan Recipient Fisker

Washington, D.C. -  April 23, 2013:  Numerous media sources are reporting that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) will retire rather than seek re-election in 2014.  On an editorial note, Baucus has been anything but a good Senator and he did not serve the people of Montana well  advancing the liberal agenda in Washington verses representing the people of Montana.  Baucus was more know for big talk but had a small walk in supporting Montana values. After Sen Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Baucus was one of the Democrat Senators that were most at risk in 2014. Democrats are likely to put forward former governor Brian Schweitzer as a candidate. Big Sky State would do well to put forward a strong likable conservative Republican for this seat who will really represent the views of the majority of Montana.

While the senate had been scheduled to take up the "gun bill" on their return, based on previous defeats, Majority leader Harry Reid had withdrawn, at least temporarily,  the bill.  So yesterday, when the Senate returned, they  surprisingly without warning voted 74-20 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 743,the Internet sales tax bill(i.e. to cut off debate and take up the bill). Yesterday's evening the ARRA News Service posted an article detailing an "Urgent Alert! Stop the Business Destroying Internet Tax Bill."

Today, the Senate has resumed post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 743, the Internet sales tax bill. Senator Mitch McConnell expressed on the floor what really should be the sentiments of all elected Senators. Unfortunately, some are in the pockets of certain interests and may be willing to expand or create bureaucratic barriers for doing business on the Internet. The losers will be the American people and small businesses. Sen. McConnell said, "I recognize there are a range of views on this bill. And those viewpoints don’t break evenly along partisan lines. Nor do they really fall along traditional ideological lines.

“Speaking for myself, I intend to oppose the bill. Here’s why. For me, the issue boils down to that fact that the legislation we’re considering would create an enormous compliance burden for a lot of small businesses out there, making them tax collectors for thousands of far-away jurisdictions. Just as importantly, this legislation would increase the tax burden on Kentuckians. And as I’ve said before, I don’t think the people of Kentucky sent me here to help them pay higher taxes."

The House yesterday was not in session. Today, they were scheduled to consider:
HR 1067 — to make formatting corrections to title 36 of the United States Code (Patriotic and National Observances, Ceremonies, and Organizations).
HR 1068 — to enact title 54 of the United States Code entitled "National Park Service and Related Programs."

Last week, the House completed action on the following bills:
H.R. 1246 (passed voice vote) — "To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to provide that the District of Columbia Treasurer or one of the Deputy Chief Financial Officers of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia may perform the functions and duties of the Office in an acting capacity if there is a vacancy in the Office."
H.R. 1162 (passed 408-0) — "To amend title 31, United States Code, to make improvements in the Government Accountability Office."
H.R. 882 (Passed 407-0) — "To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other purposes."
H.R. 249 (Failed 249-159) — "To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that persons having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment."
H.R. 1163 (Passed 416-0) — "To amend chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, to revise requirements relating to Federal information security, and for other purposes."
H.R. 756 (Passed 402-16) — "To advance cybersecurity research, development, and technical standards, and for other purposes."
H.R. 967 (Passed 406-11) — "To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to authorize activities for support of networking and information technology research, and for other purposes."

News reports this week indicate yet more trouble for Fisker Automotive, the electric car company that was touted by the Obama administration and given a $529 million loan from the Energy Department. Fisker has reportedly been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy in recent weeks, putting tax payer money loaned to the company at risk.

According to The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware, the Energy Department was forced to step in and seize $21 million from a reserve account at the troubled automaker to reduce how much the company owes the government. The News Journal writes, “The move may give Fisker a three-month reprieve in its efforts to survive by finding investors or partners to recapitalize the company – or find some way to sell off the company’s assets and escape what many expect will be a bankruptcy filing. The embattled plug-in hybrid auto manufacturer announced plans in 2009 to build cars at the shuttered General Motors plant in Delaware beginning next year. It was a plan leveraged by a $529 million Energy Department loan and more than $20 million in Delaware grants and loans. But Fisker’s fortunes soured shortly after the California-based firm closed on the federal loan in April of 2010, and the company now is unable to produce or sell its first line of gas-electric hybrid cars, the $107,000 Karma. Delaware officials have watched Fisker’s fortunes fade and have gradually come to grips with the decreasing likelihood the manufacturer’s plans for the plant near Newport will come to fruition. The two-part loan agreement with the Department of Energy stated that the first repayment of the first part of the loan -- about $20 million -- would be due on April 22. . . . The looming first loan repayment deadline Monday had fueled expectation in recent weeks that a bankruptcy filing was imminent for Fisker, which lost the ability to make cars in June when A123 Systems, which made the batteries for the cars, declared bankruptcy.”

The News Journal notes Fisker’s ongoing problems: “Fisker has drawn down $193 million from the $529 million loan, mainly to launch the Karma sedan, which is assembled under contract in Finland. The rest of the loan was frozen in June 2011 because Fisker failed to meet milestones in the loan agreement. . . . After a series of problems, including the bankruptcy of its battery maker, the company fired three-quarters of its staff earlier this month. Fisker’s search for a buyer or partner has fallen flat so far. Venture investors already have invested $1.2 billion in Fisker.”

Importantly, Bloomberg reports, “Fisker was allowed to keep using money from its Energy Department loan after violating its terms multiple times, according to a report released April 17 by PrivCo, a New York- based researcher specializing in closely held companies. It said it based its report on documents, including the loan agreement, obtained through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. ‘They made a mistake’ in awarding the loan, PrivCo Chief Executive Officer Sam Hamadeh said of the Energy Department in an interview yesterday.”

Like Solyndra, Fisker is another of President Obama’s “investments” of taxpayer money in economically questionable green energy companies that isn’t panning out. Will taxpayers be left holding the bag again with Fisker?

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Tags: Internet sales taxes, Marketplace Fairness Act, less free, competition less fair, Max Baucus, Montana, Fisker, bankruptcy, failed Obama investment  used taxpayer money To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!