Billionaire Investor Invests In Obama, Biden, Markell and other Democrats, Profitably…

I have previously blogged on the connection between billionaire investor, John Doerr, and his early investment in Treasurer Jack Markell. Mr. Doerr, a card-carrying member of the 1% (if not an initiator of the breed), believes in making money the old-fashion way… He buys it. Of course, Bloom Energy is also a John Doerr funded enterprise.

One Of Fisker’s Largest Financial Investors Was “Politically Connected” California Venture Capital Firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. “The loan to Fisker is part of a $1 billion bet the Energy Department has made in two politically connected California-based electric carmakers producing sporty — and pricey — cutting-edge autos. … One of Fisker’s biggest financial supporters, records show, is the California venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The firm financially supports numerous green-tech firms, records show.” (Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross, “Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland,” ABC News, 10/20/11)

John Doerr, A Partner Of Kleiner Perkins, Which Has Given More Than $1 Million To Candidates, Primarily Democrats, Recently Hosted Obama For A Dinner With High-Tech Executives. “Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr, a California billionaire who made a fortune investing in Google, hosted President Obama at a February dinner for high-tech executives at his secluded estate south of San Francisco. Doerr and Kleiner Perkins executives have contributed more than $1 million to federal political causes and campaigns over the last two decades, primarily supporting Democrats.” (Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross, “Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland,” ABC News, 10/20/11)

• Doerr Is A Member Of Obama’s Council On Jobs And Competitiveness. (The White House, Accessed 6/5/12)

Mr. Doerr being a member of the Council On Jobs And Competitiveness is a bit like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. He invests in Democrats, and Democrats use taxpayer money to bail out Mr. Doerr’s failed investments. He’s clearly had Governor Markell’s ear which has cost Delaware Taxpayers over $20 million and counting…

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Small Business — Doers not whiners

Every day across America, men and women get up in the morning and go to their small business to fight out a living. These are doers not whiners. You won’t find too many small business owners lying around in tents waiting for the government to save them. The following is from a recent survey of small business owners across the country:

Small Businesses Recognize the Link between Politics and Policy

• A vast majority (97%) of small businesses surveyed cite a candidate’s support for the free enterprise system as important, 84% cite as very important.
• Almost as many small businesses, (92%) think the business community should lead the American Recovery, compared to 8% who think the federal government has the best solutions. 
• The vast majority of small businesses still are looking for the government to get out of the way (81%) and for more certainty opposed to government assistance.
• Small businesses see all bureaucrats in Washington as the problem but have sharpened their criticism of the Administration and Congressional Democrats in the past 9 months. Close to half of all respondents approve of the job the House Republican Majority is doing; only 8% approve of the Senate Democrat Majority. Sixteen percent of small businesses approve of the job President Obama is doing. 

There is an old adage, “If you want to get something done, give the task to a busy person.” If you want to fix the economy, leave it to the thousands of hardworking, risk-taking small business owners to do it. But, let them be rewarded for their handwork and personal risk.

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Wake Up Delaware – wakeupde.com

Wake Up Delaware is an interesting website that was launched earlier this month.    It is written by two sisters from Sussex county, Joy Whaley Hill and Kimberly Whaley Mascheri, whose grandparents were murdered in 1961 and have appeared before the Board of Parole 17 times to prevent the convicted killer from being released.   They are obviously against the dismantlement of the Board of Parole and testified last summer against HB35.

There are quite a few other pages on their site:

• “Crime in DE / DOC Corruption” talks about the current home invasion bills in the State House and Senate
• “You Don’t Know Jack”  is about Governor Markell and his extremely liberal agenda
• “Connect the Dots” features our highest paid state employee, Dr. Orlando J. George, Jr., and his $454,000 annual salary
• “Hall of Shame or Fame” has John Atkins listed and his latest escapade

Nice work Joy and Kimberly!

 

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Renewable Energy Credits in Delaware — Or How Government Tinkering Can Really Screw Up a Market

A good summary of the Delaware REC Market was just emailed out by a local major supplier of PV Solar installations in Delaware:

February 17, 2012 Dear Delaware Solar Owner: In recent months a number of important developments have occurred in the Delaware SREC market that must be brought to the attention of PV solar system owners. These developments have significantly impacted the spot market value of Delaware SRECs in both positive and negative ways. This report has been prepared for customers so they can understand the impact of these developments on their solar investment. A History of the Delaware RPS Delaware’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (“RPS”) requires utilities to obtain 25% of their power from renewables and 3.5% from solar by 2012. The law has been amended 3 times since its original passage in 2005. In 2010, the requirements were expanded to their current percentages and schedule (see Delaware RPS). Under the latest revision in the law The solar RPS requirement was increased to account for the large portion of the SREC market that would be consumed by the installation of the Dover Sun Park (10 MW utility scale PV system built by the City of Dover).  Also municipal and cooperative electric companies will now be subject to the RPS from 2013 on. The 2010 legislation also created the Renewable Energy Taskforce In order to create more stable markets and protect solar systems of all sizes. The task force worked throughout 2011 to create a long term SREC contracting program for new solar projects. This program will be implemented in the spring of 2012. Under the program, Delmarva Power will enter into contracts to purchase the SRECs generated by new installed Solar PV system for 20 years at fixed rates. This program will provide a bankable rate of financial return for new Solar PV systems installed in the state of Delaware.  Unfortunately, under the current pilot version of the forward contract program, PV systems which became operational before December 1, 2010 are ineligible to enter into these forward contracts. SB 124 and the Introduction of Bloom Energy into the Delaware RPS Program Late in the 2011 legislative session a fast moving bill, SB124, allowed fuel cell technology to qualify for SRECs. This bill was designed to attract fuel cell manufacturer, Bloom Energy, to open a manufacturing plant in Delaware. Unfortunately, allowing fuel cell technology to generate SRECs may eventually consume as much as 30% of the Delaware SREC market. SB124 also makes Delmarva Power (“DPL”) responsible for the RPS compliance of third party suppliers in its EDC (electrical distribution company) territory. Whereas previously all third party suppliers, like WGES, Constellation, etc. had to purchase SRECs based on how much power they introduced into the Delaware market now DPL is responsible for the RPS compliance of all of these companies. This means that essentially there is only one in state purchaser now for Delaware SRECs, Delmarva Power, until 2013 when the Delaware Electric Coop and the Municipal power companies will be required to participate in the RPS. Unfortunately the Coop has already demonstrated its intention to participate via large utility scale systems. 2012 Crisis in the Delaware SREC Market As indicated earlier, DPL has committed to purchasing its future SREC compliance requirement through the 20 year forward contract process. This is excellent news for PV system owners who installed their solarafter December 1, 2010. These owners will have the opportunity to lock in their SREC income at very favorable rates (up to $312 per SREC for the first 10 years). However, this leaves older existing customers essentially without a buyer for their SRECs until 2013 when the municipal coops and DEC enter into the market. Historically, the ability to sell Delaware SRECs into other RPS compliance markets such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC have provided a safety valve for surplus Delaware SRECs. Unfortunately access to these markets has been diminishing. Both Washington, DC and Maryland closed their markets to out of state SRECs at the end of 2011. At the same time, the Pennsylvania RPS market is experiencing serious oversupply (due to dumping of out of state SRECs) depressing PA SREC prices to extremely low levels. The net result of this combination of factors is an anemic spot market for Delaware SRECs with very low valuations. What Does This Mean for You? Customers whose systems were activated after December 1, 2010 are eligible to enter into the DPL forward contracts for their SRECs for the next 20 years. Customers whose systems were installed before December 1, 2010 are in a more difficult situation, at least temporarily. Under current market conditions, SRECs are trading at very unattractive prices. These low prices are likely to continue until at least 2013-14 unless changes are made to either the Delaware RPS or the forward contract procurement system. Recently, the Delaware Renewable Energy Task Force indicated that at least some older customers will be eligible to enter into the next round of DPL forward contracts which is likely to occur at the end of 2012. This will provide relief to some customers in this position. We encourage you to contact your state legislators and request that they address the current crisis in the Delaware SREC market. Please mention these facts: Delaware’s solar carve out is too small. There is a surplus of SRECs, while RECs derived from wind and other sources have to be imported from out of state. Large utility scale projects and other technologies have been allowed to gobble up too much of the SREC market. The use of fuel cells for SREC compliance has nearly eliminated the growth in the solar carve out that would have been created by the 2010 legislation. Small solar owners are struggling to pay for their systems. The lack of an SREC market is slowing job creation and economic development in Delaware. Action from the Delaware General Assembly is needed to correct the oversubscribed SREC markets. In order for this to occur, your elected officials need to hear your concerns. Attached you will find a suggested form letter and links to the web pages of these officials. We encourage you to edit and personalize the letter highlighting your specific individual concerns. Thank you in advance for your effort to help the SREC market in Delaware.

Given that the State subsidized 50% of my installation cost and my system has been in for 5 years (I was a very early adopter), I’ve almost fully recouped my installation costs. But for those who came in after me with a smaller government subsidy and now new rules, they’ve gotten screwed for trying to do the right thing to support our intrepid global-warming fighting governor… They’ll think twice the next time.

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Energy Costs in Delaware

Can anyone explain to me why the Governor is attacking municipalities for having “above market” energy costs when he has spent 3 years pushing for an “above market” off-shore wind farm and has used taxpayer dollars to force Bloom boxes onto Delmarva ratepayers, which are also “above market”? To get the Bloom boxes, he even defined natural gas as a renewable resource at the same time that he has threatened to ban fracking — a process that has driven natural gas prices to record lows, assisted the cost effectiveness of the Delaware City refinery, and created dozens of high-paying manufacturing jobs in the State.

Doesn’t this strike as being a tad bit hypocritical?

I hope that in the next news story on this issue, that the Governor is asked, “Why are you picking on municipalities when you are driving up Delaware’s energy costs on your own? Shouldn’t you fix your house before you complain about others?”

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Glasgow High School teacher charged with sex abuse

Another allegation of sexual assault in a Delaware public school. Will the Governor & the General Assembly finally require that the State live by the same rules as private entities? Or will 75% of Delaware’s kids be less protected when under the authority of a government employee than when under the authority of a private/non-profit employee?

That same day, Glasgow High School’s principal, Sherry Gross, released a message that … “Please be assured that student safety remains a priority at Glasgow High School.”

Evidently, student safety is not a priority of Delaware’s Democrats in government.

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The Generous Bobby Marshall & The Minimum Wage

A couple of weeks ago, while the Delaware General Assembly was in session, the State Senate passed a bill sponsored by Wilmington Mayoral Candidate Bob Marshall. Senator Marshall is a poster-child of what is wrong with Delaware politics — having been first elected in 1978 and spending much of that time as a double-dipper and consummate insider. For his retirement, he’s now decided that he would like to be Mayor of Wilmington.

The problem is that it’s tough to run for Mayor of Wilmington as a Democrat, because you have to demonstrate that you can give away more free stuff than the other candidates while at the same time talking tough on crime that has grown while you’ve been in office and double-dipping.

The first candidate to try the giveaway routine is the current Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Bill Montgomery. He tried offering $1,000 cash to all City employees, despite a $5 million budget deficit. Of course, Mayoral candidate; State Representative; and Chair of the Budget writing committee, Dennis Williams has the ability to stuff pork into the State’s operating budget. So, Rep. Williams is going to be able to claim that he handed out hundreds of thousands of free stuff.

With these two leading in the giveaway department, Senator Marshall might have been stuck, but not if he can help it. What can he give out? How about a minimum wage increase?

Today, Delaware’s minimum wage is $7.25 /hour. The generous Senator Marshall would like to increase that by 50 cents a year over the next two years. Why?

“It will only provide an opportunity to buy a few more groceries,” Marshall said. “For those at the low end, they spend the money immediately for survival; the money goes right back into the economy.”

But, let’s be really honest, shall we? $7.25 /hour equates to about $14,000 per year. Add in another 5% for the earned income tax credit, and a sole breadwinner making minimum wage will make $15,000 — with no healthcare. Raising the minimum wage to $8.25 /hour means that this same single breadwinner will make about $17,000.

In either case, it is not enough to live on. So, if as Senator Marshall is correct that the “money goes right back into the economy”, why not raise the minimum wage to a living wage? Be bold, Senator, raise the rate to $15.00 /hour. Every small business person in the State will thank you because as only you know… “the money goes right back into the economy.”

Career politician Marshall, who was spent the last 34 years in the State Senate, during which he double-dipped at the Skills Center, knows much more about economics than the greedy small business owner. Needing some additional support in slamming employers, the ethically-challenged Senate Pro-Tem, Tony DeLuca also weighed in…

“We only have to look at the last 10 years of what we’ve done in this chamber for business,” he said.

Yes, let’s look and see the fine things that Senator DeLuca has done for Delaware business… According to the Delaware Department of Labor, since Governor Markell took office, Delaware’s true unemployment rate (including those who’ve dropped out of the workforce) has risen to 10.7%, the top tax rate has increased almost 20%, and our debt per capita has risen to one of the highest in the nation. Thank you, Senator DeLuca for all of the help — unemployment up, taxes up, debt up. Any more help like this, and we might all go broke. Oh, sorry, we already are.

My last point… The last time that Senator Marshall increased the minimum wage, I was still in the State Senate and pointed out that the Lead Teacher in home based day care centers in Wilmington, Kent, & Sussex earned less than minimum wage (according to a University of Delaware study). I attempted to amend his Minimum Wage increase to ensure that these low-income earners, whose compensation was largely paid through the State of Delaware Purchase of Care subsidy, also received the Minimum Wage. Senator Marshall and Senator DeLuca and all of the Democrats in the State Senate voted against my amendment.

I guess that when it is State money, it doesn’t just go right back into the economy, after all…

Good luck in the Mayor’s race, Senator.

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180 days of the year, 75% of Delaware’s 6-18 year olds are with a state employee

Some number of years ago (I was still a State Senator), Delaware passed a law (2007’s SB 29) broadening the use of civil penalties against employers of individuals involved in child sex crimes in Delaware. The State of Delaware was knowingly and purposely left out of that bill by the prime sponsor and others (notably budget writers). As a matter of fact, the prime sponsor looked me in the eye and said that there was never any intention to have the State included in the bill. These individuals were more interested in protecting the State’s budget and going after the Catholic Church than ensuring that all children are entitled to the same protection.

It was wrong at the time and remains wrong today. The headline for this post states exactly why it was and is wrong. Rep. Lavelle has been pushing to remove the State’s exemption since before the passage of the original bill. He continues this fight.

 

State Rep. Greg Lavelle Asks for Unified

Effort to Decrease Teacher Sex Crimes

– Legislator Asks to Meet with A.G. Biden to Discuss Strategies –

For Immediate Release:  January 27, 2012

For More Information, Contact:  Joe Fulgham, 302-744-4184

Citing a continuing series of sex crimes committed by Delaware educators, State Rep. Greg Lavelle (R-Sharpley) is calling for a bipartisan effort to curtail such crimes and punish perpetrators.

In the latest incident, a 38-year-old Sussex Tech teacher was arrested this week on charges he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student.

“There have been more than a dozen Delaware teachers charged in connection with alleged instances of sexual misconduct over the last five years,” Rep. Lavelle said.  “As both a parent and a public servant, I find this disturbing on many levels.”

Rep. Lavelle said he is requesting a meeting with State Attorney General Beau Biden to ask for his input on crafting a strategy to reduce crimes of this type.  “A.G. Biden is known for his efforts to protect children from sexual crimes and I’d welcome his insights on this issue.”

Lavelle, who is also House Minority Leader, said he has no trouble reaching across the aisle to find a solution to this problem.  “There is nothing partisan about this.  In my experience, members of both parties are of one mind when it comes to crimes against children.”

In addition to reaching out to the attorney general, Rep. Lavelle said he’d also like to partner with his General Assembly colleagues from both parties to move forward quickly on this.  “I also intend to invite the Delaware State Education Association into this discussion,” he said.  “When a teacher commits a sex crime against student it not only breaks a public trust, it erodes the collective reputations of all educators.  The DSEA has a doubly-vested interest in this issue, not only to protect the children in their members’ charge, but to also safeguard the integrity of their profession.”

Rep. Lavelle said that while increasing penalties is one potential outcome of the process, he is open to other possibilities.

“I do think we need to look at more severe punishment, but that only deals with cases after a crime has occurred and the tragedy has unfolded,” Rep. Lavelle said.  “I think there may be other things we can do to prevent these crimes from occurring in the first place.  That’s one of the reasons I am encouraging full participation in this process.”

Rep. Lavelle said it is his hope that after meeting with the attorney general, and discussing the matter with his colleagues, legislation can be sent to the governor prior to the end of the current session on June 30^th.

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An Inconvenient Fact – Global Temperatures Flat For Last 15 Years

On January 18, 2012, NASA released a Global Surface Temperature Analysis. It is authored by Jim Hansen, who has been one of the lead mad-made global warming proponents. The paper is full of charts and graphs and statistical analysis, but the conclusion can be summarized by the following quote:

Thus, although the current global warming graphs (Figs. 2, 3 and the upper part of Fig. 7) are suggestive of a slowdown in global warming, this apparent slowdown may largely disappear as a few more years of data are added. In particular we need to see how high global temperature rises in response to the next El Niño, and we also need to consider the effect of the 10-12 year cycle of solar irradiance. This raises the question of when the next El Niño will occur and the status of the solar cycle.

Remember, this document is written by someone whose entire livelihood and reputation is tied to man-made global warming being true. So, let me restate the pro-global warming position as described in this paragraph… Global Warming has stopped (aka “apparently slowed down”), but we need to wait a few more years in hopes that it will have started again (aka don’t cut my budget, warming will come back, I hope!)

What is really causing the largest component of the slight warming seen over the last 60 years? How about the last comment: “status of the solar cycle”? According to multiple sources, including NASA, analysis of the Sun’s interior, visible surface and corona imply that the Sun’s next solar cycle will be significantly reduced, or may not even appear at all. From the Met Office of the British Government October 2011 research report:

The study, carried out with  Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, shows that low UV output from the sun can contribute to cold winters over parts of the northern hemisphere, such as recently seen in the UK. Years of higher UV have the opposite effect.

Let me restate this paragraph, too…

Sun is dim, earth is cold

Sun is bright, earth is hot

You might have experienced this yourself. Go to Florida in August, it is hot. Go to Alaska in February, it is cold. Thank goodness the British taxpayer paid for this research and not me. What would we do without scientists…

Furthermore, according to the Met, there is a 92% chance that we could be entering a period as cold as the ‘Dalton Minimum’ of 1790 to 1830. During this period, temperatures in Europe fell 2 degrees celsius.

So, back to Global Warmist, Jim Hansen and his paper… Global warming stopped 15 years ago, and he is hoping that the Sun will heat things up again before he looks like a fool.

I have long held the position that carbon dioxide has an impact on climate. However, I have long disagreed with the Global Warmists that CO2 is a major force — I have argued that it is the Sun — which makes a heck of a lot of logical sense. Unfortunately, we have allowed these zealots to drive wacky public policy choices — like those here in Delaware. We have spent tens of millions of dollars on a fairy tale pulling productive money out of the economy to fund venture capital backed entities like Fiskar Automotive and Bloom Energy with taxpayer money. Crony capitalism at its worse.

You’d think that after 15 years, our policy makers would get it. But, they don’t.

To invert the argument, what if I’m wrong and warming is all about carbon? China is firing up about 1 coal fired power plant every week as it tries to pull 600 million people out of abject poverty (earnings of less than $2 a day). They don’t care about warming, they care about eating. India is in a similar place. Brazil, Nigeria & Indonesia are all in similar straights. Their impact will be much larger than the 900,000 residents of Delaware. So, our public policy choices are foolish in that we are making our citizens suffer high unemployment and a stagnant standard of living for absolutely no impact.

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Senator DeLuca and Lieutenant Governor Denn

Delaware Liberal has a decent overview of the issue regarding Delaware Senate Pro-Tem Tony DeLuca and whether or not the good Senator is holding office illegally. The issue isn’t new, but DL does a nice job laying out the overall points. The post can be found here.

In that post, the following is written:

The Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that a public officer of the state may either serve in a position that makes the laws, or a position that enforces the laws.

What is glossed over, is the answer to the question “why?” Why did the Delaware Supreme Court issue an advisory opinion on the matter of a Republican State Trooper running for a State Representative office? The following is a quote from the Court’s opinion:

To:  The Honorable Thomas R. Carper, Governor of the State of Delaware:

In your letter of October 16, 1998, you respectfully requested the opinions of the Justices regarding the following question “touching the proper construction” of the Constitution of Delaware:

Does an individual having been appointed a police officer of the Delaware State Police pursuant to 11 Del.C. § 8301 hold an “office under this State” for the purposes of Article II, § 14 of the Constitution of the State of Delaware? 1

The answer to why the Supreme Court issued an opinion is that Democratic Governor Tom Carper asked whether a Republican candidate was eligible to serve both as a Trooper and as a Representative should he win election. There is a strong argument to be made that Senator DeLuca’s job in Labor Law Enforcement is similar enough to Trooper Salter’s job in Criminal Law Enforcement as to make Senator DeLuca unfit for his Senate service. Delaware Liberal later comments:

Why then, you may ask, is DeLuca still where he is? IMHO, the answer is that no one with standing has yet brought this issue before the court.

Delaware Liberal also points out but glosses over that the Lieutenant Governor actually advised the Court on the decision, being asked to argue for the affirmative side of the question. The following is from the Court’s opinion

Matthew P. Denn of Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor, L.L.P., and Professor Lawrence A. Hamermesh (argued) of Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, appointed pro bono publico to advocate the affirmative position on the question presented.

So, the Lieutenant Governor, who sits at the right hand of the Governor and who served as legal counsel to Governor Minner, has intimate knowledge of the law in question. In addition, he is presiding over the body, serving as President of the Senate, in which Senator DeLuca serves as Pro Tem. Matt Denn sits at the fulcrum of this issue, yet the Lieutenant Governor has not asked the Court for a ruling. And this surprises the bloggers at Delaware Liberal?

Delaware Liberal has done a decent job laying out the details in the Salter decision. But, they close their post with a passive “no one has done anything,” when they should have made the accurate, but bold statement, “Lieutenant Governor Denn, do your job.”

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