Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Senators Ask DOE Inspector General to Investigate $730 Million Loan to Russian-owned Steel Mill




New post on Scotty Starnes's Blog

Senators Ask DOE Inspector General to Investigate $730 Million Loan to Russian-owned Steel Mill

by Scotty Starnes

Obama, and his team of wealth redistributors, continue to spend taxpayer dollars recklessly. Why would the US government give a Russian-own steel mill a $730 million dollar loan? If the pattern fits, I'm sure we will learn that they gave money to Obama's campaign and Obama awarded them with this loan.

From The Hill:

Two GOP senators want the Energy Department's (DOE) internal watchdog to investigate a planned $730 million loan for a company to manufacture high-strength automotive steel in Michigan.

Sens. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are asking DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman to probe whether Severstal North America — a subsidiary of Russian steel giant OAO Severstal — should receive public financing to retool and expand facilities in Dearborn, Mich.

"Given the tremendous fiscal crisis that we find ourselves in today, it does not seem appropriate for the program to subsidize technologies that have already achieved commercial success through private-sector means," their Nov. 7 letter to Friedman states.

The letter follows House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa's (R-Calif.) letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu last month attacking the potential financing.

More broadly, the senators' push for an IG probe comes amid GOP criticism of Energy Department loan programs following the collapse of Solyndra, the California solar manufacturing company that went belly-up two months ago after receiving a $535 million DOE loan guarantee in 2009.

Severstal won a conditional commitment from DOE in June to receive a loan through DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program.

Translation. Money for union bosses and union workers.

The senators' letter asks a series of questions about the planned funding, such as whether DOE undertook a "market analysis" to determine whether the loan was needed, and whether the project is even eligible under the program.

From the senators' Nov. 7 letter to the IG:

The Department's stated purpose for the loan program is to "accelerate the domestic commercial deployment of … new or significantly improved energy technologies." There is ample evidence to show that several U.S. companies already manufacture the Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) for which Severstal is receiving this loan award. As such, the Department's decision to issue the loan raises very serious concerns.

How many jobs will this $730 million loan create?

"Severstal's application is for a project that would help make American car manufacturers more competitive as demand for lighter, more-fuel-efficient vehicles increases; strengthen the American steel industry; and support more than 2,500 construction jobs and over 260 permanent manufacturing jobs in Michigan," DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said last month in response to Issa's inquiry.

260 permanent jobs @ $370 million comes out to $1.42 million per job. This is how the government works.

Continue reading>>>

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