Last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was telling everyone who would listen that they needed billions to replenish their disaster relief fund right now, or else they would run out of money today. So, House Republicans passed a bill that gave FEMA $2.65 billion, paid for in part by $1.5 billion in cuts to a green energy loan program.
But Democrats did not want to pay for unbudgeted disaster relief spending by cutting back on their cherished programs. So they threatened not to pass anything, and let FEMA’s disaster relief fund go bankrupt, unless Republicans agreed to keep the energy loan program. But after House Republicans left town, it became clear the GOP was not gong to cave on their demand for spending cuts to offset higher disaster relief spending this year.
Then, suddenly, FEMA told Senate Democrats that all of their previous warnings were overblown. The agency was able to recover $40 billion from ongoing long-term projects, and instead of being broke, they actually had $114 million in the bank, just enough to get them into the next fiscal year. Which is convenient, because that allows them access to all of next year’s budgeted disaster relief spending. Since there is now no need for unbudgeted disaster relief spending this year, there is now no need for spending offsets. DOE’s green energy loan program lives to see another day. How convenient.
If anybody ever wants to know why conservatives never believed Secretary Tim Geithner when he said the government was going to run out of money this August, this $114 million FEMA find is a great example why.
Around the Bigs
The Washington Post, Decision on health-care law means Supreme Court will likely determine constitutionality next summer: The Obama Justice Department announced Monday that it will not ask the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta to review a panel’s ruling that Obamacare violates the United States Constitution. The move sets up a spring argument and an ultimate late summer decision by the highest court.
The Los Angeles Times, Obama advisors raised warning flags before Solyndra bankruptcy: According to The Los Angeles Times, National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner both warned President Obama that “the selection process for federal loan guarantees wasn’t rigorous enough,” but Obama ignored them and listened to Energy Secretary Steven Chu instead.
The Washington Post, Some clean-energy firms found U.S. loan-guarantee program a bad bet: According to The Washington Post, “The Obama administration’s vaunted initiative to catalyze the U.S. clean-energy industry … has become a case study of what can go wrong when a rigid government bureaucracy tries to play venture capitalist and jump-start a nascent, fast-changing market.”
The Hill, LightSquared doubles size of its lobbying team in 2011: LightSquared, the Democratic Party connected wireless communications firm, spent $695,000 on lobbyists last year and has already spent $830,000 on lobbyists in the first six months of 2011.
ABC News, Wealthy Man Asks Obama ‘Please Raise My Taxes’: Taking a break from his three-day fundraising tour through California, President Obama hosted a town hall in Mountain View, California, where Google’s former director of consumer marketing and brand management asked Obama, “Would you please raise my taxes?”
The Wall Street Journal, Freddie Faulted on Mortgage Reviews: A Federal Housing Finance Agency inspector general report scheduled to be released today finds that Freddie Mac did not adequately review many of the $1.3 billion in defaulted loans it bought back from Bank of America.
The New York Times, Slump Alters Jobless Map in U.S., With South Hit Hard: The south, which entered the recession with the lowest unemployment rates of any region in the nation, now has stubbornly high unemployment. Several southern states have higher unemployment rates than they did a year ago.
The New York Times, More Gloom Lies Ahead for Cities, Report Says: Declining property tax revenues are forcing almost a third of all cities to lay off workers this year and more than half to cancel infrastructure projects.
The New York Times, MSNBC Is Close to Falling to Third Place in Cable News Ratings: MSNBC has steadily lost viewers since they fired Ketih Olbermann, and they are now in danger of falling into third place behind CNN.
Righty Playbook
The Institute for Energy Research notes that the Environmental Protection Agency has filed papers in federal court admitting that regulating greenhouse gas under the Clean Air Act would require them to hire 230,000 new employees at a cost $21 billion a year.
Michelle Malkin urges readers to attend the Stand with Gibson Guitars rally, October 8th in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Heritage Foundation‘s Kathryn Nix flags a new study showing that Obamacare has caused higher insurance premiums and greater dependence on government.
Lefty Playbook
Dave Weigel talks to Matt Miller about his column calling for a third party.
The Washington Post‘s Brad Plummer explains why Republicans don’t fear unemployment.
Digby celebrates Elizabeth Warren “as a person who knows how to speak to Americans about progressive values in a way that seems to have eluded almost every other public figure in America.”
