Marcy Kaptur -- Queen of Pork

The term “pork barreling” goes back to the times prior to the Civil War when slaves would gather around a barrel of salt pork that was being doled out by the plantation owner.

In modern days, this term has come to mean monies doled out of the coffers of the Federal Government to projects deemed worthy by congressmen for their local districts. Literally trillions of dollars have been given out in this manner over the years. Some of the projects have indeed been worthy but a great number of them have been awarded to incur favor and, in some cases, kickbacks to the congressmen involved. Votes have been bought and elections won on our tax dollars.

Our own Potomac porker, Marcy Kaptur has made quite a glutton of herself at the barrel of scraps in Washington, DC.

According to the Council For Citizens Against Government Waste , an organization that rates congressmen spending and votes to increase government spending, Ms. Kaptur carries a 7% (Hostile) rating for the fiscal year 2010. She holds a lifetime rating of 17% (Hostile) and rarely ever votes against spending our money for any reason.

Ms. Kaptur has been instrumental in acquiring earmarks for the field of solar energy and, more specifically, solar energy collecting fields located at Camp Perry and the Air National Guard base located at Toledo Express Airport.

As we are all learning, solar and wind energy is becoming the biggest boondoggle know to post Cro-Magnon Earth since the UN's IPCC was outed by hackers in 2008. The solar generating field at Toledo Express, according to two reports that I have read, is saving about $75,000 a year in electrical bills for the ANG. I think that, in and of itself, is great!

What isn't great is that the facility cost somewhere north of $12,000,000, all paid for by tax payer dollars. So, lets do the math.

Twelve million divided by seventy-five grand comes out to a 160 year payback! For the sake of argument, lets say that the facility saved the ANG $150,000 a year. That would be an 80 year payback. If the ANG base were going to be there for another seventy-five years, I might swallow that.

There is a fat chance of that happening!

However, what they do not tell you is that the solar collecting panels loose efficiency to the tune of around up to 5% / year or even more. That means that after 20 years they will be totally worthless. And after ten years they will be 50% efficient, if that, which requires more alternative sources of power as a backup. Maintenance on the collectors themselves and accompanying systems is very expensive and certainly not added into the $12,000,000 figure.

I don't even want to go into the arguments that the solar panels themselves only work some of the time – like during the daylight. So, alternative power sources need to be standing by to carry the load when the sun is not shining. Huge battery banks can store electrical needs but are incredibly expensive, short lived and dangerous – let alone polluting when they must be disposed of.

I want to be perfectly clear here. I love the Toledo ANG. I love to see the F-16's flying over and want them to have a base there forever, flying whatever comes down the pike. I love/hate the fact that they are a completely volunteer force called away from their homes on a regular basis to fight wars in foreign lands often because the regular Air Force can't handle the job! God bless the ANG and the men and women who fly those planes and support them!

But, I have to ask, who sold them the solar energy power bill of goods that they have bitten off?

My guess would be Ms. Marcy Kaptur – probably the same person who sold Camp Perry a solar energy generating plant.

Talk about putting lipstick on a pig!

Camp Perry is a great place with beach frontage on Lake Erie.  But about the only real function the place has is the NRA outdoor rifle and pistol championships held every summer for five weeks. I love the NRA and am a Life Member.  I love guns and I love the NRA defending our Second Amendment on a daily basis. 

But do they need a solar facility?

Dennis Kuchinich, according to CAWG has only a 2% better rating than our very own porcine plucker, Marcy Kaptur.

With the redistricting of District 9 this election cycle, we will find either Marcy or Dennis gone after the primaries next month. We can only hope the survivor of that battle will be gone in November.

Shenandoah