Grumpy Editor

Obama praises solar plant: 5 jobs, no power for Nevadans

National media on President Barack Obama’s solar energy visit to the Las Vegas area on Wednesday neglected to mention that the one million glittering photovoltaic panels that served as a backdrop for his 17-minute televised speech that brought applause from the audience and heavy print/broadcast coverage, would not provide one watt of power to Nevadans who helped foot the bill, observes Grumpy Editor. 

And as for total jobs created at Sempra Energy Corp.’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 plant in Boulder City, 30 miles east of Las Vegas:  only five full-timers run the plant. 

That wasn’t exciting news to Nevadans in a state that has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, 12.7 percent. 

San Diego-based Sempra owns the facility that cost $141 million with a portion of that funded by Nevada taxpayers who consistently receive hikes in power rates --- now among the highest in the nation --- from NV Energy, Inc., which serves the Silver State.

Yet, Sempra's solar energy output from Nevada is being directed to California. 

Both NV Energy and Sempra are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Meanwhile, Obama’s short visit to Boulder City did not win applause from many of its 15,000 residents who were curbed from their daily activities. 

On the afternoon the president’s motorcade traveled from Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport, where he arrived on the Boeing 747 Air Force One, motorists, including visitors and business people, were advised to stay away from Boulder City because of congestion and road closures.

 

Las Vegas unveils glittering $146 million non-casino

Las Vegas quietly added a new attraction last week:  a sparkling $146.2 million, seven-story building with high-tech features and Italian marble floors and walls inside the main entrance --- but no slot machines or craps tables, thus not much appeal to tourists from around the world, notes Grumpy Editor.

Without glittering casino action, the unveiling didn’t get much media attention outside of Southern Nevada.

And it will be a while before tour books include it as a Sin City sight to see.

It’s the new Las Vegas City Hall, owned by taxpayers in the city.

City fathers, in the U.S.’s foreclosure capital, went all out to build a monument to local government.

It replaced an “old” city hall built in 1973.

Cost of the 310,000-square-foot building compares with $24.7 million for New York City’s 102-story Empire State Building that opened in 1931 during the Great Depression.

The City Council chamber has a Vegas-like ambiance, similar to a Strip casino sports book --- namely, several 103-inch flat-screen displays above the council dais, making it easy for up to 450 people seated in the room to view displayed information.

First Las Vegas City Council meeting in the new quarters is scheduled for next Wednesday.

Don’t be surprised if showgirls appear at the debut.

Then media will be on the scene.

That’s Vegas, baby.

 

U.S. spends $750,000 on soccer field --- for detainees

While expenditures for our troops at military bases remain frugal, taxpayers --- with tax filing time approaching --- should be a bit grouchy with word that a nearly-completed soccer field for inmates at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, carries a hefty price tag of $750,000, notes Grumpy Editor.

Along with the soccer field, the new recreation yard at Camp 6, where most of 171 prisoners are confined, will feature a walking trail and exercise equipment.

The only negative (for detainees) in close-to-resort living is that screened fences block views of the blue Caribbean Sea.

The project, designed to keep prisoners occupied and happy with outdoor activities, started last April and is the third recreation yard at the Guantanamo complex.

An Associated Press story on the added playground, wrapped up in three small paragraphs, appears in some newspapers today.

But it is Catherine Herridge of Fox News who led with the revelation yesterday, mentioning, “The new field has been specially constructed so that the detainees ‘have maximum access’ -- about 20 hours a day.”

She added, “Special passageways allow the detainees to pass into the new recreation yard without being escorted by the military.”

 

Obama, blasting Vegas in past, seeks funds there today

On the way to Los Angeles today, President Barack Obama’s 747 makes a stop in Las Vegas --- the city that he once warned convention planners against visiting “on the taxpayers’ dime” and “you can’t go take that trip to Las Vegas” --- with a tight schedule that manages to work in a mid-day fundraiser, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Seems strange that the city he knocked since early 2009 is where he will hold a re-election campaign fundraiser at the Bellagio, an MGM Resorts International property mid-way on the Las Vegas Strip. 

The president’s 2009 remarks immediately scared off tourist and convention activity and resulted in canceled gatherings, affecting the Las Vegas economy where casinos and supporting businesses are the prime industries. 

Las Vegas in recent years depended more on hosting business conferences than casino action. 

The president followed his anti-Las Vegas warning to convention planners in February 2009 with another blast a year later when he declared, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” 

Las Vegas now leads the nation as ground zero in home foreclosures while the unemployment rate stands at a hefty 13.6 percent --- 4.5 percent higher than the national rate. 

With those negative developments in mind, Obama (32 months after his initial slap at Las Vegas) “will continue to talk about the economy and the need to create jobs” in his Nevada visit, said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Friday. 

This was echoed on a national scale Saturday when Obama said the United States must tackle its “greatest challenge as a nation,” rebuilding a weak economy and creating jobs.

 

Billboard ‘research’ junket costs taxpayers $300,000

With the current concern on how taxpayer dollars are being spent (or misused), it took a television news report, rather than a newspaper investigation, to expose globe-trotting officials who spent $300,000 on a 17-day trip --- to study billboards, notes Grumpy Editor.

Credit goes to ABC News, spurred by a letter from seven Republican and one Democrat House members, for revealing the “research” junket to foreign lands, part of what is termed the International Scan Program (although some folks now may be tempted to use a similar-sounding middle word).

ABC said the program has been sending groups of federal and state workers on similar trips as often as four times a year for the past decade, at a total cost of nearly $12 million.

After the ABC report, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he was suspending the program.

The revelation started after some members of Congress learned that a dozen transportation officials traveled around the globe in a nine-city tour that took them to Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Great Britain.

That was “research” in preparation for a 76-page report about policies for dealing with billboard advertising.

ABC obtained photos of some members of the delegation toasting with wine glasses in Australia and driving the tulip-lined highways of Holland. Travel records show the group secured luxury accommodations and ate well at expensive restaurants.

"We recognize that our transportation system can benefit from understanding best practices abroad," read a June 17 letter from the eight House members to LaHood.  "But we are unable to justify to the voters in our districts such spending in the face of rising gasoline prices and federal deficits."

The letter was signed by Reps. Jeff Denham (R., Calif.), Jason Altmire (D., Pa.), Rick Crawford (R., Ark.), Blake Farenthold (R., Texas), John Carter (R., Texas), Lou Barletta (R., Pa.), Steve Southerland (R., Fl.) and Randy Hultgren (R., Ill.).

 

Reid, 9 other senators complete 'hush mission' to China

Harry Reid leading nine other U.S. senators, and others, in a tour of China last week didn’t get much attention in the nation’s press, so it turned out to be a rather secretive affair, notes Grumpy Editor. 

That’s probably the way the Nevada Democrat wanted it.

However, an April 20 news release (during the China tour) from the senate majority leader’s office mentioned the week-long trip “centered on trade, currency, cooperation on global security, human rights and clean energy.”

But missing were mentions of typical tourist attractions such as a side trip to Macau, complete with fancy lunch at the MGM Macau, to see the gambling center. 

Accompanying Reid were Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), Michael Bennet, (D., Colo.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) and Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.), Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) and Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.) plus spouses, select staffers and foreign service officers. 

The secretive journey was labeled as such for “security concerns.”  The itinerary was kept confidential.  Usually, with security concerns, spouses are left behind.  

But it was more likely “hush-hush” to limit discussion of the entourage’s accommodations and destinations in the taxpayer-funded tour. 

Reid made sure his PR staff last Wednesday issued a news release pointing out the group met in Beijing with Wang Qishan, vice premier of China; Yang Jiechi, China's foreign minister, and Zhou Xiaochuan, president of the People's Bank of China.

The news release also quoted Reid saying, "The relationship between the United States and China is important for our two nations, but it is also important for the world.” 

It also mentioned Reid declaring, “Never before has a Senate delegation this large, representing more than 100 million Americans and more than a third of the American population, traveled to China.” 

Some additional light was shed on the trip via the Las Vegas Sun which last Tuesday reported, “The visit is officially a fact-finding mission with no immediate promise of any new business ventures, although the group will be doing ‘site visits of American investments and clean energy projects in Chengdu, Beijing and Xi’an,’ according to Reid’s office.” 

Reid’s constituents in Nevada will be awaiting a detailed report, hopefully before the next election, on his fact findings in China on “trade, currency, cooperation on global security, human rights and clean energy" --- and especially the benefits to the Silver State.