Rather than a clear eyed look at what's best for the city and its citizens, the Sam/Rand twins are blinded by ideology . The government should not participate in crony capitalism - picking winners and losers in the business world. Obama, of course, is the king of crony capitalism having wasted billions on his failed "investments" ( with our tax dollars)- another reason to vote him out and to be rid of them all.

They complain we want to micro-manage their terms in office and were elected to govern, so we should let them work. Guess what guys? We don’t want to have vote or argue with you on every single spending issue. Most of us don’t want to get that deeply involved at all. We want to get into our jobs, enjoy our families, and watch football on the weekends. It is only with great ineptness that you could ever compel anyone in this city to pay any attention at all to what you are doing. Good job getting our attention.

The PDC doesn’t need a rudder as it floats in such a narrow channel.

what really gets my knickers in a twist is that there never are consequences for the idiots that make these costly decisions!
Meanwhile the lowly taxpayer's money is once again squandered.

Can someone dig up that press release from Merkley, Yankee Wyden and Wu crowing about how they gave ReVolt $5m? In other words, some very niiiiice bonuses for upper mgmt.

Did ReVolt ever have anything more than a phone line in an empty space here? I know they were mainly a Swiss company.

We should expect MORE of these bad decisions in the future, not less.

In earlier years, county government felt only obliged to provide public safety, roads and schools. Over time, the cities, state and national governments wanted to duplicate those same (and many more) responsibilities.

Even with these limited responsibilities, there's been plenty of waste, fraud and abuse. Today, government sees it's role as providing all things to all people with this expected result.

Local (and national) government now sees it's role to develop an unproven technology, by a foreign company, with no track record, for a good sounding lofty goal.

Show of hands of those that are shocked? ANYONE?

A few things.

The Sam Rand Twins, many others at the PDC, TriMet's Fred Hansen, Neil McFarlane and board, Metro-all, and many others in various positions are defects.

Defected by ignorance, incompetence, a wholly dysfunctional view of significance and a kind of rampant dishonesty which gives license to public deceit of any kind.

It runs from through their campaigns to get elected (has they conceal their real selves) to ushering along their every move in office.
The saturation of these types in office
is why we've seen the proliferation of communications, lobbyists and PR people being employed by so many government agencies. To handle the public deceit.

Make no mistake about it this will end in Calckamas County if Ludlow anfd Tootie are elected. Genuine independent forensic auditing will reveal for all how conflicted and corrupted the status quo
deceivers have been.

If you want to see what happens when a San Rand type cesspool is flushed help push for the successful takeover of Clackamas County.

It's certainly something none of the region wide sitting defects want to happen. It will expose them all for the foul fraud they are.

Liberal politicians at ALL LEVELS have a HORRIBLE record when it comes to wise investment decisions. Probably because all it takes is to slap the word, GREEN in front of a bad deal.

From Heritage: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/10/18/president-obamas-taxpayer-backed-green-energy-failures/

OBAMA'S RECORD AS Venture Capitalist

At long last, someone has compiled a list of losing "bets" Obama has made in "encouraging" GREEN ENERGY by loaning (meaning "giving") taxpayer money which immediately evaporated. While EVERYONE has heard of Solyndra's $ 500 million bailout just before they went bankrupt, look here at the OBAMA'S TAXPAYER BACKED LOSERS:
----------------------------
The complete list of faltering or bankrupt green-energy companies:

Evergreen Solar ($25 million)*
SpectraWatt ($500,000)*
Solyndra ($535 million)*
Beacon Power ($43 million)*
Nevada Geothermal ($98.5 million)
SunPower ($1.2 billion)
First Solar ($1.46 billion)
Bab**** and Brown ($178 million)
EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ($118.5 million)*
Amonix ($5.9 million)
Fisker Automotive ($529 million)
Abound Solar ($400 million)*
A123 Systems ($279 million)*
Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ($6 million)*
Johnson Controls ($299 million)
Schneider Electric ($86 million)
Brightsource ($1.6 billion)
ECOtality ($126.2 million)
Raser Technologies ($33 million)*
Energy Conversion Devices ($13.3 million)*
Mountain Plaza, Inc. ($2 million)*
Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ($10 million)*
Range Fuels ($80 million)*
Thompson River Power ($6.5 million)*
Stirling Energy Systems ($7 million)*
Azure Dynamics ($5.4 million)*
GreenVolts ($500,000)
Vestas ($50 million)
LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ($151 million)
Nordic Windpower ($16 million)*
Navistar ($39 million)
Satcon ($3 million)*
Konarka Technologies Inc. ($20 million)*
Mascoma Corp. ($100 million)

*Denotes companies that have filed for bankruptcy.

The problem begins with the issue of government picking winners and losers in the first place. Venture capitalist firms exist for this very reason, and they choose what to invest in by looking at companies’ business models and deciding if they are worthy. When the government plays venture capitalist, it tends to reward companies that are connected to the policymakers themselves or because it sounds nice to “invest” in green energy.

The 2009 stimulus set aside $80 billion to subsidize politically preferred energy projects. Since that time, 1,900 investigations have been opened to look into stimulus waste, fraud, and abuse...

Unfortunately, Duh-bya gave every other pol the model. Start an unnecessary war (or come up with some other phony issue like "creating jobs") - use only no-bid contracts - spend a half-trillion with the firm hard-linked to your Zombie VP - get Congress to agree to not put it on the books... trough your term. Prior to this wholesale scam, no pol had ever been so bold. Now - Right or Left - they're all into using the "Duh-bya Model" of crony capitalism. Its all about funneling OPM (other peoples' money) to your buds.

Thank you Duh-bya.

I thought that Democrats were friends of "ordinary Joes" like me and not big corporate interests?

One of my first times as a young lad testifying in front of a council was a case where I simply added up the subsidy per year in dollars and divided by the number of employees.

I would like to think I helped swing that vote, as we won by one vote.

Basic math escapes our elected leaders. In Portland, it seems Amanda is the only one even capable of basic math most of the time.

If you thought PDC and CoP were already deep into "picking winners and losers in the business world" we haven't seen anything as deep as it will get.

PDC held an Urban Renewal Summit Meeting recently. Director Patrick Quinton outlined a new direction after he acknowledged that urban renewal TIF dollars aren't rolling in and they are going broke. The new direction is to emphasize ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. They want to subsidize all kinds of programs to help four clusters of business they've identified, from small to large. PDC wants to decrease its emphasis on property development and increasing the numbers of urban renewal areas.

There may be the good and the bad in this new direction. But picking winners and losers is on the bad side...if you haven't been picked which is about 99% of us.

"One of my first times as a young lad testifying in front of a council was a case where I simply added up the subsidy per year in dollars and divided by the number of employees."

How old are you?

Was that before 2000, when Bush invented crony-ism?

Or did you not get the memo, "It's Bush's fault. Blame Bush!"

"Unfortunately, Duh-bya gave every other pol the model. (Deleted some of the blah blah blah) Prior to this wholesale scam, no pol had ever been so bold. Now - Right or Left - they're all into using the "Duh-bya Model" of crony capitalism. Its all about funneling OPM (other peoples' money) to your buds."

Utterly re-volting?
Sorry, couldn't resist that.

Great comments from other posters.

Somehow I don't thing Sam and the Admiral needed Boosh as a model to figure out how to piss away public money - I bet that they could figure it out all on their own.

I just LOVE partisan hacks trying to argue that only the other guys give away millions to hand picked pet projects with little to no strings attached. When it comes to corprate giveaways, the spirit of bipartisanship is alive and thriving. Unfortunately, most of you are more interested in your particular moron getting elected than any real reform.

Senator Merkley put out a press release about ReVolt on August 27 2010:

"[...] and is expected to create approximately 150 new jobs in Oregon beginning this October [...] ReVolt will receive $5 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and $7.9 million from the state of Oregon through tax credits and loans."

http://www.merkley.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=F0259D15-8374-4DAE-BC8E-9CBC07649F5C

Chuck has perfectly described the dilemma facing voters these days... one side's moron is no less a moron than the other side's moron, they just wear different suits.

Well said Chuck.

Sam just spent another $150K+ for one more job. Frashour's now on paid vacation as a city employee again.

My prediction: the appeal is quietly dropped once the media moves on. Confidential settlement with more dollars for Officer Shoot 'em in the Back.

Seriously, new technologies have often been subsidized by the government because it isn't economically feasible for the business to do the research and development on its own for what could take years. Two obvious examples are NASA and DARPA, both of which contributed heavily to modern technology.

So what's going on with all these failed investments? Is it because the funding is being given to private businesses instead of government agencies? Is it because of lack of oversight or auditing? Blatant cronyism?

Or is it because in former times, we invented what we needed to defend the nation from the always imminent Soviet attack and wound up walking away with numerous tech spinoffs, but now, since I don't believe for a minute that a single one of the businesses that take the money are doing it out of altruism, independent corporate profit is supposed to be the driver?

My favorite story of government's total incompetence at picking winners was post war Japan denying Sony a permit to export currency to buy a license to produce transistors to make a transistor radio. The government was emphasizing heavy industry.

That blunder prevented Sony from being the world's first company to market a transistor radio.

Of course Japan never again became a world leader in heavy industry. Incompetent fools ALL.

Thanks
JK

Continually wasting the taxpayers money – including constructing financially unsustainable monuments – will be Sammyboy’s legacy. He has the mark of a failed politician.

"So what's going on with all these failed investments? Is it because the funding is being given to private businesses instead of government agencies?"

No.

"Is it because of lack of oversight or auditing?"

Yes.

" Blatant cronyism?"

Yes.

The local decision may have been poor. I don't know what facts they had.
But the federal money is from a loan guarantee fund set up by Congress to help new technology survive. The very good idea behind it is that the government should step in when private capital can't cover the costs of developing something the country needs. A high rate of failure is expected because that is what happens with new technology.
It is not an Obama policy, or recent. In a zillion words written about Solyndra in this political season, very few mention the project began in the Bush administration, and in all the talk about cronyism somebody could mention the family that owns Walmart was also an investor in Solyndra. (And how are you a crony if you lose millions with the government's help?)
All the mocking on this page suggests that the writers are ignorant of the facts, which are easily researched on Google (itself an outstanding example of public benefit from federal help to new tech).
It would be one thing to argue that the government should not help any high-risk business ever, a perhaps extreme Libertarian view, but just mocking the failures is foolish.
By the way, I got some of my information about the Energy Dept loan guarantees from the wildly leftist/green publication, Forbes magazine.

"Thank you Duh-bya."

Let me understand you, if Bush screws up royally that gives Obama a bye to blow more money in a different way?

Director Patrick Quinton outlined a new direction after he acknowledged that urban renewal TIF dollars aren't rolling in and they are going broke.

Symbolic that their days ought to be numbered and that big ship should sail into the sunset. If we need to have any more “government” development or public/private partnerships brought into the fold again, the people should vote and determine projects and the public ought to be the beneficiaries.

Picking winners and losers is bad enough, but politicians only pick losers.

niceoldguy,
I can see the benefit of some help that is for the public as well, but here locally anyway, it appears to be unbalanced in favor of private at the expense of the public.

So the Greenest City in America has a little less green?

Who cares, they're only wasting other people's money.

Iam with Chuck as well. If you don't like this crap, why do you insist on voting for these empty suited amatures?

Remember it does start at the top and I plan on firing the whole crowd.

I knew it must be something like "W" it is all his fault. By the way how is VP Dick and Haliburton still controling those gas prices Mr Wyden (Sen. NY)? Had lots of media and investigations @ $2.00
gas, have not heard too much lately.

Fire them all!

Niceoldguy has it right.

"In a zillion words written about Solyndra in this political season, very few mention the project began in the Bush administration"

The Bush administration turned down the Solyndra loan. The Obama administration approved the Solyndra loan. Senior people associated with Solyndra **still** are attending pricey Obama fundraisers in the Bay Area. Apparently, they have no shame.

Actually, if you are looking for the true originator of modern Obama/Adams/PDC crony capitalism, I'd nominate Benito Mussolini.

"By the way, I got some of my information about the Energy Dept loan guarantees from the wildly leftist/green publication, Forbes magazine."

You think Forbes objects to crony capitalism?

"(And how are you a crony if you lose millions with the government's help?)"

When you pay yourselves big salaries and huge bonuses as your government-funded company tanks, you are a crony capitalist.

Thanks for giving us so much credit niceoldguy. Regardless, some have a knowledge base that goes a little beyond what can be garnered in a Google search. In my case, for 33 years I worked a block up from the energy department, frequently lunching at the Forrestal Cafeteria with DOE employees, including decades-long friends and colleagues and checking out most every DOE funded exhibit and demonstration project paraded through town. I don't recall DOE boondoggles since Jimmy Carter's pet Synfuels Corporation that rivaled the Solyndra et. al. mess. During the Bush administration his pet project was hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles. As I recall during the Bush years, there was plenty of funding of basic research in fuel cells, prototype vehicles, and even small demonstration fleets, but none of the recent much larger scale funding of enterprises in support of non-commercially viable full-scale production of vehicles and energy technologies. Edge to the Bush years for sending billions dollars down the drain vs. tens of billions dollars of value destroyed in the Obama years. And that’s no praise of Bush because it was obvious to me, then and now, that the only basis on which fuel cells would become economically viable is if platinum (catalyst used in fuel cells) mother lodes were discovered that drove platinum prices down to a very tiny fraction of historical market value. In the Bush years money was wasted; in Obama’s years even more so.

we have been subsidizing Standard Oil , et al , for more than a century , if you want to bitch about subsidy , and you should , then start with oil/gas/agri-biz farm price supports. They cost us a great deal more than this penny anty stuff.

The Bush administration turned down the Solyndra loan. Not true. It's along process to get one of these loan guarntees. "In an effort to show it has done something to support renewable energy, the Bush Administration tries to take Solyndra before a DOE credit review committee before President Obama is inaugurated. The committee, consisting of career civil servants with financial expertise, remands the loan back to DOE “without prejudice” because it wasn’t ready for conditional commitment.

March 2009: The same credit committee approves the strengthened loan application. The deal passes on to DOE’s credit review board. Career staff (not political appointees) within the DOE issue a conditional commitment setting out terms for a guarantee."

"The Bush administration turned down the Solyndra loan. Not true."

"The committee, consisting of career civil servants with financial expertise, remands the loan back to DOE [during the Bush Administration] “without prejudice” because it wasn’t ready for conditional commitment."

I guess we differ on the meaning of "turning down a loan".

BTW, I agree with everything that Newleaf said - it wasn't that the Bush Administration wasn't pissing away money on things like fuel cells - but the Bush Administration funded R&D and pilot projects, not full commercialization like the Obama Administration did. The $527 million lost on Solyndra would fund lots and lots of R&D.

but here locally anyway, it appears to be unbalanced in favor of private at the expense of the public.

Isn't that the purpose of the "public-private partnership"?

The above poster's regarding Mussolini is interesting...

Fascist Corporatism

It goes to show that you can pull the same tricks over on people if you wait long enough for them to forget.

Oops, link didn't work, this time for sure...

Fascist Corporatism

I love the apologists' reference to tax breaks for oil companies.

Those are expense deductions to offset income taxes, because THEY HAVE INCOME.
They also produce the energy we consume every day.

It's hard to compare that to tax dollars that are GONE FOREVER post bankruptcy, for which we received no energy production.

Slaves are easily confused.

I love the apologists' reference to tax breaks for oil companies.

Those are tax deductions which offset income taxes, because THEY HAVE PROFITS.
They also produce the energy we consume every day. Contrast that with loans or loan guarantees give to the failed green energy companies.

Those tax dollars are GONE FOREVER post bankruptcy, and we received no energy production or marketable technology.

But sheep are easily confused.

Sorry for the duplicate, please keep the last one and delete the "slaves" reference. Too inflammatory.

if you want to bitch about subsidy , and you should , then start with oil/gas/agri-biz farm price supports.

Which is why I was happy to hear that oil company tax breaks would be on the table in a Romney tax reform. As for agriculture, I note that Alpaca ranchers around where I live have Obama signs up, apparently because they believe their core product, the sale of accelerated depreciation deductions to high income taxpayers, would be boosted by Obama's re-election and threatened by Romney. Just think of the fiscal and economic calamity that would befall us if Obama were not re-elected.

The big difference that I see, and others have pointed out, is that these tax $ giveaways are intended to produce jobs, not fund new technology research.

The obvious problem with that approach is you are assuming the company knows how to take the technology and create a productive output.

None of these firms seem to do anything other than fund a few managers, open an office, and try to get the public to bite on a stock IPO - where the company chiefs can then cash in and retire.

Once the stock deal backfires - which happens to most of these firms because they don't have any way to make a buck - they fold and move on to the next big thing.

And of course being a heavy funder of the Democratic or Republican machines ensures your place in line at the feeding trough.

How about our government rewarding results accomplished, rather than good intentions or activity?

Our local governments lack the skills and expertise to evaluate proposals. Leave that the the experts that VC have access to. If private investment cannot be attracted to fund "sure things", why throw public money at these ventures?

"that government subsidies of favored businesses violate the state constitution"

Jack, do you mean Article XI, section 7? I saw a reference to this elsewhere recently, it made me go look.

Anyway, Il Duce was hardly the first to promote corporate facism or corporate welfare, he's just a famous one from recent history. Here in the USA public-private welfare goes back to Hamilton vs Jefferson, federalists vs anti-federalists. Starting with Lincoln, the fed government would get involved in all kinds of handouts for railroads and canals.

Did anyone notice not only Sam but the attitude of the other men in the picture?

Mike of the many: The government has offered prizes in the past, and there is some reporting they will do more in the future. The problem, of course, is financing the research to come up with a winner.
The Dept of Energy program is intended to provide financing for hard-to-fund new technology.
AND FOR ALL THE SEAN HANNITY FANS OUT THERE: I just came across a science publication's report that in a debate over energy policy at MIT earlier this month representatives of Romney and Obama campaigns BOTH came out in favor of the energy loan plans. I hope that deflates the political football aspects of this discussion.

niceoldguy wrote: The local decision may have been poor.

I agree! As were all the others before, and some yet to go bad. Either they have terrible bad luck, or they just aren't very good at picking winners and losers.

But the federal money is from a loan guarantee fund set up by Congress to help new technology survive.

It's still our tax money. Actually useful technology doesn't need any government's "help" to survive. Private investors will beat a path to your door.

The very good idea behind it is that the government should step in when private capital can't cover the costs of developing something the country needs.

I can decide what I need -- let's start with $1.75 gasoline. You can decide what you need. The free market will always decide what "the country" needs.

If that wasn't true, then why aren't we all driving $47K Volts by now?

A high rate of failure is expected because that is what happens with new technology.

True. That's why venture capital is risky, but offers high rewards to the smart and/or lucky ones. Not for the faint of heart.

All the mocking on this page suggests that the writers are ignorant of the facts ... just mocking the failures is foolish.

Easy fix: Don't tax me and then waste it all on magic beans, and then I'll stop mocking gullible and self-interested politicians. Deal?