Guest Columns
Waste of the Day: Congressman from PA Gets Grant for Solar Panels
Topline: Taxpayers are asking Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) to put his money where his mouth is — or rather, give back the money.
Solar panels for a car dealer?
Kelly’s family-owned car dealership recently received a $315,000 grant to build solar panels through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, even though Kelly said the law was “loaded with bad policy and wasteful spending.”
Key facts: The Mike Kelly Automotive Group in Uniontown, Penn. will use the grant from the Department of Agriculture to build enough solar panels to power the equivalent of 25 homes, according to the Erie Times-News. It will save the company $27,300 a year.
The funds are part of over $1 billion being distributed from the Rural Energy for America Program, which not a single House Republican supported.
Kelly’s car dealership also took a $1 million forgivable loan from the Paycheck Protection Program during the pandemic. Kelly later voted against a law that made the loan recipients’ names public.
The White House reminded Kelly of that fact on social media when he criticized Biden’s plan to forgive student debt.
Critical quote: Preston Nouri, the Democratic candidate running against Kelly, said Kelly’s family should return the grant.
For over 13 years, he keeps getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar, taking taxpayer money to enrich himself while working against the interests of the people he’s supposed to represent.
Supporting quote: “Representative Kelly’s energy policy has always supported an all-of-the-above approach,” Matt Knoedler, a Kelly spokesperson, told the Erie Times-News. “Additionally, Rep. Kelly does not have an active role in the day-to-day operations of his family’s business.”
Summary
Summary: Kelly referred to global warming as “so-called climate change” in his opposition to Biden’s legislation. Suddenly, he supports clean energy once it financially benefits his company.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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