U.S. Sen. John Boozman and Rep. French Hill advocated a radical, far-right idea today: namely, the federal government should think harder in the future before wasting $8 million in taxpayer dollars. Those crazy Republicans… From Boozman and Hill’s press release:
U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and Congressman French Hill (AR-02) urged the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General (VAIOG) to evaluate the planning process for renewable energy programs, like the solar panels at the Little Rock Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), to ensure these taxpayer funded projects are able to work once constructed. Little Rock’s VAMC received an $8 million grant to the build solar panels, but since construction was completed in 2013, they were never activated because they were not compatible with the local electricity grid. “We have a number of concerns with this project. First, it appears that there was a significant lack of planning and due diligence on the part of VA by installing a solar photovoltaic system that was incompatible with the local electricity grid. Second, we do not understand why VA would proceed with a construction project that was knowingly in conflict with another pending construction project,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the VAIOG.
Loyal readers will remember that we made reference to this incident a few weeks ago as an example of the shockingly inefficient way government often spends your money. Here’s my #analysis of how things went down:
Federal government decides to spend $8 million to build solar panels at the Little Rock Veterans Hospital.
Project is completed.
Federal government decides it needs to tear down said project due to incompatibilities with local electricity grid before said solar panels were ever used.
???
Profit!
I imagine that anyone in the private sector who’s responsible for, basically, throwing $8 million into a raging furnace would be fired on the spot. But my prediction is that, despite the absence of $8 million, the employee or employees responsible will remain on the job over at the Department of Veterans Affairs, no doubt ready to spend more of your tax dollars. So, remember, kids: government is just another word for things we do together — like blowing $8 million on failed solar panel projects!
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