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TVA bribes in lieu of taxes
TVA's power itself is being drained by other public agencies including EPA, s...
TVA bribes in lieu of taxesBy Ernest NorsworthyMay 18, 2009You can count on politicians to fight tooth and nail for any “free” money floatingaround. That’s what TVA’s “bribes” in lieu of taxes amounts to. North Alabamalegislators want the money now being paid to “dry” counties in south Alabama fromTVA funds to be diverted to northern counties, to those who actually use TVAelectricity.Gov. Riley says the $6 million involved would then have to come from the GeneralFund that has been “porked up” by $33 million by greedy legislators. A comment wasmade that the governor doesn’t know how to “horse trade” and all can be thankfulfor that. I believe him to be a principled governor.As many of you know, I long have been an advocate for the dissolution of the TVA,a federal government agency that has warped the whole southern culture intobelieving there is something for nothing still available out there.TVA has pitted basically, the north against the southern part of Alabama bysquabbling over TVA’s “free” money in the form of bribes to local politicians. Thegovernor has termed this money, correctly, as slush-fund money. It can bemanipulated by and for power-politicians.The people who generate the TVA largess, consumers of TVA electricity, get nothingin return. “Cheap rates”, you say? Those days are gone. TVA has a huge $25 billiondebt and soon will have billions more. There is no way TVA can sell electricity atbelow market prices and still be financially viable.In other words, the more you spend for electricity the more of TVA’s gross sales,5% of it, is then spread around TVA’s 80,000 square-mile territory as if it werehoney, manna from heaven.This not only is inequitable, TVA has its own method of distributing this money,to some as far away as Illinois.TVA has given up control of cleaning up the Kingston, TN disaster to EPA and tothe state of Tennessee. A catastrophe of its own making, TVA now wants not to beheld liable for its gross negligence when clearly the law says the TVA can “sueand be sued”.That recently was proved in the North Carolina case against TVA where a federaljudge mandated a speedup of pollution control devices on four coal-fired plantsnearest the NC border. “Oops! There goes another billion dollar mistake!” Kerplop.It’s a long-term mess; and the best way to lessen the impact on 8 millionconsumers is for the TVA to be sold to the highest bidders to assure theconsistent flow of electricity throughout north Alabama and the Tennessee Valley.Taxes paid to state and local governments assuredly will be much more and muchmore useful to those citizens than the present inequitable distribution of the“bribes” in lieu of taxes when investor-own utilities are the providers and taxpayers.Ernest Norsworthyemnorsworthy@earthlink.nethttp://norsworthyopinion.com
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TVA bribes in lieu of taxes
TVA's power itself is being drained by other public agencies including EPA, state of Tennessee, GAO.
For detailed reporting on the TVA see http://norsworthyopinion.com.
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| Upload Date: | 05/18/2009 |
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