Thursday, January 14, 2016

The feds want to give $14 million in taxpayer money to a Koch brother’s coal mine

 

By Katie Herzog on 13 Jan 2016 13 comments

Damn, it feels good to be a billionaire.

Today in WTF News, we learned that billionaire industrialist William Koch — brother of arch conservatives Charles and David Koch — may be getting a $14 million royalty refund after his coal mine on leased federal property in Colorado shut down. And that $14 mil would come compliments of the American taxpayer.

When coal is mined from underground on federal land, the federal government is entitled to an 8 percent royalty. But coal-mining companies can claim they face trying economic conditions and ask for a “royalty rate reduction,” Reuters reports. One of Koch’s companies did just that. It’s not a big surprise that a greedy fossil fuel billionaire would ask for an extra government handout. What’s crazy is that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management wants to grant the request.

Put another way, to make it sound even crazier: The Obama administration is proposing to hand $14 million to a billionaire Koch brother to subsidize his past coal-mining efforts on public land, after he already shut down the mine and laid off the workers.

More from Reuters:

Oxbow Mining, a subsidiary of Koch-controlled Oxbow Carbon LLC, closed its Elk Creek site in western Colorado two years ago after setbacks such as a fire and partial collapse made working the underground mine too costly, according to the company and regulatory paperwork. …

“Although production at the mine has been idled indefinitely since the end of 2013 … the royalty rate reduction would be retroactive,” the Bureau of Land Management wrote in an opinion to Colorado officials, who have a say in the decision since they share coal revenue.

The rebate would come in the form of a “royalty rate reduction” going back to 2012 and lower the government’s take to 5 percent from the usual 8 percent of coal sales.

Why would the government ever agree to this? As Reuters explains, “Reducing royalty rates has been a tool used by the federal government for decades when maximizing coal production was part of a national energy policy.” At the same time, “Royalty rate reduction has been criticized for decades, and an Interior Department review in 2013 found that officials often lacked the financial expertise to determine whether a coal company needed a lower rate.”

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama emphasized the importance of transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy: “Rather than subsidize the past,” he said, “we should invest in the future — especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet.”

It would seem that the bureaucrats at the BLM haven’t been listening to the president lately. Perhaps someone from the White House ought to give them a call and catch them up on the latest?

William Koch — while not as notorious as his election-purchasing brothers — is still very, very rich. And not a little weird: He built his own private ghost town in Colorado, complete with saloon, jail, church, stable, train station, and, for a bit of a modern touch, a water-treatment system. “Known as ‘Wild Bill’ to his friends,” wrote the New York Post, “Koch has amassed an impressive collection of period memorabilia. He owns the former possessions of several iconic figures, such as Jesse James’ gun, George Custer’s flag and Sitting Bull’s rifle. He also paid $2.3 million for the only known photograph of Billy the Kid.”

Sounds like he’ll put that extra $14 million to good use.

 

ABOVE IS FROM:   http://grist.org/article/the-feds-want-to-give-14-million-in-taxpayer-money-to-a-koch-brothers-coal-mine/

German Valley has a “new” police car on patrol thanks to the generosity of a Boone County community.

 

 

Belvidere PD gives squad car to German Valley

Published: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 1:35 p.m. CST • Updated: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 1:36 p.m. CST

 

 

German Valley's "new" police car, a 2007 Dodge Charger, is ready for action with a fresh paint job and new decals. The City of Belvidere gave the used car to the village. Photo supplied

By Vinde Wells

vwells@oglecounty

news.com

German Valley has a “new” police car on patrol thanks to the generosity of a Boone County community.

The City of Belvidere recently gave the village a squad car that the police department there was ready to retire.

With new paint and decals, the car is now on duty on German Valley’s streets

Part-time German Valley Police Chief Mike Boomgarden said the village’s only squad car, a 1995 Crown Victoria purchased used 19 years ago from the Freeport Park District, had reached the end of its run.

Looking for a replacement, Boomgarden, who is also the full-time police chief at Forreston, reached out to other police agencies to see if any of them had a good, used car they wanted to sell.

Belvidere Police Chief Jan Noble, a longtime friend, had the answer.

“The city council up there voted unanimously to give us a used car at no cost,” Boomgarden said. “They even put new tires on it for us.”

Noble said he took German Valley’s need for a car to his police commission and city council with a proposal to give then the 2007 Dodge Charger slated for replacement in the near future.

“They agreed this was a good way to help out another community,” Noble said.

Boomgarden said the car, with 80,000 miles, came with the cage for prisoners and snow tires.

Noble delivered it himself.

Boomgarden took the car to Forreston Auto Body to have rust spots repaired and a new paint job.

“We got it repainted and put our decals on it,” he said. “It’s now in service.”

 

Above is from:  http://www.oglecountynews.com/2016/01/11/belvidere-pd-gives-squad-car-to-german-valley/adh69zj/

Chrysler Faked Sales?

Fiat Chrysler Faked Sales, Dealers Say in Racketeering Suit

Phil Milford

Jennifer Surane jennysurane

 

  • Trading halted in Europe after shares fall 11 percent

  • Dealers paid to report false sales at month's end, suit says

 

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV investors reacted dramatically to the latest concerns about automotive industry scruples after dealers accused the company’s U.S. unit of offering money to falsify sales.

The U.S. dealers’ allegations add to the claims that are shaking investor confidence in the auto industry, with Volkswagen AG having admitted to rigging emission tests in the U.S. and Renault SA having had its offices raided, raising the specter of a VW-type scandal at the French car company.

“The perception investors have is that the sector has been lying for emissions, for bonuses, targets, whatever you want, therefore, you don’t want to be a shareholder,” said Massimo Vecchio, an analyst with Mediobanca in Milan. Given the Volkswagen scandal and the raid on Renault, “people are obviously scared.”

Chrysler plans to fight the U.S. lawsuit, which the company said in a statement is without merit.

Trading Halted

Fiat Chrysler trading was halted in Europe after shares fell as much as 11 percent. The company’s credit default swaps, used by investors as insurance against defaults on company debt, surged.

Dealers were paid to report fake sales on the last day of the month and then cancel the sales the next day, according to the federal lawsuit filed by two related auto dealerships Jan. 12.

“If it’s true, this could mean that volumes at Fiat Chrysler aren’t really what they appeared to be and this could mean that the numbers for revenue could be in question,” said Richard Hilgert, a Morningstar Inc. analyst in Chicago.

“Usually, lawsuits in the automotive industry are just a regular part of the business and the trading isn’t as volatile here when this kind of news breaks,” Hilgert said.

Dealer Obligations

The lawsuit, against the company’s North American unit, FCA US LLC, was brought by Napleton Arlington Heights, based in Illinois, and Napleton Northlake, based in Florida, according to court records.

Fiat Chrysler said in Thursday’s statement that it has been discussing the need for the dealer group to meet its obligations under certain agreements. Kevin Hyde, counsel for the dealers, didn’t immediately answer phone calls to his office in Westmont, Illinois.

FCA US had an incentive program which dealers could join if they met certain sales targets, and would then enable them to get subsidies for each new vehicle sold, according to the suit. The company solicited dealers to falsely report sales and funneled money to conspiring dealers, the dealers allege.

Sales Targets

Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne has set high goals for the company, including erasing 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) in debt and more than tripling net income to about 5 billion euros by 2018. He backed off a target of selling 7 million vehicles in 2018 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Jan. 11, saying at the same time that 2015 earnings will be better than expected.

In one instance a competing dealership reported 85 false new reports of vehicles being delivered, resulting in it being paid “tens of thousands of dollars as an illicit reward for their complicity in the scheme,” both dealers said in the lawsuits.

The lawsuit contends the company’s actions “have been arbitrary and capricious, as well as coercive,” by “strong-arming its dealers to achieve sales numbers not clearly defined,” with “non-conspiring dealers” ineligible for bonuses.

They seek unspecified damages and a jury trial, according to court papers.

Automotive News first reported the suits Jan. 13.

The case is Napleton’s Arlington Heights Motors Inc. v. FCA US LLC, formerly known as Chrysler Group Realty Company LLC, 16-cv-00403, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

Above is fromhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-14/fiat-chrysler-unit-accused-of-racketeering-to-falsify-sales?cmpid=yhoo.headline