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.
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,” Nouri said in a statement.
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: 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
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