This is the first edition of Piranhas, our spotlight on wasteful legislation! In Piranhas, we at The Grover Cleveland Society will not be focusing on massive spending bills that make the news on a daily basis, you already know about most of them. We will be focusing on smaller pieces of legislation that waste small amounts of your tax dollars on research, subsidies, and programs that have to be federally funded simply because Americans would never voluntarily give their money for such things. Most of you know, a piranha is a type of carnivorous fish that swims in large schools. When they find prey, each fish in the school takes one small bite of the prey. One single bite doesn’t seem like much, but when the rest of the school joins in, the prey can quickly die from a thousand violent bites. Some refer to this type of legislation as Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts, we prefer to call them Piranhas.

Today’s spotlight is on HR 3246, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009. This bill appropriates federal funds for a program that provides research for clean automotive technology such as electrification of vehicle systems, energy storage devices, transmission and drivetrains, and much more(1). According to the Congressional Budget Office, HR 3246 would authorize appropriations totaling $2.85 billion over the 2010-2014 period and $423 million after 2014(2). While this bill provides no private sector mandates, it is our opinion that this legislation will ultimately lead to clean energy mandates within the private sector automotive industry that will continue to erode America’s endangered automakers. Let’s be clear, America needs clean energy, but we need economically viable energy solutions that do not come from cutting-edge policy that stifles growth, increases costs on our manufacturers, and ultimately reduces jobs. HR 3246 passed The House of Representatives on September 16, 2009, at 4:06pm 312-114. Click here to see who voted for it.

Know of a bill or other piece of legislation that deserves to be featured in Piranhas? Send us an e-mail.