President Donald Trump has begun his second term at breakneck speed — issuing executive orders, deporting illegal immigrants, and reversing the course of the previous radically liberal administration.
One of President Trump's most emphatic campaign promises was to cut the size of government and wasteful spending. To that end, he established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and installed X CEO Elon Musk as its chairman.
Musk, a wildly successful builder of businesses such as Tesla and SpaceX, is on the lookout for government waste as chairman of DOGE.
One such form of waste that Musk should move to the top of his list is government subsidies to highly profitable nuclear companies.
The Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) granted billions of dollars in energy subsidies.
According to a September 2023 article by the Cato Institute, "After the IRA was passed, the estimate of $369 billion for energy credits over a decade was revised upward. Now we have higher estimates of the cost of preserving the IRA credits for ten years.
"An April 26, 2023 estimate by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) was $515 billion. An April 2023 Goldman Sachs report estimated that the IRA 'will provide an estimated $1.2 trillion of incentives by 2032.'"
Constellation, a Baltimore-based billion-dollar nuclear company, is also reaping money from the government. In January, Constellation announced it "has been awarded more than $1 billion in combined contracts by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to supply power to more than 13 government agencies and perform energy savings and conservation measures at five GSA-owned facilities."
According to a 2024 article in World Nuclear News, "Constellation said nuclear production tax credit (PTC) in the [Inflation Reduction] act is providing a stable foundation that will allow it to continue investing in growth opportunities, including by adding clean energy generation to its fleet through measures including uprates, licence extensions and asset acquisitions while also returning capital to shareholders. 'The PTC provides revenue visibility and also preserves Constellation’s ability to capture upside from tightening power market conditions,' the company said."
Constellation is the darling of Wall Street. Its stock price is going through the roof, and it openly boasts about taxpayer support.
While these incomprehensible amounts are thrown around like nickels and dimes, the public has had it with government profligacy.
Constellation is also a devotee of woke policies.
According to its 2024 DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] Annual Report (a 23-page document), the company boasts that it has "diverse interview panels" for job applicants.
It acknowledges its "dedication to expanding supplier diversity are the cornerstone of many of our programs and initiatives."
The company's "self-identification options now encompass gender alongside sex, sexual orientation, and preferred pronouns. Additionally, individuals can indicate whether they identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community or as an ally."
A new survey by John McLaughlin & Associates, President Trump's pollster, found that two-thirds of voters oppose subsidies for profitable companies such as Constellation.
The survey of 1,000 general election voters was conducted Jan. 22-27. No margin of error was provided.
Some of the survey's findings include:
- Approximately 2 in 3 voters do not think nuclear power companies should receive excessive taxpayer funded subsidies more than other energy companies: 64%-16%.
- Some 3 in 5 voters, 62%, oppose taxpayer funded subsidies for profitable nuclear power plants. Only 24% support subsidies.
- By the same margin, 3 in 5 voters are less likely to vote for a member of Congress who votes to give taxpayer funded subsidies to a company with a profit of $5 billion.
- Nearly half of all voters think DOGE should target nuclear subsidies in order to cut government waste: 48%-18%.
The American people recognize waste when they see it, and they have given President Trump a mandate to cut it.
Constellation is reaping billions of dollars. It does not deserve taxpayer subsidies.
It is time the spigot was turned off.
More importantly, members of Congress will be feeling the heat if they continue to hand out subsidies without considering the taxpayers who are footing the bill.
Craig Shirley is Chairman of Citizens for the Republic, as well as a Ronald Reagan biographer and presidential historian. He's authored six books on Reagan. He's also written The New York Times bestseller, "December, 1941" and also published the companion book, "April, 1945." He's also the author of "Mary Ball Washington," which won the People’s Choice Award from the Library of Virginia. His book on the 1980 presidential campaign, "Rendezvous with Destiny" was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the five best campaign books of all time. Shirley is also the author of the newly released bestseller, "The Search for Reagan." Read Craig Shirley's Reports — More Here.
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