I have often quipped, “The easiest money to spend is that which is not yours”.
Federal elections in the United States occur every four (4) years in November, and election day has been set by statute as “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November”. While that sounds like governmental gobbledegook, it certainly could have been simplified; however, rigorous legalese is the traditional language of congressional codification.
After the election, the president-elect is not sworn in until January 20th, unless that day falls on a Sunday, then the inauguration is set for the 21st. In the last federal election, the date was set for November 5, 2024, and the Presidential inauguration was on January 20, 2025, a span of 76 days. The inauguration still occurs even if the President is continuing into their second term.
The duration between elections and inauguration allows the President time to select his cabinet and pursue policy discussions. In the case of a new president being elected, his predecessor before the inauguration is said to be in a “lame duck” situation or a weakened position politically. That was not the case in the questionable “lame duck” period of President Joe Biden.
Many are drawn to the dubious pardons granted. But, my contention is the unprecedented expenditure of money by the Department of Energy under Secretary Jennifer Granholm whom I have written about here and here. In the latter link, she stated that, “China‘s climate change curbing actions should be the model the United States and other countries follow. Currently, 55% of China’s energy is derived from coal and climbing, while comparatively, the United States sits at 11%.”
If you’re a devotee of democracy, you certainly couldn’t say anything positive or optimistic about Communist China, as I write in many articles, including “The China Syndrome”.
The Department of Energy, in the 76 days between the federal election and inauguration, spent $93 billion (93,000,000,000) on green environmental works and activities. Some of this money went to dubious businesses that did not even have a business plan.
In an Appropriation Committee Hearing, Chairman Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana questions current Energy Secretary Chris Wright on the discovery of these highly questionable and ambiguous expenditures. The video and script of this exchange are linked here. The ideological bureaucracy of the Biden administration was dominated by environmental activists to the very end, at a huge expense to the American taxpayer.
