Inside the 30/30

Well folks through the last few years of doing this blog, there’s been some amazing issues covered and quite frankly this whole 30/30 debacle is at or near the top. Last week, interest was reignited in this sham when USGNN ran a piece about the sponsor of the legislation and with that more fury and anger raged. If you did not read the piece from Friday you need to… then come back to this spot because I am going to tear it up… here goes…

After reading the article the first reaction is “my gosh I hope that not every decision in DC is made with haste and no intelligence…”

And that all surrounds how this came to be… at the great working time of… 3AM….

Yes this decision was made and added at 3AM and with no background, no information and no clue. Senator Snowe and her staff should be ashamed of themselves but I am sure they have no time for shame because they are working too hard to pat themselves on the back…. So at 3AM it happened… if I am the person running against Snowe in 2010 one of my ads is about this issue..

Narrator: Voters of Maine… do you really want rash and incoherent decisions made about your state and country at 3AM?.... Well that’s how Olympia Snowe thinks…. She’d rather rush a line into legislation with no idea how it works or what it means, then get the facts…. In fact weeks after her legislation was rushed, there were still many questions that needed answered… Maine and the United States deserve a Senator that will take the time to make sure it all makes sense….

Seriously 3AM? And to make matters worse the Senator’s staff member threw the DOE under the bus stating that criteria needed from them was not published yet. Most of you know I have little to no respect for the DOE… It drives me nuts that a guy like Marc LaFrance allows himself to be mocked by the NFRC (they ignore his every last rant and laugh at him behind his back)and controlled blindly by people like Garrett Stone, but in this case I have to defend the agency. The DOE has worked for YEARS on Energy Star… they have worked with hundreds of people and gotten a program that people can understand… and in one ignorant and clueless swoop the work was shot. You cannot tell me that the moronic staff of the Senator could not of gotten with someone at DOE to make sure that a program like this has logic.

Again you wonder what other issue was at play here… who is in Snowe’s ear? And how dangerous can a person like Snowe be when an irresponsible line like this can just get added willy-nily? What’s to stop her from adding a line in a future legislation that says you can only buy material from companies whose names start with the letter C?

So we have a hasty decision made quickly with no logic. Brilliant.

Bottom line is I think the DOE had the info and the Senator chose to ignore based on advice from “someone” and then played up the excuse that the info did not exist.

Plus if you did not have info from DOE how do you come up with the numbers you did- 30/30… hmmmmmmm THERE IS NO DOUBT SOMEONE INFLUENCED THIS! Yet the people there were too busy sucking up instead of asking questions… We deserve full disclosure!

And yes that brings us to the other frustrating part of the article…. where the slobbering affection shown by the starstruck school boys from the NWDA… my gosh guys there’s 12 year old girls at a Jonas Brothers concert that show more restraint. Let’s review some of the quotes:

As soon as you came out with these numbers, the industry went to work,” said Darryl Huber of BF Rich, who also serves as the NWDA president.

NO WAY really? What a stunner… I thought the industry would stay asleep…. OF COURSE everyone had to go to work… the legislation was ignorant and uninformed. Most window guys had to rearrange how they do things and represent themselves. The others had to go get their materials tested. Dude, the industry did not have a choice. This is not something to be proud of.

Tom Channell of Chelsea Building Products, NWDA second vice president, added that his company has spent a quarter of a million dollars helping companies recertify their products to meet the 30/30 standards.

I am impressed 250K! Yep that is the stimulus at work… make sure you send Senator Snowe a commission. But seriously would love to know how that was spent… sounds like an off the top of my head BS number.

Another Channell quote: “We as a group are pleased this bill passed,” says Channell. “This revitalized a dying industry.”

DYING INDUSTRY… Drama queen alert…. Times are tough but not THAT tough… gee you went from dying to being able to supposedly drop 250k without a blink…. Amazing… thousands of window companies out there and this guy calls it a “dying industry”… a dying industry would be people who make VHS VCR’s… sell Chinese Drywall...

And with the NFRC adding people left and right, I somehow don’t think the industry is “dying”

“And it stimulated jobs,” Huber added.

Seriously… it stimulated jobs? Outside of the NFRC and the labs, can you tell me how many jobs this idiotic provision added? Funny I haven’t seen much on all of those laid off shifts returning…

OK enough of making fun of our little school boys on their fun field trip to DC… wonder if they went to the Monument while they were there!

Let’s now look at the comments from Snowe’s legislative assistant Patrick Woodcock… but be aware this may be some of the most clueless, yet arrogant stuff you have ever read…

The group then asked a variety of questions all relating to how the criteria will be enforced. Other questions include what happens to those consumers who purchased windows from January 1-February 17.
“No one should be able to answer that question,” said Woodcock. “Only the IRS can answer that.”

Wait you create this inane crap and you have no idea on how it will be enforced? What an unreal answer. I’ll you how, the people who bought windows between those dates are screwed… the same as the folks in Miami will be when the only way THEY can get a credit is putting in windows that make NO SENSE for their region.

And this:

“We were concerned with this proposal and we tried to improve it as best we can,” added Woodcock. ” … Tax credits do move companies to make more efficient products.”

Yes tax credits are great.. I thought we all made better products because the NFRC said we had too. Seriously I love how he takes credit for this stuff. You know what would make people make even more efficient products? A program that makes sense not only in your home state of Maine but in the rest of the US too… this country and its window needs are not one size fits all…

Thanks for your time Mr Woodcock, you slayed the tourists that sat at your feet, but the public is not impressed.

Also a quote from my favorites at Keystone Certifications:

“What concerns me the most is that there is no reference to a standard in the legislation,” added Jon Hill of Keystone Certifications.

Yep of course this would concern you…. You should’ve just said: “We already have a great gig with the NFRC, and this should make us a ton of cash too… c’mon by not making this crystal clear, this will cut into our profits!”

Yes that is a rich that the guy from the certification agency is bitching…. Shut up man, you’re making your money.

Last but not least the end of the article featured the DOE trying their best to tread water…

Earlier in the day, Richard Karney, program manager for the Department of Energy’s Energy Star program, spoke before NWDA members regarding Energy Star but also addressed the tax credits.
“It hit me as quickly as it hit you,” said Karney. “We received many inquiries asking, ‘Why can’t you fix it?’” He then joked, “Even I can’t fix it.’”
He said even DOE found out about it at the eleventh hour.
“We had no idea it was coming until 24 hours before it was passed.” He added that DOE was never consulted on the criteria.

Hmmmm.. what was it…. You found out 24 hours before it was passed eh? Interesting…. So in 24 hours you couldn’t or wouldn’t try and talk sense into this? Maybe these guys are just as bad as I think.

And the kicker:

He also brought up a point that many NWDA members asked as well.
“The tax credit doesn’t specify a particular rating. Is it center of glass, etc.”
He says the DOE is asking the IRS for clarification on this matter.

CLUELESS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yet another area where it shows this sham in all of its glory… hey lets come up with this legislation but let’s not have any clue what it means, how it works, how it will be measured, how it will be implemented or what effect it will have….

So there ya go… a Senator who obviously has someone whispering in her ear creates a stupid last minute legislation and at the end of the day the IRS will make the call on how it will all work….

Simply brilliant….