Harry Reid (D-NV) Questionable Push for Chinese Solar Firm in Vegas – Son Works for Company – While Solar Panel Prices Fall – What About U.S. Co.'s?

Harry Reid - Nepotism Trumps National Solar Firms - image Heraldtribune.com

In an op-ed written by Steve Sebelius at the Los Vegas Review Journal, questions are raised about Harry Reid’s dismissal of coal powered plants in NV, and his push for a particular Chinese firm to produce green energy for Nevada. There are two issues, according to Sebelius: 1) a lack of interest by consumers (as there would be an increase in costs) and 2) Harry Reid’s son works as an attorney for the firm.

There was some backlash in comments regarding Solar Energy firms on another opinion piece in the Journal written by Sherman Frederick on the Reid – Chinese Solar Company – Reid’s son and why the need to “outsource” solar energy to a Chinese Firm. What was amazing, was that there were comments about Solyndra, ostensibly noting that the company went under because they failed to get “enough subsidies from the U.S. government”- somehow the blame lay with Mitt Romney and the Republicans. That said, the commenter was comparing apples to oranges in this case – the Chinese Firm building an energy plan, rather than manufacturing panels like the bankrupt Solyndra, but, the problem with solar panel manufactures appears to be global in nature. According to NBC news arm MSNBC -the falling prices of solar panels, globally, are pressuring U.S. companies:

Average selling prices for the photovoltaic modules that turn sunlight into electricity have dropped to 80 to 85 cents per watt, a decline of more than 10 percent from levels near 95 cents recorded at the end of 2011, a year that saw prices fall by about 50 percent.
Those price drops have helped boost solar sales and made solar power less dependent on subsidies to compete against fossil fuels. But they also have virtually erased profits at the major manufacturers, such as China's Suntech Power Holdings , Yingli Green Energy Holding, Trina Solar Ltd and U.S.-based First Solar.
First Solar, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer and the world's lowest-cost producer, has seen its shares drop nearly 90 percent from 2011's peak to their lifetime low at $20.02 hit earlier this month.
Global demand for solar panels grew by about 40 percent last year, but excess manufacturing capacity has created a glut of supplies that forced companies such as Suntech, Yingli, Trina and SunPower to slash prices.”

(MSNBC – April 15, 2012 via Reuters)

Therefore, any failure on the part of U.S. solar panel manufactures can be tied to a glut on the market for a product that no-one appears to want, not a lack of subsidies – and Harry Reid is pushing the concept at Nevada?

The Citizens of Nevada have Harry Reid on their hands until 2016, when he is up for re-election (or retires like Frank (D-MA-4) or Dodd (D-CT). Unfortunately, in his current position as the Senate Majority Leader, he also has an impact on the rest of us – that position would change, if the balance of power in the Senate moves to the Republican column – which is entirely possible in 2012. At that point Reid would be either voted, by a body of his peers” as the Senate Minority Leader, or relegated to the background as a rank and file member of the Senate. Either way he’d still have a bully pulpit to spout nonsense but less power. As a resident of a state with more corrupt politicians (Boston rivals Chicago), one is able to recognizes the “good old boy” cronyism that exists, from the state level to the federal level – and either ignore, or vote the offending “politician” out of office – or register a protest vote for a cartoon character.

Harry Reid – Fundraising Ability versus the Reality of a Low Job Approval Rating – Money, in some instances, can’t buy a Senate Seat.

Harry Reid Stands to Lose Senate Seat - image LA Times Blog

Recent articles regarding Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid’s, ability to raise large sums of cash (and then spend it in a heartbeat), have appeared in several papers over the past week, of interest is one that appeared in the Washignton Post on January 29th. Although Reid had amassed approximately $2,000,000 for his campaign, he immediately spent it on advertising, perhaps in the hopes of improving his image with Nevadans. Reid’s currently polling between 8 and 10 points behind one of the republican challengers, Danny Tarkanian. Public Policy Polling, an allegedly left centered polling institute has Reid with an 8 point disadvantage at this point in the game. Public Policy Polling has correctly called races for Govenor (New Jersey and Virginia) and the U.S. Senate (Massachusetts).

Polling began back in August on this particular race, and the numbers have remained fairly consistent.

Comparing Harry Reid to Tom Daschle - Reids Numbers Much Lower - image broadcast blog

From an historical standpoint, the last majority leader of the Senate (and the first to lose his seat as an incumbent) was Tom Daschle, who’s poll numbers going into the end of the race, showed a smaller margin against his challenger Republican John Thune. Daschle apparrenlty had a higher job approval rating than Reid currently holds, however, his constant gaffes and his role of “attack dog” for the Kerry campaign, eventfully led to his demise. Reid, has had consistently low approval ratings: as late as January 10th, of this year Reids approval was at 33% and has remained at that approximate number since August.

Therefore, keeping in mind that historically, Daschle, the last Democrat Senate Majority Speaker who lost his seat had much better polling and approval rankings within his own state, more money, at this point is not going to save Harry Reid’s seat. All politics being local, it will be the Nevadans who determine Reid’s fate, and their main objective appears to be one of a fairly consistent desire to remove him from office. Another factor: Reid’s opposition is not yet determined (there are two Republican’s vying for the nomination who fare almost equally well against Reid in polls), once the opposition is set, the grassroots supporters as well as the GOP, will surely push that candidate’s war chest equal to or past Reid’s. Therefore, spending $2,000,000 here or $10,000,000 there will have the same effect as riding a stimulus backed pork-laden monorail to nowhere. Although too early to call any 2010 races, one can, based on the aforementioned data, be fairly certain that Reid will not be returning to the U.S. Senate.

So Long Harry – Polls Worsen for Majority Leader - Nevadans Say Enough is Enough

Harry Reid, (D-NV), Senator Majority Leader, is facing an increasingly difficult uphill battle to retain his senate seat. At the moment, the likelihood of Reed returning to the Senate in 2010 is zero, given the latest in a series of polls that show his approval rating in the tank and the lead widening between him and both of the Republican candidates for his seat. According to the poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Research for the Las Vegas Review Journal, two Republican front runners, Sue Lowdown and Danny Tarkanian, are statistically tied, both beating read, by at least 10 points. Reid’s favorability is currently at 38%.

The State’s voter registration is an interesting mix with Democrats numbered at 579,950, Republicans, 468,396, non-partisan (unenrolled) 207,985 and the balance split between Green, Independent Party, Libertarian and “All Others”, (Nevada Secretary of State, these figures are current as of September 09), making those non-partisan voters key in this election. Mason-Dixon Research used a polling schematic that was concurrent with voter registration; which adds to the general conclusion that Reid is facing retirement.