Obama Admin Invested Billions inCompanies Supported by Energy DeptInsiders

Obama Admin Invested Billions in Companies Supported by Energy Dept Insiders Noel Brinkerhoff 1. All Gov February 16, 2012 Following on the Solyndra controversy, the Department of Energy under President Barack Obama is now accused of funneling billions of dollars in funding to companies that have connections within the department.

An investigation by The Washington Post found that the Energy Department has approved nearly $4 billion in federal grants and financing to 21 companies supported by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.

Of this amount, $2.46 billion flowed to nine businesses that have ties to VantagePoint Venture Partners, a venture capital firm where Sanjay Wagle, an Energy Department adviser, worked before coming to Washington.

The other four officials identified by the Post include Assistant Secretary David Sandalow, who previously worked for Good Energies, a company that received $737 million from the Energy Department; and Steve Westly, a longtime Silicon Valley entrepreneur and now a member of Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s advisory board. The Westly Group took in $600 million in federal financing.

The Obama administration says that the Energy Department employees and advisers took no part in grantmaking decisions, which would mean that these business windfalls were just happy coincidences.

Pennsylvania University Offers Morning-After Pills in Vending Machines Matt Bewig 1. All Gov February 16, 2012 Even as some conservative politicians and Catholic prelates create controversy over the availability of contraception in health insurance plans, Pennsylvania’s Shippensburg University has been making the so-called “morning-after pill� available to students via a vending machine in the campus student health center.

Although the 1. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year recommended allowing the Plan B emergency contraceptive to be sold over the counter to women under 17 years old (only to be overruled by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius), FDA is investigating whether the vending machine option is in accord with its regulations, which require those younger than 17 to have a prescription to access the medication.

Taking Plan B within 72 hours of unwanted or unprotected sex can cut the chances of pregnancy by as much as 89 percent.

Officials at Shippensburg University stress that only university students may access the health center where the vending machine is located, and that the school has no students less than 17 years of age. The vending machine has been in place for two years, and is popular with students, who cite privacy concerns as reasons some may not feel comfortable going into the small town of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, to get Plan B from a local pharmacy.