TVA’s noose getting tighter and tighter
January 25, 2009
When, if ever, would it be appropriate to display a hangman’s noose at the Tennessee Valley Authority? You probably would think, never. Unfortunately, it is true that the TVA apparently condoned it when a TVA employee was presented with one in his work desk. TVA has taken no action against it. The intimidation was so shocking, so debasing to this TVA employee that he resigned his job and retired early for fear that the intimidation would carry over to his family.
In retrospect, he believes he should have taken more forceful action at the time but the incident was so upsetting to him and his family he decided not to. It has now been two years since the debasement and he has been a lot more vigorous in his own defense. He has written to public officials, sent reams of information to the Knoxville FBI, insisted that the TVA “do something about it”, he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington and still, no resolution of the problem.
Finally, the Washington EEOC referred his case to the Tennessee office but when he contacted them, they had never heard of him. So he is retracing his steps, re-filing his complaint to these same offices, and trying to keep up his spirits which obviously are low. This man is very articulate in his writings and has enough evidence to see that the TVA is severely punished for the felonious actions of their employees. But of course, neither the TVA nor any of its management is ever held to account for their actions (or non-actions).
I have been researching the TVA for several years and will continue writing about it until my ink runs dry. TVA is a federal government agency that has been managed very badly for decades and because there are no “federal appropriations”, congressional oversight committees and the so-called “TVA caucus” have ignored their responsibilities. Even admitted so in a senate hearing on January 8 when the main topic was about the Kingston dam disaster (“spill” is TVA’s characterization of it, a “sudden, accidental release” instead of their first choice, “catastrophic”.) TVA knows how to parse the words alright to smooth the disaster into nothing more than a temporary inconvenience.
Since the TVA has been required to send reports of its activities both financial and operational to the Securities and Exchange Commission, there has been a lot more “inside” information about the TVA available to the public. At first, TVA officials couldn’t figure out how to fill out the SEC forms and had to go back to 2006 in correcting some figures. In one instance, the TVA reported $200,000,000 too much in anticipated income from electricity sold, the error recently corrected.
TVA’s financial structure is so weak that it has resorted to borrowing a billion dollars short-term from guess who – the Bank of America that just received billions of dollars from guess who – the U.S. federal government. Clearly, this merely changes the same money from one hand to the other and the “other” is the U.S. taxpayer that is short-changed. TVA is over $25 billion in debt and with a slowing economy (and less electricity usage) it is becoming increasingly sure that the TVA is headed for bankruptcy.
A logical question is when and where have you ever heard of a successful federal government enterprise that competes in our free-market economy? TVA does not even make the zero charts.
Last Wednesday, it was reported by CNN that a Louisiana Homeland Security employee in Baton Rouge discovered a noose in his work area. They’re investigating it, oh yes.
Meanwhile, our man near Knoxville, Tennessee is fretting away his life and feeling that his government has betrayed him. That must be a terrible, terrible feeling.
Ernest Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net (contact)
http://norsworthyopinion.com