I wish our Senators would quit taking us for idiots. Here's the statement:

The Tennessee Republican said TVA bonds lost about $500 million in value after the president's announcement last month, largely because of uncertainty over whether the utility would be sold. Alexander said customers in the seven states served by the TVA will likely pay more for electricity as a result.

The loss is to the value of the TVA bonds which are held by bond investors and speculators, not TVA rate payers. This is about as disingenuous as our other Senator saying we have to cut Social Security, which doesn't have anything to do with the deficit, in order to control the deficit.

But let's look at this another way. If a mere Presidential statement can cost TVA half a billion, why doesn't TVA just settle the lawsuits with all the property owners whose property it has devalued? That is roughly $150 million. Then we would be supporters instead of detractors. We could then demand that Obama retract his statement, TVA would get the $500 million back, and be $350 million to the good. Simple, right?

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