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Claim to be "Green" get $500-Million tax dollars, go bankrupt!

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Oh the green economy is so good for us taxpayers. And based on the newest science it doesn't seem to really help the whole "climate change" thing since that is apparently cause by the sun.

Apparently the business model is to get a bunch of money, though government backed loan guarantees (tax dollars) and then go out of business. This is becoming an increasing pattern as more and more of these green companies shutter their doors. . . each one sticking us taxpayers with a whopping multi-million dollar tab!

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Solyndra-Shutting-Down-128802718.html

Solyndra to Declare Bankruptcy
President Obama touted the facility only a year ago.


. . . Solyndra was touted by the Obama administration as a prime example of how green technology could deliver jobs. The President visited the facility in May of last year and said "it is just a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world. And you guys all represent that. "

The federal government offered $535 million in low cost loan guarantees from the Department of Energy. NBC Bay Area has contacted the White House asking for a statement.

Some Republicans have been very critical of the loans. "I am concerned that the DOE is providing loans and loan guarantees to firms that aren't capable of competing in the global market, even with government subsidies" Florida Congressman Cliff Stearns told the New York Times.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
And another take on the story:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Solyndra-Filing-a-Disaster-for-Obama-128816968.html
Solyndra Filing a Disaster for Obama


President Obama faces political catastrophe in the form of Solyndra -- a San Francisco Bay area solar company that he touted as a gleaming example of green technology. It has announced it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. More than 1,100 people will lose their jobs.

During a visit to the Fremont facility in spring of 2010, the President said the factory "is just a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world. "

It's not his statements the administration will regret; it's the loan guarantees. The President was celebrating $535 million in federal promises from the Department of Energy to the solar startup. The administration didn't do its due diligence, says the Government Accountability Office. "There's a consequence if you don't follow a rigorous process that's transparent," Franklin Rusco of GAO told the website iWatch News.
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Those votes cost more out in California. Wonder if Al Gore was in on that one?:hammer:
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
It would be nice to see a forensic audit of that company to see how much of that money was siphoned back into private or political coffers.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
Surprise, surprise . . .

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/01/b...ith-fed-backing-has-cozy-ties-to-obama-admin/

Bankrupt solar company with fed backing has cozy ties to Obama admin


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/01/b...g-has-cozy-ties-to-obama-admin/#ixzz1WjoqhoC1

A solar energy company that intends to file for bankruptcy received $535 million in backing from the federal government and has a cozy history with Democrats and the Obama administration, campaign finance records show.
Shareholders and executives of Solyndra, a green energy company producing solar panels, fundraised for and donated to the Obama administration to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser, a key Obama backer who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the president’s election campaign, is one of Solyndra’s primary investors. Kaiser himself donated $53,500 to Obama’s 2008 election campaign, split between the DSCC and Obama For America. Kaiser also made several visits to the White House and appeared at some White House events next to Obama officials.
Campaign finance records show Kaiser and Solyndra executives and board members donated $87,050 total to Obama’s election campaign.
And now, just two years after securing a half-billion-dollar federal loan, Solyndra has said that it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In a statement, Solyndra wrote “global economic and solar industry market conditions” forced it to close its Fremont, Calif., factory and lay off 1,100 employees.
“Regulatory and policy uncertainties in recent months created significant near-term excess supply and price erosion,” Solyndra president and CEO Brian Harrison said. “Raising incremental capital in this environment was not possible. This was an unexpected outcome and is most unfortunate.”
Obama cited the company as a model of success for his highly touted green-energy industry initiative. In fact, the Obama administration fast-tracked the solar startup’s $535 million loan application to the Department of Energy — a move later criticized by the Government Accountability Office.
Solyndra and the administration originally projected the loan would help Solyndra create 4,000 jobs.
During a visit to the Solyndra facility in 2010, Obama said the factory is “a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world.”
“Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations,” Obama proclaimed then. “This new factory is the result of those loans.”
According to a Washington Post report, Solyndra communications director David Miller called the White House to ask that a factory tour be added to Obama’s itinerary during a trip to California.
Campaign finance records show Solyndra shareholders and executives did their fair share of greasing palms.
Ben Bierman, executive vice president of operations and engineering for Solyndra, donated $5,500 to Obama’s election campaign. Karen Alter, senior vice president of marketing, donated $23,000 in 2008.
According to information collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, Solyndra board members have donated at least $27,400 to Democratic campaigns and affiliates.
Since 1998, Solyndra board member James F. Gibbons has contributed $13,500 on his own. Board member Winston Fu has contributed $4,550 since 2008. Since 1991, board member Thomas Baruch has contributed $7,150. And board member Steven R. Mitchell donated $2,300 to Obama in 2007.
Solyndra also spent $550,000 lobbying Congress in 2010. Between 2008 and 2011, the company spent more than $1 million lobbying for bills including the “American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009″ and the “Solar Manufacturing Jobs Creation Act.”
Despite Solyndra’s recent bankruptcy announcement, the Department of Energy and the White House insist the investment was not in vain.
“The project that we supported succeeded,” a spokesman for the Department of Energy told The New York Times. “The facility was producing the product it said it would produce, and consumers were buying the product,” he said. “The company struggled because the market has changed dramatically.”
“While we are disappointed by this particular outcome, we continue to believe the clean-energy jobs race is one that America can, must and will win,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said today in an emailed statement.



 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
Maybe not so surprising . . .

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/solyndras-lobbyists

Solyndra's lobbyists

The Obama administration sure liked to tout Solyndra, the solar-power company that took in millions of federal subsidies before going bankrupt this week. Given that this company's short life was dependent on government connections, it's worth looking at Solyndra's lobbyists.
I've spent a good bit of time studying companies' lobbyists, and Solyndra has a pretty impressive lineup, on par with much bigger companies. Here are a few:

  • In July, Solyndra retained the powerful Glover Park Group, where the company's lobbyists include top Max Baucus aide and Environment & Public Works Committee staffer Catherine Ransom, longtime Republican aide Alex Mistri, and Energy and Commerce staffer (and former John Kerry Legislative Director) Gregg Rothschild.
  • The company's in-house lobbyists are former top Republican Hill aides Joe Pasetti and Victoria Sanville.
  • Solyndra's biggest lobbying contract is with McAllister & Quinn, co-founded by Steny Hoyer's chief of staff Andy Quinn. Steve Ham, another former Hoyer staffer at McA&Q, is on the Solyndra account, as is Al D'Amato aide Chris Fish, and former American writer Kyle Winslow. Gotta love it when young cub writer jump from liberal magazines to K Street.
  • As befits any company seeking green subsidies, Solyndra retained McBee Strategic Consulting. Steve McBee, a former Dem Approps aide, helped lower the standards for federal green energy financing before signing Solyndra as a client and getting Solyndra the financing under these lower standards. Former Democratic Energy & Natural Resources staffer Angela Becker-Dippmann was also on the Solyndra account.
 

JEV

Mr. Congeniality
GOLD Site Supporter
And I bet nobody goes to jail either. Fucking politicians...
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I agree with the post above. Could not have said it better my self. Thank you sir...JEV

Kirk
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
FBI is now investigating.

Seems they feel the financial condition of the company may have been misrepresented.
 

jpr62902

Jeanclaude Spam Banhammer
SUPER Site Supporter
Apparently, Solyndra filed an SEC statement showing over $400,000,000 in net operating losses from 2007 through October, 2009. The gummint loan got the go ahead in September, 2009. Dis ain't gon be good for the POTUS.
 
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