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The Obama Watch
Obama’s Solyndra Complex
He takes pride in his inferior administration.
Asked by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos if he regretted his promotion of the bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra, Barack Obama said, “No, I don’t.” This cavalier answer provides yet another snapshot of the arrogance and ideological fixation that drives his presidency.
Clinging to an idea in defiance of reality defines the ideologue, a definition to which Obama conforms perfectly. No failure ever gives him pause. He can squander over a half billion dollars of taxpayer money and then use the occasion to brag about what he considers glorious forays into innovative risk-taking.
Most hack pols are reluctant to admit errors, but hack pols who also fancy themselves deep ideologues on the “right side of history” take open pride in them. Obama falls into this latter category. In his mind, the supposed purity of “green jobs” not only absolves him of any complicity in the Solyndra scandal but confers upon him a permanent halo. He has seen the future and it works.
To the extent that he acknowledged the Solyndra failure, he cast it as a minor misstep on the ascending road of progress. He claimed that the green jobs loan guarantee program is humming along nicely — “if you look at the overall portfolio of loan guarantees that have been provided, overall, it is doing well” — even as media outlets report that the program has yielded an anemic number of jobs and a growing list of busts.
In his past boosterism for green jobs, Obama has described them as an indisputable boon to the economy and environment and a safe bet on the future. But in the Stephanopoulos interview, he blithely acknowledged the risk of investing in them: “And what we always understood was that not every single business is going to succeed in clean energy.” Always understood? Did he inform the taxpayer of this?
A gross dereliction of duty dressed up as brave risk-taking has become the administration’s audacious new stance on Solyndra: at first, White House officials professed innocent ignorance of its risk to the taxpayer; now they acknowledge awareness of its wobbliness and dismiss such foreseen failures as the price of progress. “This program was established by Congress to support innovative, cutting-edge projects that by their nature carry a degree of risk,” Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera said to the Washington Post.
“Hindsight is always 20/20,” said Obama to Stephanopoulos, even as his remarks indicated that he would gladly make the same mistake again. He offered no apology to taxpayers while promising more grand gambles with their money in the future: “… the fact of the matter is that if we don’t get behind clean energy, if we don’t get behind advanced battery manufacturing, if we’re not the ones who are creating the cars of the future, then we’re not going to be able to make stuff here in the United States of America. And one of the most important things that I want to do over the next several years is restore a sense that America can manufacture, but we don’t just purchase stuff from someplace else, but we’re also exporting to other countries.”
According to this ludicrous attempt at uplift, Obama is making America more competitive in the global marketplace one bankruptcy at a time. The idea that green jobs would ever prove beneficial to the economy was the first deception involved here, as foreshadowed by Obama’s appointment of Van Jones, a de facto Marxist, as his “green jobs czar.” Marxists have never been known for their job creation.
Nevertheless, Van Jones thrilled White House officials with his “green collar economy” drivel. The Valerie Jarretts listened with rapt attention as he urged environmentalists to move beyond just hyperactive conservation and regulation and explore new avenues of “investment” at taxpayer expense.
Solyndra has smudged the administration’s green collar and raised the prospect of a new crime category, green collar crime, while throwing light on a loan guarantee program that looks like something hatched in a socialist dystopia of Van Jones’s imagining. It has come out that former administration official Lawrence Summers, commenting on Solyndra’s shakiness, warned that government is a “crappy” venture capitalist, but such reservations were never going to register with Obama no matter how loudly expressed, as he was simply not interested in the normal workings of capitalism and was fixated upon green jobs at all costs.
Like a good socialist ideologue, he is impervious to reality and treats any setback as a reason to expand rather than end the cause. Last week, his Department of Energy shoveled out the door more money for green jobs. What will happen with those billions is anybody’s guess. But if the gallows humor contained in the leaked OMB memos about Solyndra are any indication of the fitness of future projects, taxpayers shouldn’t hold their breath. The Washington Post quotes an analyst saying to a colleague: “What’s terrifying is that after looking at some of the [loan guarantee projects] that came next, this one [Solyndra] started to look better.”
About the Author
George Neumayr, a contributing editor to The American Spectator, is co-author, with Phyllis Schlafly, of the new book, No Higher Power: Obama’s War on Religious Freedom.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (100) | Leave a comment
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Shamus| 10.6.11 @ 6:30AM
Given another term, Obama can do for the US what he did for Solyndra.
Timothy L. Pennell| 10.6.11 @ 8:49AM
You people (Writers) keep getting it WRONG.
Solyndra was NOT a Failure. Taxpayer Money was NOT Squandered. The Stimulus did NOT Fail.
All of them did exactly what they were supposed to do. They Laundered Money.
Look at all the Millions that have found their way in to the POCKETS of some of Obama's BIGGEST DONORS. In to the Pocketbooks, of Wives of Bundler's Law Firms, for "Handling the Transactions". See how the Loan agreements have been ILLEGALLY Changed, to benefit Obama's Human ATM Machines. They give him their money. He gives them OUR Money, in the form of "Subsidies" to their "FRONT" Corporations. It's like THE STING movie.
Can anyone say: RICO?
We were promised Green Jobs.
Look at the Hundreds of BILLIONS that found their way to Obama's Union Army. Money went from the Treasury (China) to the States, for their Public Employee Unions. The Unions get to stay on the job. They get to keep paying Dues. The Union Bosses get to pass that Dues money along, BACK to Obama, in the form of Campaign Contributions. No Roads. No Bridges. No New Electrical Grids.
I Know. Let's give him MORE MONEY. Maybe THIS TIME, if he gets all the money he wants for his "Infrastructure Bank", the Jobs WILL BE Shovel Ready?
Jeremiah Wright's little boy, has been EXTORTING MONEY from Businesses, with the help of his ACORN buddies, for years. He still does it. The people who PAY PROTECTION, get Protection. GE, GM, CHRYSLER. The ones that DON"T PAY, don't get. BOEING. GIBSON.
This THING, in the Oval Office, knows what he's doing.
So do we. We know what he's doing.
So, why are so many, so hesitant, to SAY SO?
It's time to wake up.
This is not your Father's President.
USSAlabama| 10.6.11 @ 8:56AM
Exactly!
It's a crime racket and that is all it HAS been.
All these articles bemoaning every obvious mistake are entirely shortsighted.
Open your eyes and raise your voices. This is identical to a mafia in charge of the United States of America.
Frisbee| 10.6.11 @ 4:29PM
I liked George Neumayr's article, but I also agree with Tim Pennel's observation. One reason why Obama does these things is definitely payback (or payforward) to donors.
But remember the old Marxist adage "the end justifies the means"? That kind of mindset can cause two types of bad reasoning. First is the obvious one that it attempts to justify evil means. But the second one is more subtle: it disconnects means from ends. Obama can chose some pie-in-the-sky end like "green-ness", and then that justifies in his mind anything done in the pursuit of that end, even if the chosen means don't actually lead to that end.
Throw taxpayer's money down a hole? It's okay because the end was green. The end justifies the means in his Marxist mind, no matter if the means is evil (like abortion) or is unrelated to the end (careless squandering).
Quartermaster| 10.6.11 @ 6:25PM
Their hearts were in the right place.
Their cronies wallets.
Deborah D | 10.7.11 @ 8:49AM
There is much truth to the definition of a "watermelon" as it applies to our always caring greenies -- "Green on the outside, red on the inside." It's obvious now -- maybe we should call them tomatoes -- red on the outside and red on the inside, because they are no longer hiding behind "green" -- they are in-your-face Red!
Brian Mc| 10.6.11 @ 6:35AM
If we do some rough math, practicality would suggest that if the product, working or not, had been purchased in droves and slapped on every government building in the land Solyndra would have made a killing. Even as a prop for effect, hooked up to nothing so, why did it fail? If criminal charges are not brought up against those responsible for this debacle we will know for certainty that this big government believes to its very core that they need only throw money around and good things will happen. This is only the most recent installment to prove to the contrary; dismantling must begin very soon.
Big government doesn't work and there is the problem. Smaller government works harder because there are no dark corners where the ones responsible can scurry off and hide in. That this government, no matter who's in charge, fails to realize this bodes towards revolution.
Dan Hirsch| 10.6.11 @ 2:56PM
Brian,
I thought they were able to sell their product for $3 while incurring $6 in cost. You can sell an infinity of infinities and still not make a nickel. If you are thinking that an economy of scale could have cut their costs, think of this: their competitors are selling more and will be moving down the cost curve faster than the fraudulent Solyndra... So there is no rational reason for subsidizing this silly business. If investors don't think they can make money at something, why would the government ever think they could? They can't write a budget for longer than 45 days!
There is no justification for Solyndra. None. They were taking taxpayer dollars and loans and diverting them to political donors and Democrat politicians. Period.
Oh yeah and somebody had robots to sell that whistled Disney tunes, while they "worked."
There is NO excuse...other than that I'm with you.
DTOM
Jack von Bauer| 10.6.11 @ 6:47AM
Green jobs... Green jobs... Green jobs. Green jobs. Green jobs. Green jobs.
As Winston Churchill noted: A fanatic is a man who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
Thank goodness Obama is so clever, Imagine how bad it would be if he was a dumb, reactionary, black and white Gramcian/Marxian ideologue who couldn't organize a piss up at a brewery, or sell water in the Sahara.
Kafka should be living today.
Goldwaterite| 10.6.11 @ 4:08PM
I love the Churchill quote, Jack. In end, ole Winnie shall imbibe the last laugh since PresBO, in the first week of his reign, ignominiously had Sir Winston's bust removed from the WH and packed off to the British Embassy. The symbolism was prophetic and chilllng.
I am lobbying for the next President (of another ideological persuasion), as a campaign pledge, to promise have that bust restored!
SpiralArchitect| 10.6.11 @ 4:58PM
Doubtful Churchill would be laughing at the American plight. Laughing at ObaMao? Perhaps.
Lawrence Boccardi| 10.6.11 @ 6:48AM
It remains unclear , to me, why the Congress cannot stop this crap. Ok, Solyndra is out the door, but close to $1 trillion just left in the past few days, to equally weak companies. EPA regulations are still stifling growth, and I strain to hear any right-wing pols, screaming in protest!
Teaghan| 10.6.11 @ 8:07AM
Everyone needs to write their congressmen and senators. Email, snailmail and FAX. Do it now and do it often.
USSAlabama| 10.6.11 @ 9:04AM
Sure. Like the thousands of pink slips that they were sent.
Your government has become a crime racket. Honest congressmen quickly discover the shackles.
I've repeated for over a year -- we have to organize ourselves in our own communities and draft our candidates from people we know. Commit ourselves to vote for that person despite incumbent spending flooding media with ads.
Get them out.
All of the spending is a front for taking the money!
Bills like Obamacare are fronts for power and laws for where they want to re-direct money and rob citizens of their ability to do anything about it.
JimH| 10.6.11 @ 12:45PM
The government has from day one been a crime racket for at least some in it. The difference is that in the past Tammany and the like at least had some competence in actually running a government and knew that they had to deliver to the electorate in order to keep getting their graft. Obama's crew are like the old Soviet or current North Korean governments who spout pious Marxian phrases which none of them truly understand much less believe while systematically looting the country for themselves and a few connected friends.
Jack von Bauer| 10.6.11 @ 6:51AM
Coming soon from those wonderful people who brought you Obama"care"....
The GREEN JOB MANDATE... every citizen is to be forced by law to ensure 50% of his "energy" Consumption comes from "renewable" (sic) sources.
Lee Ghume| 10.6.11 @ 8:49AM
Eat more beans,America needs the gas.
Jack von Bauer| 10.6.11 @ 8:58AM
I'm sure the EPA will be banning farts, any day soon.
Lee Ghume| 10.6.11 @ 10:09AM
Not when they get wind of my flatulence containment and conversion fuel cell. Similar to a hydrogen fuel cell,my invention will trap any methane gas lingering in your bowels as it is emitted with the other gas. Depending on your pharting power,the gas can be compressed up to .006 bar and stored for later use. I am also working on an attachment that will allow the user to feed the trapped methane into his automobile engine,thereby reducing the use of fossil fuel. Unfortunately,not everyone produces methane gas. Dine on some vegetation,fowl(turkey is best) and legumes,then observe if your stool float. Floaters indicate methane gas production in your bowels.
Jack von Bauer| 10.6.11 @ 10:22AM
Finally a wind power technology that makes commercial sense.
Kishego| 10.6.11 @ 10:42AM
I never knew floaters indicated methane gas production. I learned something new today.
Dan Hirsch| 10.6.11 @ 2:58PM
Also means too much fat in your diet...
Lee Ghume| 10.6.11 @ 5:41PM
Nah,the fat just lubricates the projectiles so your sphincter does not slam shut.
irish19| 10.6.11 @ 7:30PM
TMI!!
Drunken Sailor| 10.6.11 @ 11:39AM
If I add more corn to my diet can I get a ethanol subsidy?
Al Adab| 10.6.11 @ 2:34PM
DS:
I think you have to grow it and have your own still. Wait a minute...
obamanot| 10.6.11 @ 3:34PM
Y'all needa take this act on the road...you're crackin me up!! :D
Doctor_X| 10.6.11 @ 7:13AM
The next one to fail is FIRST SOLAR another solar company that can't stand on its own and has been given $500 million of OUR money as well.
Thier stock is down 50% from its 52 week high!
What makes First Solar worse is that they are in bed with G.E. and you know the CEO of GE is a buddy of Obama. Hmmm..wonder why GE just got a $76 million contract from First Solar.
It's all a shell game with OUR money!
Mimi| 10.6.11 @ 7:33AM
This crew does not belong in running this country!
They are DUMB, and woefully IMPATIENT.....To hear about the out and out WASTE of taxpayers hard-earned money is like stealing from the POOR....as we have all suffered loss of savings, and EQUITY in our homes....many whom have NO home.
They didn't CARE about the poor economy , they went full speed ahead with their agenda anyway....Healthcare and AGW belief as events changed !
A marked defeat in 2010....An IPIC scandel, the mounting evidence of terrible rise in health care cost for insurance...They now are seen as too stuck in ideology to do this country only HARM not GOOD! Would or COULD they change???....100% unlikely!!!
SC Mike| 10.6.11 @ 7:35AM
By the time Solyndra geared up to full production, its competitors had dramatically reduced the cost of their products, rendering Solyndra’s cylinder collectors obsolete and overpriced. Solyndra’s problem was that it could not make money selling $6 products for $3 each, losing money even in volume.
There’s one fact taxpayers need to know. In December when Solyndra was found to have violated the terms of its loan, the package was renegotiated to put taxpayers in line behind investors. Who authorized that? The notion of fiduciary responsibility was trampled on, someone needs to lose his / her warrant and someone may have committed a crime. If it was Chu, his key staff and / or legal team need to lawyer up while a prosecutor readies the case.
That Solyndra used the loan guarantee to overbuild outlandish facilities is stupid but par for the course when one is spending someone else’s money. In this case it was taxpayer money that was wasted without supervision or adult leadership.
Michael Tomlinson| 10.6.11 @ 7:42AM
This is why we need to elect a leader who has a real record of cutting government spending and taxes -- Rick Perry. He not only talks the talk he walks the walk.
Intelligent Design| 10.6.11 @ 7:57AM
Exactly.
Fred| 10.6.11 @ 8:40AM
I would have loved to have voted for Rick Perry if for no other reason than because he makes liberals' heads explode. But for better or worse, his candidacy is dead in the water. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. As much as I like him, he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the general election. He scares the crap out of moderates and independents. Next year, the ONLY thing that matters is getting rid of Obama before he does more damage. I'll vote for Romney if I think he can win. Hell, I'd vote for my pet wolf-dog if I thought he could beat Obama. I just hope my more fanatical fellow conservatives can get their ideological blinders off long enough to realize ANYONE, rino, hippo, or groucho is better than Obama. No matter how you feel about a moderate candidate, you have to vote for him next year.
jothepro| 10.6.11 @ 8:53AM
Hey Fred, I have always said don't vote against someone. I will wave that requirement in 2012. We will not survive another 4 years of this alien.
Al Adab| 10.6.11 @ 2:37PM
Fred:
Just why would I vote for someone to the left of McCain. Romney and his ilk simply represent a slow motion "Obama lite" sort of policy mix. What would be the point of that? The ultimate collapse would be no less certain.
Trinacria| 10.6.11 @ 3:42PM
True enough, but it would buy us a little more time to stock up on ammo...
Al Adab| 10.6.11 @ 4:06PM
Trini:
I fear that might end up being the only remaining option.
Trinacria| 10.6.11 @ 6:18PM
You and me, both, brother.
Fred| 10.7.11 @ 8:09AM
Good God, man, did you learn NOTHING from 2008? You really think McCain would have been as bad as Obama? In the words of Ren Hoek, "You eeeeediot."
SC Mike| 10.6.11 @ 7:44AM
Today’s WaPo names some of the suspects:
Even in May 2010, Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s top advisers -- his senior adviser on stimulus, Matt Rogers, and his chief of staff, Rod O’Connor -- were telling the White House not to worry about auditors’ warnings about Solyndra’s finances.
O’Connor told a top White House adviser to Vice President Biden that the warnings were exaggerated, when a venture capitalist and Obama donor had flagged the company’s finances as a reason why the president shouldn’t visit Solyndra as scheduled on May 25. O’Connor also raised the issue of more financial support for Solyndra.
Rogers, who had been a senior consultant at McKinsey before joining the administration and returned to that company last fall, told the White House that such auditors’ warnings were typical for start-ups.
Solyndra applied for a second loan days after receiving the first one in September 2009. The agency had put Solyndra’s request for a second loan guarantee on a fast-tracked priority list, two sources familiar with the company’s application told The Washington Post. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the probes of the loan are ongoing.
Time to call the grand jury.
Teaghan| 10.6.11 @ 10:37AM
Do we see indictments coming around the beltway?
Trinacria| 10.6.11 @ 6:26PM
Sure we do. And I see Selma Hayek coming to my front door naked...
irish19| 10.6.11 @ 7:33PM
Where do you live?
tsd| 10.6.11 @ 7:51AM
It is so easy to piss our money away and along the way make sure your buddies get a fair cut in it. This is not government by the people and for the people. .. this is corruption at it's best. How can the liberals be so dumb to believe this guy and let him stand behind the racist defense when challenged? How much proof do they need???
Teaghan| 10.6.11 @ 8:11AM
Because they are like them and don't see it as corruption.
USSAlabama| 10.6.11 @ 9:07AM
Not just *like* them -- complicit.
CESC| 10.6.11 @ 9:55AM
Because liberalism is about emotions and "good intentions", not about logic, reason and results. Liberalism is a mental disease.
Moelmsch| 10.6.11 @ 4:44PM
Bingo
Intelligent Design| 10.6.11 @ 7:59AM
Obama and his thugs are sinister and treacherous. Congress should get a full accounting of what Solyndra did with more than $500 million of taxpayers' funds. Follow the money.
JFGalt| 10.6.11 @ 8:23AM
I think people are missing the point with the Solyndra failure and in general with corporate failures going on. There is nothing wrong with green jobs brought about by an innovative company that starts out small and builds itself up but what we are seeing is some "suit" takes out a huge loan to open a big factory. He gives himself a scandelous salary and lives a PHAT life. The company fails because he doesn't know what he is doing other than milking the system. This is something out of an Ayn Rand novel. The "investment" in this company was stupid. It was an investment in hype not a green technology company for the future. It was simply one man's get rich quick scheme at the expense of taxpayers. That is why govt investing doesn't work. The govt investors get easily bamboozled by some city-slicker. There is nothing wrong with green technology. We do need to change our power sources and we have to start somewhere. The problem lies with the govt using tax money unwisely. Apple started in a garage not in a multi-million dollar facility financed with taxpayer funding. Guess which survived.
Teaghan| 10.6.11 @ 10:40AM
A get rich quick scheme. Kind of like Algore and his stupid movie and his ranting til his face is red idiocy about globalcooling, globalwarming, climatechange or whatever name they've given it this week kind of scheme? I get that.
Nick| 10.6.11 @ 4:30PM
Mr. Galt,
I agree with you, partially.
The reason politicians get snowed about green energy is because most pols are scientifically illiterate. I'd be willing to bet that President Downgrade doesn't even know at what temperature water boils! So, it is easy to con politicians, even Republicans, on how solar and wind will save us from ourselves.
This doesn't apply to O'Bama and Solyndra, of course. This was a simple money laundering scheme. The democrat party is using taxpayer money to fund their elections by giving it to companies like Solyndra, which in turn, kicks back money to the democrats. They get to keep some for themselves to live the good life.
But, I disagree with your contention that green technology works. Wind and solar cannot compete with coal-generated electricity. And, they never will, barring some great leap in technological advancement.
The only green technology that makes any sense for the average consumer, at the moment, is solar hot water. But, it is still a long term investment. The up-front costs, plus energy savings, can't compete with a $500 - $900 natural gas hot water heater. If you want to use the hot water to heat your home, the costs rise even more.
I know this because I'm in the heating and A/C business. If you are willing to wait 20 -30 years to get your investment back, then green energy is for you. You will never get paid back with photo-voltaic, however. The solar panels only last between 20-30 years, depending on who makes them. Then you will have to start replacing them. The batteries used to store the electricity have to be replaced every 5-7 years, and they are not cheap!
Wind generation technology has advanced somewhat, but, it is not dependable and maintenance is much more expensive than a typical coal-fired generation plant. Not to mention more dangerous.
Now, if O'Bama gets his way, and radically increases the cost for energy, then the payback time is reduced, of course. If you live in California, the cost of electricity, combined with all the taxpayer money used for rebates, can bring the payback period to 10 years. Or, so I have heard claimed by some who have installed green technologies in their homes.
If you take away all the money stolen from the taxpayers to incentivize the use of green energy, it cannot compete with coal generated electricity. Cheap energy is the best way to keep our economy growing. Who wants to pay more for energy than is absolutely necessary?
Redstateboy| 10.6.11 @ 8:30AM
You scream "Solyndra" to a Liber-ul and their response?? "Well what about all the money wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan?!!" When you corner a Liber-ul with a hard, cold, immutable fact - first is Quid'Pro'Quo and when that fails? The ad hominem.
Great quote from Churchill Jack von Bauer:
"A fanatic is a man who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
Al Adab| 10.6.11 @ 1:13PM
Read Eric Hofer: The True Believer for examination of ideologues. Either this is a criminal enterprise or the man actually believes this stuff. If the latter we need to study up on the 25th amendment as his mental stability is at issue.
Timothy L. Pennell| 10.6.11 @ 8:34AM
You people (Writers) keep getting it WRONG.
Solyndra was NOT a Failure. Taxpayer Money was NOT Squandered. The Stimulus did NOT Fail.
All of them did exactly what they were supposed to do. They Laundered Money.
Look at all the Millions that have found their way in to the POCKETS of some of Obama's BIGGEST DONORS. In to the Pocketbooks, of Wives of Bundler's Law Firms, for "Handling the Transactions". See how the Loan agreements have been ILLEGALLY Changed, to benefit Obama's Human ATM Machines. They give him their money. He gives them OUR Money, in the form of "Subsidies" to their "FRONT" Corporations. It's like THE STING movie.
Can anyone say: RICO?
We were promised Green Jobs.
Look at the Hundreds of BILLIONS that found their way to Obama's Union Army. Money went from the Treasury (China) to the States, for their Public Employee Unions. The Unions get to stay on the job. They get to keep paying Dues. The Union Bosses get to pass that Dues money along, BACK to Obama, in the form of Campaign Contributions. No Roads. No Bridges. No New Electrical Grids.
I Know. Let's give him MORE MONEY. Maybe THIS TIME, if he gets all the money he wants for his "Infrastructure Bank", the Jobs WILL BE Shovel Ready?
Jeremiah Wright's little boy, has been EXTORTING MONEY from Businesses, with the help of his ACORN buddies, for years. He still does it. The people who PAY PROTECTION, get Protection. GE, GM, CHRYSLER. The ones that DON"T PAY, don't get. BOEING. GIBSON.
This THING, in the Oval Office, knows what he's doing.
So do we. We know what he's doing.
So, why are so many, so hesitant, to SAY SO?
It's time to wake up.
This is not your Father's President.
Redstateboy| 10.6.11 @ 9:10AM
I watched Hussein on FOX while getting ready for work delivering another one of his lame attack speeches and thought about all the dolts sitting behind him thinking.. "You Morons!! Don't you realize your Messiah just blew 528 Million dollars which, if equally distributed between every Man, Woman and Child in America; would've given you a check for around 1.76 Million dollars!!!?!" "You idiots!!"
CESC| 10.6.11 @ 10:01AM
Bad math Redstateboy. The check would have been around $1.76, not $1.76 million. per person. We have over 300 million people here, not 300.
Johnny H| 10.6.11 @ 10:01AM
Dear RedStateBoy,
I get your point but check your math. If there are 300 million people in the country and the Solyndra money was divided up evenly amongst all, we would each receive a check for $1.76. That's one dollar and seventy six cents. It would cost more to print and mail the checks than the face value of the check. I guess we could call it a jobs program except most of the work is done by machines...
Johnny H| 10.6.11 @ 10:07AM
$1.76 million to each of the 300 million in the country... WOW! Pricetag? $538 TRILLION... Now, that's "stimulus" we can believe in!! LOL! By the time the Fed printed up all that money it would be worth about the same as a cup of coffee at one of those pricey java joints.... or $1.76...
Trinacria| 10.6.11 @ 3:47PM
I want my Goddamn $1.76 back!
Al Adab| 10.6.11 @ 6:25PM
In Lira or Euros?
W| 10.6.11 @ 7:43PM
Not money, But You can have your choice of any book Bill Clinton, or Hillary, or Jimmy Carter, or Barack, or Algore. But you pay postage.
USSAlabama| 10.6.11 @ 9:15AM
I don't think many are waking up Timothy.
They know what is going on is wrong because it's obvious. They like to gather to complain.
There *is* rhyme and reason behind all of these 'mistakes' ... it is a money scheme straight from the mafia and not that hard to see.
Tired of reading articles that state how wrong the president and admin are and all the complaining and gotcha's that go with it.
Every journalist is an armchair observer. Lots of electronic communication to contribute to that. The resulting articles are pile-ons and nobody bothers to do some real work and reveal what is behind all of the seemingly dumb mistakes.
They are not dumb mistakes. They are carefully crafted plans.
MM| 10.6.11 @ 10:48AM
Watch GBTV -- seems they are saying it.
VonMisesJr| 10.6.11 @ 9:28AM
Timothy Pennell is correct in that this was a money laundering scheme and a rip off of taxpayer money. If Solyndra had a successful IPO, Kaiser and other bundlers make out well. When Solyndra failed, the tax payers foot the bill. Funny how Chrysler worked just the opposite where Statutory and Case Law were kicked to the curb. But now we are told we must honor a corrupt bargain with Obama's cronies.
But there are more seminal issues. Solyndra is a threat to the Hegel, Nietzsche and Marx "Enlightenment" vision that Obama and his friends are NOT "Supermen." They cannot admit that they are really just elitiest snobs that don't know Jack, or the game is over.
And most of all it is about power v. liberty. This is what the TEA Parties are about. We understand that if you lose your liberty, you are shot back through the time machine to serfdom. If you read those Enlightenment elitist, their theories are an attempt to derail the Industrial Revolution and Free market Capitalism and the liberty it afforded the common man. Elitist cannot allow people to be free, or they are out of a job.
Al Adab| 10.6.11 @ 1:09PM
It is indeed a money laundering scheme to support campaign contributers. Look at the light bulb CFL deal and see what GE who makes them gave to the campaign. While we are at it however, don't overlook LightSquared which also got a pot full of thie taxpayer money and in which company a Senator Obams invested his personal funds in 2005. This is a criminal enterprise so blatant it reveals the impotence of American Citizens. How is it that we not only tolerate it, but so many support it?
Pat| 10.6.11 @ 3:51PM
Al Adab:
The media provided the usual “deniability” story line by following their standard script of throwing out plenty of names and quotes to impress the public. We’re supposed to believe we’ve been fully informed about this latest swindle while remaining completely powerless to recover our half a billion dollars. The cast of characters in this amusing media farce include:
The Untouchables: Obama, Biden & Chu – there’s absolutely nothing we can do to them so they can dispense the usual “weasel words” during every interview.
The Completely Uninvolved: The “groupies” who are good for a quick quote but don’t know squat about what actually happened. One of these twits told the Washington Post the unindicted co-conspirator working for the Dept. of Energy who approved the Soylandra loan must have done so through an “excess of zeal” – the Post jumped on that quote by this self-appointed expert who personally had nothing to do with the loan, doesn’t work for the government and won’t be testifying before Congress – but, hey, that was a snappy quote, wasn’t it?
The Fall Guys: The CEO and CFO of Soylandra recently testifying before Congress took the 5th. We’re supposed to assume they’re the obvious guilty parties and fully exonerate Obama for all sins great and small.
The Folks We’d Really Like to Hear From But Won’t: Already buried within the media’s unofficial Witness Protection Program, these characters know all about the loan details, who was paid off, who ordered the payoffs and who recently purchased that Mercedes “C” series luxury sedan. These unnamed co-conspirators include: The anonymous former aid to an anonymous Senator who lobbied the White House to consider the loan. The anonymous guy in the Dept. of Energy whose “excess of zeal” led him to approve the loan. The anonymous guy’s anonymous boss at D of E who got that call from the White House ordering the loan approved - with or without excessive zeal. The anonymous White House caller from Obama’s staff who placed the “approve the loan” call to D of E.
The Washington Post reporters avoid these various anonymous insiders like the plague and are careful not to bump into them on the Metro station’s L’Enfant Plaza Blue Line platform – there’s no telling what juicy details these fools might blurt out. Anonymous they are now and anonymous they will remain. Our $500 million is gone for good but at least we, the public, were “fully informed” by those dedicated hacks at the Washington Post.
basil| 10.6.11 @ 9:41AM
"Marxists have never been known for their job creation."
Oh yes they are! Cf. The White Sea canal.
Goldwaterite| 10.6.11 @ 4:13PM
I heard that camp commandants throughout the Gulag were competing for the contract.
Anthony| 10.6.11 @ 11:32AM
Solyndra is just the cherry on top. Operation "Fast and Furious" will not only have the most corrupt A.G. in American history removed from office in 2 months, hopefully, he'll be sharing a prison cell with his heart throb, the Muslim Marxist.
Let Obozo and Holder make beautiful music together from their 5x8 cell.
obamanot| 10.6.11 @ 3:39PM
To paraphrase our Liberal pundits:
Obolder lied, People died.
Marc Jeric| 10.6.11 @ 1:03PM
Among historical pursuits for the impossible:
1) Transforming lead into gold;
2) Inventing "philosopher's stone" giving man eternal youth;
3) Inventing perpetuum mobile which once started would work forever without no further inputs;
4) Green energy.
Nick| 10.6.11 @ 4:56PM
Mr. Jeric,
Shouldn't the search for the elusive cold fusion be on your list?
Strudwick Wickerwire| 10.6.11 @ 1:45PM
Barack Hussein Obonehead should be under indictment, not campaigning for reelection!!!
Strudwick Wickerwire| 10.6.11 @ 1:45PM
Barack Hussein Obonehead should be under indictment, not campaigning for reelection!!!
Uli Kunkel| 10.6.11 @ 1:46PM
Barack Hussein Obonehead should be under indictment, not campaigning for reelection!!!
cogsys| 10.6.11 @ 3:25PM
Here's a radical idea for the Obama administration: "Due Diligence."
Business that do not investigate potential investments 'reasonably' can be sued by shareholders. Too bad taxpayers can't do the same.
Trinacria| 10.6.11 @ 3:55PM
Hard to perform due diligence when neither you nor anyone in your administration has ever
1) read a balance sheet
2) earned a single day's pay in the private sector
3) bothered to understand even the most basic and fundamental principles of business and investing
Perhaps the feeble minded simpletons who voted for this national disgrace will learn a lesson and consider the merits of proper due diligence when casting their vote in 2012...
obamanot| 10.6.11 @ 3:33PM
Where are the INDICTMENTS?
Trinacria| 10.6.11 @ 6:20PM
They're under the college transcripts...
Sid Vicious| 10.6.11 @ 3:35PM
No wonder Larry Summers left! Day-care centers are stressful places, and the constant din of nonsense becomes very tiring after awhile. Looks like we're going to have to shut down Romper Room in 13 months, but at the price of forever being smeared as The Racist Nation.
Marc Jeric| 10.6.11 @ 3:36PM
History has shown several examples of the pusuit for the impossible: for example:
1) transforming lead into gold by medieval alchemists;
2) inventing "philosopher's stone" which would give you the eternal youth;
3) inventing the perpetuum mobile which, once put in operation, will work eternally with no further inputs; and
4) green energy.
This from a retired engineer with a PhD.
dw| 10.6.11 @ 3:40PM
Obamanomics in a nut shell:
More food stamps
More unemployment checks
More green industry bankruptcies and behold....
4% unemployment rate
JohnLeeHooker| 10.6.11 @ 4:09PM
he has NEVER worked outside of govt/academia, made a payroll, negotiated a contract, balanced a budget, started a company, risked his OWN capital in a business
BUT HE'S CONVINCED HE'S A VENTURE CAPITALIST. thanks for that obama supporters
Trinacria| 10.6.11 @ 6:22PM
That surprises you? Really? When one believes one can "heal the earth" and "reverse the rising of the tides", well, venture capital seems a rather mundane challenge, no?
sub| 10.6.11 @ 10:09PM
obama's delusional arrogance knows no boundary. hey, when you're a lethal combination of jack kennedy, will smith, and jesus christ, why on earth should you have to answer to anyone.
Wonder Warthog| 10.6.11 @ 5:51PM
I get the distinct impression from him that, "WTF, it's not MY money."
Pat| 10.6.11 @ 6:38PM
Excellent ranting, but it’s obvious this poor author doesn’t know much about the Soylandra scandal because his story’s sources are those harsh Obama critics, ABC News and the Washington Post. And the mainstream media folks in D. C. find it personally inconvenient to stroll over to the Dept. of Energy’s box shaped office building and ask the folks who pushed the loan through exactly what happened. Media folks – the DOE building is right across the street from the Smithsonian Castle – take the hint and be sure to cross at the light. Not that it would do us inquiring minds much good if they bothered to ask, we won’t see our missing half a billion dollars again, those nice folks in the Cayman Islands take bank secrecy laws very seriously.
But next time you’re a tourist in Washington it might be fun to drop by the DOE’s HQ and ask that federal employee why he or she approved the Soylandra loan, or better yet demand a free lunch from the GS-12 whose name and “Approved” stamp appear on the loan paperwork.
In Washington, it’s the mainstream media’s unwritten rule you don’t publish the names of the federal civil service employees who greased the skids for these massive swindles. Given a name or names, unsympathetic whistleblower types like the author of this piece might go directly to that “little guy” and start asking embarrassing questions – or at least send an email. And the mainstream media can’t have that nonsense – better to keep those in the know well-hidden and avoid dredging up details which would only lead to more names and even more revealing details.
It’s sufficient the public is made aware that $500 million of our money disappeared, it’s no one’s fault really and we wouldn’t want that federal loan approver to be immediately transferred to a DOE branch office in Fairbanks, Alaska. Soylandra happened on Obama’s watch and the media knows Obama will forgive them for mentioning his name, it’s not like the general public doesn’t realize he’s ultimately responsible. But is it fair to put a media spotlight on some low-level federal employee who might then spill his guts about insider-only facts which can’t be properly corroborated with three independent sources? Besides, do you realize how cold it gets in Fairbanks?
R. Kavanagh| 10.6.11 @ 9:35PM
Obama is contemptible. Utterly inept and pathetic. 500+ million is nothing to him because whats another half billion when dismantling capitalism is his aim. His slick speechifying won't save him in 2012 or his record which of course is abysmal and rotten to the core. Not only would he be fired if he were a CEO of a company but he would be thrown in jail for embezzlement, fraud, perjury under oath but outright theft. Throw this charlatan and his czars out. Every last one of them.
sub| 10.6.11 @ 10:06PM
you are correct in your description but wrong in your analysis. it is not ideology that creates this arrogance. it is clinical narcissism. this president has an overtly evident clinical personality disorder. that is the engine for the haughty arrogance, the disconnect from reality, the hyper narcissism that defines this impostor of a man. only progressives could have achieved this, could have put a delusional dictator-in-waiting into the whitehouse. history will not be kind to barack obama, nor should it. he is a disturbed, arrogant, failure.
POST American| 10.7.11 @ 12:03AM
----As American jobs disappear
--------as Globalist EUGENICS tool Steve Jobs disappears
------------as that HAARP-esque, GE flawed
reactor sourced FUKISHIMA fallout saturates
North America (btw --hundreds of times worse
than Chernobyl)
The SIGNS are on the ground.
It's called the Globalist RED China sellout, set up
and TREASON and EUGENICS OP.
----------------------IT'S HERE--------------------------
-----------HUAC meets NUREMBERG 2012---------
RC| 10.7.11 @ 1:15AM
Of course he doesn't regret it....It wasn't HIS money!!
AVCurmudgeon| 10.7.11 @ 11:23AM
On top of everything else, it suddenly occurs to me what the core economic fallacy is with government "investment" in "green" companies. With this loan, and the administration's refusal to reconsider policy given the failures (Solyndra being the most dramatic), "green" companies are told that they do not need a viable business model to get government money. They are told that they do not have to become profitable. They are told that they do not need to become competitive.
It's ironic in the extreme that Obama pushes this kind of policy on the one hand while excoriating the fat cats on the other. Why does he think the executives of these companies are in business? The loans simply grease the rails to get these executives the profits, mansions and corporate jets that they want while doing nothing to improve the businesses or the viability of the industry as a whole.
Ron| 10.7.11 @ 1:19PM
Hindsight or Behind-sight?
I continually shake my head at the stupidity of those that put the Knucklehead-In-Chief into office.
NerObama needs a good dose of the Red Forman "boot up his ass" wake up call...
Mondak| 10.7.11 @ 6:41PM
Obama doesn't give a damn about Green Energy. It was always about Green Palms. He rewards his friends with our money, then expects kick-backs.
It's sneaky embezzlement and extortion.
jackc| 10.9.11 @ 9:37AM
Politicians and the media moguls - CNN and the like - continue to brainwash the illiterate public with sound bites and ridiculous platitudes.
This 'holier-than-thou attitude- demeanor is America's cancer.
Herman Cain for President
Rick| 10.9.11 @ 4:07PM
Obamas' polices do to work! Its just headwins. Your a bigget and a rasist!
D Roamer | 10.10.11 @ 12:59AM
Smart money is not into solar or wind energy, only our government with its loans and subsidies.
I have found out now that just a tiny bit of debris on the solar panel will cut down your watts drastically.
Pity the poor unit owner now, everyday cleaning all his panels to get what he paid for. Dust, residue from the water hosing to clean, etc. They are screwed.