Countering WaPo’s front page
story showing deep and intense White House involvement in
rushing through $535 million in taxpayer dollars to the brainchild
of major Obama contributor George Kaiser, failed solar panel
boondoggle Solyndra, today’s E&E Daily has a story
(subscription required) “Democrats launch counteroffensive on
Solyndra.”
The hand-waiving effort — Schwarzenegger was a fan! A Solyndra
exec is a registered Republican! The program Obama abused was
originally created by Congress during George W. Bush’s presidency!
— concludes with the following cry for help, or at least for a
good fisking:
Other Democratic leaders were quick to pan the RNC’s attempt to
make Solyndra the face of the stimulus effort.
“Solyndra is unfortunate. Did it not work? It didn’t work
apparently. But that’s not the face of the Recovery Act,” said
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in an interview.
I’m sorry…whose effort to make Solyndra the face of
‘stimulus’?
Which other project received — on top of the internal push to
rush a half-billion dollars to this “not ready for prime time” (per
an OMB email) project — personal attention and public promotion by
the Energy Secretary, Vice President, and President? But, no, it
wasn’t the face of ‘stimulus.’
But, what of that whole presidential
address, including:
So that’s why we’ve placed a big emphasis on clean energy.
It’s the right thing to do for our environment, it’s the right
thing to do for our national security, but it’s also the right
thing to do for our economy.
And we can see the positive impacts right here at
Solyndra. 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. This new factory is
the result of those loans.
Since the project broke ground last fall, more than 3,000
construction workers have been employed building this plant.
Across the country, workers — (applause) — across the country,
workers in 22 states are manufacturing the supplies for this
project. Workers in a dozen states are building the advanced
manufacturing equipment that will power this new facility.
When it’s completed in a few months, Solyndra expects to hire a
thousand workers to manufacture solar panels and sell them across
America and around the world. (Applause.)
And this in turn will generate business for companies throughout
our country who will create jobs supplying this factory with parts
and materials. So there’s a ripple effect. It’s not
just localized to this area.
…The true engine of economic growth will always be companies
like Solyndra, will always be America’s businesses. But that
doesn’t mean the government can just sit on the sidelines.
Government still has the responsibility to help create the
conditions in which students can gain an education so they can work
at Solyndra, and entrepreneurs can get financing so they can start
a company, and new industries can take hold.
So that’s why, even as we cut taxes and provided emergency
relief over the past year — we also invested in basic research, in
broadband networks, in rebuilding roads and bridges, in health
information technology, and in clean energy. Because not only
would this spur hiring by businesses — it would create jobs in
sectors with incredible potential to propel our economy for years,
for decades to come. There is no better example than
energy.
But, well, no, that’s not to say Solyndra was the face of
‘stimulus.’
Hoyer continued, with this gem:
The face of the stimulus is that the economy was growing during
its duration. We created 2 million jobs over 20 months during its
duration. The stock market had appreciated in value almost 100
percent during its duration. That’s the face of the Recovery
Act.
And, ah, the stimulus was not a stimulus, it was a WPA-type
scheme. That’s $393,500 per temporary job. Let’s make it up in
volume!
The spin begins. But to ice the cake of the recklessness and
inexplicable waste of “Obama’s Enron,” Solyndra, don’t miss
this devastating timeline.
