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Politics : The Solyndra Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wayners who wrote (166)	10/13/2011 11:10:54 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1400

Solyndra Redux?Posted 06:35 PM ET Solargate: On the program's last day, a billion-dollar loan guarantee went to another politically connected solar outfit in financial trouble. Fiscal insanity is throwing good money after bad and expecting a different result. They say haste makes waste. But then, so does government. And when you combine the two you get a real mess. Such was the case when the Department of Energy found itself with $4.75 billion in unallocated loan guarantees as the stimulus loan program responsible for the Solyndra fiasco was ending at the end of September. In the wake of the $535 million loan guarantee to a failing Solyndra whose major investor was also a major Democratic donor, last-minute loans were given to First Solar, SunPower Corp. and ProLogis. SunPower got a $1.2 billion guarantee. The question is why. Whatever one's faith in solar energy as a future power source, one would have to question the wisdom of a loan to help build the California Valley Solar Ranch in San Luis Obispo County, a project that will help create 15 permanent jobs — about $80 million in taxpayer money for each job. SunPower posted $150 million in losses during the first half of this year, and its debt is nearly 80% of its market value. The company is also facing class-action lawsuits for misstating its earnings. SunPower sold the solar ranch that received the federal loan to NRG, an energy company based in New Jersey that is still developing the project. SunPower's Class A stock, which traded as high as $74 a share just after it came public three years ago, has fallen to about $8. After five years of profits, the San Jose, Calif.-based company is expected to lose money this year. Morningstar, which also sees losses in 2012, notes the technology it relies on is likely to remain "too costly compared to its peers." So what exactly does SunPower have going for it? As the Daily Caller reports, it has paid lobbyist Patrick Murphy, a confidant of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, at least $290,000 in lobbying fees since 2009. SunPower's political action committee gave $16,500 to Democratic congressional candidates in 2010, vs. $500 to the GOP. Reid got the largest single donation, $4,000. SunPower's top lobbyist is Rep. George Miller's son. The elder Miller, a powerful California Democrat, toured the plant last October with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. All the makings of another Solyndra are there. A financially suspect green energy firm with political connections is rewarded by an administration whose faith is just that, faith, with sound business judgment set aside in favor of a green energy "religion." Another late Friday document dump reveals the White House to be more involved in the Solyndra affair than it is willing to admit. Regarding the push to highlight Solyndra in advance of a presidential visit, one White House staffer, referring to Ron Klein, former chief of staff for Vice President Biden, wrote in an email to an Obama scheduler: "Ron said this morning that POTUS definitely wants to do this (or Rahm definitely wants to do this?)." Rahm is Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff and now mayor of Chicago. In another email, Department of Energy stimulus adviser and former major party fundraiser Steve Spinner asked: "Any word from OMB? I have the OVP (Office of the Vice President) and WH (White House) breathing down my neck on this." Spinner, who raised $500,000 for the 2008 campaign, was referring to the Office of Management and Budget review of the loan. As it turns out, OMB said that the restructuring of the loan to Solyndra, which put investors ahead of taxpayers, might be illegal and should be cleared with the Department of Justice. President Obama has called Solyndra a "bad bet." Whatever you want to call it, crony capitalism or just plain corruption, it appears our fortunes will not change until the bad bet we made with President Obama is reversed in 2012.