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

To: PROLIFE who wrote (210)	10/22/2011 12:12:42 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

Obama's Solyndra scandal reeks of the Chicago Way .......................................................................................... Those of us from Chicago know exactly what the Solyndra scandal smells like. And It doesn't smell fresh and green. by John Kass September 18, 2011 chicagotribune.com The Solyndra scandal cost at least a half-billion public dollars. It is plaguing President Barack Obama. And it's being billed as a Washington story. But back in Obama's political hometown, those of us familiar with the Chicago Way can see something else in Solyndra — something that the Washington crowd calls "optics." In fact, it's not just a Washington saga — it has all the elements of a Chicago City Hall story, except with more zeros. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden got a nice photo op. They got to make speeches about being "green." But then Solyndra went bankrupt. Americans lost jobs. Taxpayers got stuck with the bill. And members of Congress are now in high dudgeon and making speeches. Federal investigators want to know what role political fundraising played in the guarantee of the questionable loan. Washington bureaucrats warned the deal was lousy. And White House spokesmen flail desperately, like weakened victims in a cheesy vampire movie. So forget optics. What about smell? It smells bad, and it's going to smell worse. Or, did you really believe it when the White House mouthpieces — who are also Chicago City Hall mouthpieces — promised they were bringing a new kind of politics to Washington? This is not a new kind of politics. It's the old kind. The Chicago kind. And now the Tribune Washington Bureau has reported that the U.S. Department of Energy employee who helped monitor the Solyndra loan guarantee was one of Obama's top fundraisers. Fundraising? Contracts? Imagine that. Steve Spinner was the Obama administration official in charge of handing out billions and billions of tax dollars to "green" energy deals. According to the Tribune story, Spinner the other day invited Obama's national political finance committee to a meeting in Chicago. The name of the Obama fundraising initiative? "Technology for Obama." The idea of the Obama fundraisers getting together, talking "green," and perhaps offering taxpayer loan guarantees to insider businesses in the interest of helping the environment — it all seems rather fresh. Like a mountain meadow. Until you realize it's the same old politics, the same kind practiced in Washington and Chicago and anywhere else where appetites are satisfied by politicians. When the government picks winners and losers, who's the loser? Just look in the mirror, hold that thought, and tell me later. Republicans are hoping to hang this around Obama's political neck, and they're doing a good job of it now because his approval ratings are low and the jobless numbers are abysmal and the Democrats are in full killer-rabbit panic. But there have been Republican national scandals, too, and they're always ridiculously and depressingly similar. At least in Illinois our scandals are quite ecumenical, with Republicans eager to help Democrats steal whatever they can grab. In Solyndra, like any proper City Hall political scandal, there are similar archetypes. There are the guys who count. The guys who bring the cash. They count because they do the counting. They have leverage. They're always there at the fundraisers. And so they're the ones who are allowed to gorge at the public trough. The bureaucrats are the fulcrum so the guys with the leverage can lift great weight without too much effort. And while they might whine privately among themselves, they don't hold news conferences to blow the whistle. They keep their mouths shut until the deal is done. If anyone gets caught and the problem becomes public, at least they've got email to cover their behinds. And they're doing a good job covering. But there's one group that doesn't get their behinds covered. Instead, their behinds are right out there, suspended foolishly, and waiting to get kicked. We're the taxpayers — in Illinois we call ourselves chumbolones because we're the ones who stupidly end up covering all the losses. As in the Solyndra mess. It's the Chicago Way, but instead of a paving or trucking contract, it's a "green" solar panel contract. The company received a $535 million loan. "The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad," according to a Jan. 31 email from an Office of Management and Budget staffer printed in the Washington Post. "If Solyndra defaults down the road, the optics will arguably be worse later than they would be today. … In addition, the timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up." I love the use of "optics." It's one of those bloodless words finding favor these days. "Optics" suggests bureaucrats might think in terms of symbolism, political hieroglyphs, in grand vistas, rather than in hard numbers, like the $535,000,000 that went poof. But it's not their money, is it? It's ours. So this is not about Washington optics after all. The Solyndra scandal is about the Washington smell of things. Those of us from Chicago know exactly what it smells like. And It doesn't smell fresh and green.

To: PROLIFE who wrote (210)	10/22/2011 12:26:43 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

$529 Million U.S. Taxpayer Loan Creates 500 Jobs ? In Finland ----------Obama Green Jobs Triumph ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your Obama ripoff of the day. by John Hayward 10/21/2011 humanevents.com ABC News reports a smashing success story of Obama job creation, as a $529 million taxpayer loan to an electric car copy has produced 500 manufacturing jobs. That’s only $1,058,000 per job - far more efficient than the normal $5.6 million per job rate for Obama programs. Unfortunately, the jobs are in Finland. Oh, and the cars in question are luxury vehicles that cost $97,000 apiece. And they’re already a year behind schedule for production. And they only get 20 miles to the gallon, which is not exactly a triumph of fuel efficiency. Leonardo DiCaprio bought one. You little people will have your crack at one of these Finnish miracle wagons soon enough, however, because a bargain-priced $57,400 model will soon be available to the working poor. Power to the people, man! Was this a case of a big job-creating program snatched away to distant shores at the last moment, in a shocking betrayal of Obama’s economic genius? Nope. The jobs were never going to be in the United States. “We’re not in the business of failing, we’re in the business of winning,” explained company founder Henrik Fisker. “So we make the right decisions for the business. That’s why we went to Finland.” Smart man. The World Bank just released its annual survey of which countries are the best places to start a business. Barack Obama?’s America is not even in the top ten. How did Fiskers win this fabulous American taxpayer support for jobs in Finland? As you know, the Energy Department has a rigorous set of complex tests for “green” loans, administered with precision by a group of brilliant and completely impartial geniuses who make wonderful high-stakes “bets” with your money. In an entirely unrelated coincidence, ABC observes that “one of Fisker’s biggest financial supporters is the California venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers?.” One of their partners, John Doerr?, is a Google billionaire and top Democrat contributor who just happens to sit on Obama’s “Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.” Oh, and Al Gore? is another senior partner in the firm. But that has nothing to do with anything. Fiskers bought an old General Motors? factory in Delaware, and they say they’ll soon be “churning out tens of thousands of electric sports sedans” there. Just wait until the wave of demand for the discounted $57,400 model hits, and the people who still have jobs after four years of Obama are driving those puppies to Wal-Mart for groceries! Those eye-popping sticker prices will surely come down from competition, as red-hot rival automaker Tesla Motors? (run by top Obama donor Elon Musk, and counting top Obama donor Steve Westly? on the board of directors) uses its own $465 million loan to pump out America's most vital product: electric cars nobody wants, except rich liberals hungry for politically correct status symbols. Except Tesla has “no experience in high-volume manufacturing of electric cars.” Also, the company “has yet to turn a profit, and suffered net losses in each quarter.” Their losses total $522.8 million so far. That’s even more than the pile taxpayer money Barack Obama gave them! “A key question, experts and investigators say, is whether another Solyndra is in the offing,” reports ABC News. Don’t be silly, ABC! At least there are actual jobs being created here. For a million dollars a pop. In Finland.

To: PROLIFE who wrote (210)	10/22/2011 12:32:41 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

Taxpayer money is exorbitantly wasted to help foreigners sell expensive toys to Hollywood millionaires This a perfect Obama tale symbolic of his entire reign of error.

To: PROLIFE who wrote (210)	10/24/2011 6:42:17 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

Solyndra-linked fundraiser still boosting Obama campaign .................................................................................................................... Steven Spinner, a former Energy Department official with ties to the failed solar company, continues to raise money for the president and help organize events. By Peter Nicholas and Tom Hamburger, Washington Bureau October 24, 2011 latimes.com Reporting from Washington— A former Energy Department official linked to the failed Solyndra solar enterprise deal continues to raise campaign money for President Obama and helped plan a fundraising luncheon that the president will attend in San Francisco on Tuesday. Steven Spinner, who remains in the top tier of Obama fundraisers, took part in a conference call in recent weeks devoted to planning the event at the W Hotel. He also has joined other Obama fundraising calls, according to a person familiar with Spinner's participation who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. An Obama campaign official said Sunday that Spinner did not raise funds for the San Francisco event but is an "active fundraiser for the campaign." He declined to comment on whether Spinner took part in conference calls about the luncheon. Spinner could not be reached for comment. His participation is controversial, even among Obama supporters. Some think Spinner should take a reduced role in the campaign given the uproar over Solyndra, but the White House considers it a manufactured controversy being exploited for partisan reasons. Solyndra, a now-bankrupt manufacturer of solar cylinders, was a showcase for the White House initiative to develop green energy. The California firm received a $535-million loan guarantee through an Energy Department program that Spinner helped oversee. Emails show Spinner pushed for a prompt decision on the Solyndra loan as his wife's law firm was representing the company. Administration officials said Spinner recused himself from discussions about the loan guarantee and played no role in the decision. The FBI and Republican-controlled House committees are looking into Solyndra, which declared bankruptcy and laid off 1,100 employees this summer. Taxpayers may be on the hook for the full amount of the loan guarantee. In the 2008 campaign, Spinner raised at least half a million dollars for Obama. In campaign finance parlance, Spinner is a "bundler," gathering checks from many individuals and presenting the total to the campaign. Every major presidential campaign has bundlers, often giving them honorific titles and special access to the candidate. The Obama campaign voluntarily discloses all of its bundlers to the Federal Election Commission. The latest quarterly report listed Spinner at the "$500,000-plus" level. Obama leaves Monday for a three-day swing through the West, part of an aggressive fundraising drive. He will stop at six fundraisers altogether, including events Monday in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Ticket prices for the sit-down lunch with the president in San Francisco start at $5,000. A $7,500 contribution enables donors to attend a photo reception with Obama, the invitation shows. Up to 200 people are expected to attend. Emails show that Spinner was deeply involved in coordinating a "big event" to announce the approval of Solyndra's loan guarantee. He envisioned "golden shovels, bulldozers, hardhats, etc.," according to an Aug. 20, 2009 email. That same month, Spinner's boss, Matt Rogers, sent a note to him saying, "Thanks for driving Solyndra." Obama has defended the loan guarantee as having been made "on the merits." Energy Department officials said Spinner was specifically recused from "engaging in any discussions on decisions affecting specific loan applications" because his wife's law firm represented Solyndra. One Democratic fundraiser said the White House wasn't apt to worry about Spinner's fundraising role, citing conversations with Obama advisors who regard Solyndra as a made-up controversy that Republicans are trying to exploit. With Obama facing a tough reelection fight, Spinner is among the campaign's proven producers. "It's a tough fundraising climate, and they regard the Solyndra issue as just partisan politics," said the fundraiser, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

To: PROLIFE who wrote (210)	10/27/2011 1:04:41 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

"The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury.” ~ George Washington

To: PROLIFE who wrote (210)	10/28/2011 3:18:19 PM
From: joseffy	2 Recommendations Respond to of 1400

Open Range: The Solyndra of Broadband ................................................................................................................ Friday, October 28, 2011 digitalliberty.net As if we needed another reminder that the free market is no place for big government, along comes another government loan failure—Open Range. This Greenville, Colorado company received $267 million in federal loan guarantees from the Department of Agriculture in an effort to bring broadband service to unserved or underserved rural areas. Along the same vein as Solyndra, Open Range was purported to provide cutting-edge technology, but worked under an extremely questionable business model. In early October, Open Range declared bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers to foot a $74 million bill for unpaid loans. The government picking winners and losers in the broadband market through federal loan guarantees is nothing new. The USDA’s Rural Utilities Service program (RUS) has long been extremely duplicative and inefficient. In a recent study, researchers at Navigant Economics found that 85% of homes serviced through the RUS already had access to three or more broadband services. In one region of Montana, expanding broadband to unserved households through the RUS cost $7 million…per house. It should be evident to the government that gambling with taxpayer dollars on risky endeavors is not a fruitful venture. Allowing the free market to sort out winners and losers is not only more cost-efficient, but it provides better results. After the fiascoes of Open Range and Solyndra, it would be prudent of the government to step back from growing industries and allow them to develop organically.