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EDITORIAL: Obama’s shady solar subsidies
The Washington Times ^ | September 13, 2011 | Editorial

Posted on 09/13/2011 5:19:22 PM PDT by jazusamo

House Republicans look beneath the green fig leaf

President Obama is selling a repackaged “jobs” spending spree to the nation. Americans need assurance that blowing another half-trillion dollars on stimulus - the American Jobs Act - isn’t a recipe for more crony capitalism.

It’s telling that hours before the president pitched his plan last week to a joint session of Congress, the FBI raided the Fremont, Calif., offices of Solyndra, a solar-panel manufacturer Mr. Obama once held up as a model for the coming “green” economy. The firm blew through $535 million in federal loans to build a state-of-the-art facility. Then on Sept. 6, the company abruptly filed for bankruptcy, laying off most of its 1,100 employees.

The suddenness of Solyndra’s demise suggests its business plan was unsound from day one. Investigators ought to find out whether political favoritism was behind the decision to funnel cash from the first stimulus to the manufacturer of solar panels that are too pricey to compete in an open marketplace. One of the company’s principal investors was George B. Kaiser, an Oklahoma oil billionaire who served as a bundler of campaign contributions for Mr. Obama’s election bid in 2008, according to news reports.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee saw this coming early on. Even before the FBI’s raid, the panel had scheduled a hearing this week to quiz Obama administration and company officials on details of the loan approval. Rep. Fred Upton, the committee chairman, said in a statement Thursday that he had not been notified of the bureau’s search beforehand...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: corruption; obama; solarpower; solyndra; solyndragate; subsidies

1 posted on 09/13/2011 5:19:35 PM PDT by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

Green Technology - the new Vaporware in the new Tech Bubble.


2 posted on 09/13/2011 5:23:13 PM PDT by jessduntno (Obama shanks. America tanks.)
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To: jazusamo

Let the sun shine in......


3 posted on 09/13/2011 5:23:13 PM PDT by Red Badger ("Treason doth never prosper.... What's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason.")
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To: Red Badger

Amen to that!

I’d wager there’s some mighty nervous people in the O administration right now including him.


4 posted on 09/13/2011 5:28:40 PM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: jazusamo

If it was anything other than a total criminal scam, these Green Investments would be privately funded.


5 posted on 09/13/2011 5:30:02 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember
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To: jazusamo
Does anyone ever remember a President using "chant and call" to advance a piece of...ahem...legislation?

I must say, I do not recall any politician utilizing such a sophomoric stunt.

Must be because he is the smartest President ever.

6 posted on 09/13/2011 5:30:15 PM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (***9/11*** Never Forget - Never Forgive ***9/11***)
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To: jazusamo

It goes deeper. Here’s is an excerpt of a synopsis from Doug Ross @ Journal on Obama’s “solar” fraud:

ABC unearths e-mails that show Obama knew Solyndra’s products were unmarketable before they were given the gov. loan.

Can we call it “Solargate” yet?

We already knew that Solyndra investor George Kaiser personally gave more than $50,000 to the Obama Presidential campaign in 2008. And that Solyndra executives visited the White House 20 times since Obama took office.

Now ABC News has evidence that the White House knew what everyone else did: that Solyndra’s products were ummarketable from day one.

Newly uncovered emails show the White House closely monitored the Energy Department’s deliberations over a $535 million government loan to Solyndra, the politically-connected solar energy firm that recently went bankrupt and is now the subject of a criminal investigation.

The company’s solar panel factory was heralded as a centerpiece of the president’s green energy plan — billed as a way to jump start a promising new industry. And internal emails uncovered by investigators for the House Energy and Commerce Committee that were shared exclusively with ABC News show the Obama administration was keenly monitoring the progress of the loan, even as analysts were voicing serious concerns about the risk involved. “This deal is NOT ready for prime time,” one White House budget analyst wrote in a March 10, 2009 email, nine days before the administration formally announced the loan.

“If you guys think this is a bad idea, I need to unwind the W[est] W[ing] QUICKLY,” wrote Ronald A. Klain, who was chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, in another email sent March 7, 2009. The “West Wing” is the portion of the White House complex that holds the offices of the president and his top staffers. Klain declined comment to ABC News.
Worse still, Solargate hasn’t slowed the Department of Energy’s efforts to redistribute taxpayer funds to other “green” companies (which just happen to be backed by Obama’s top contributors).

On September 7, the DOE announced its plan to guarantee 80 percent — or $275 million — of a $344 million private loan taken out by the firm SolarCity. The company installs rooftop solar systems that harvests electricity SolarCity then sells... The guarantee means that if SolarCity’s project [fails, taxpayers must] pay back 80 percent of the company’s private loans...

...The Chairman of SolarCity, Elon Musk, is a major financial supporter of the president. On April 15 of this year, Musk donated $35,800 to the Obama Victory Fund. He also gave an additional $5,000 to the Obama campaign... Like Solyndra officials White House visitor logs show Musk has visited the Administration at least four times since 2009.

The second company is Solexel. On September 2, the solar energy company announced a $13 million award from the DOE as part of a program to make solar energy systems more affordable for homeowners... Solexel is financially backed by venture capitalist Steve Westly. In 2008, Westly bundled for Obama’s presidential campaign, bringing in more than $500,000. Westly also served as a California co-chair and was a member of the National Finance Committee for the Obama for American campaign.

He’s at it again for the president’s 2012 re-election campaign. So far, Westly has bundled between $100,000 and $200,000... [and] Westly’s companies have received millions in stimulus dollars from the Obama administration. The Westly Group’s portfolio includes Tesla Motors, which received a $465 million loan in 2009; Amyris Biotechnologies, which got more than $24 million; and Logos Technologies, which received $20 million in DOE loans.
This is an immense scandal. The Obama administration appears to have laundered billions of taxpayer dollars through green companies using its political backers as front-men.

As Mark Levin said last night, “We need a special prosecutor.”

Article link with embedded ABC link: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/09/oh-my-abc-unearths-emails-that-show.html


7 posted on 09/13/2011 5:34:35 PM PDT by CharlesMartelsGhost
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To: jazusamo

So that’s how the “green economy” is supposed to work.


8 posted on 09/13/2011 5:36:09 PM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: jazusamo

We have to fund these companies so that we can learn their business plans. /sarc


9 posted on 09/13/2011 5:36:38 PM PDT by Huskrrrr
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To: Aevery_Freeman

Great point. Bam Bam the cheerleader and it’s a bill from the executive branch that he’s cheering for.

I can remember all the presidents back to and including Truman and there’s never been a president in that time frame as unpresidential as Obama, not even close.


10 posted on 09/13/2011 5:38:37 PM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: CharlesMartelsGhost
Good post, thanks.

You can bet if ABC is reporting this there's a lot that hasn't come out yet.

As Mark Levin said last night, “We need a special prosecutor.”

Couldn't agree more with Levin.

11 posted on 09/13/2011 5:44:46 PM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: jazusamo
jazusamo wrote:
You can bet if ABC is reporting this there's a lot that hasn't come out yet.
You can bet that if ABC and the Washington (com)Post are reporting this, they have the "all clear" from the administration that the FBI has everything locked up in an "ongoing active investigation" where neither Issa, nor Upton, nor any other Congressional committee, nor any rogue "conservative activist investigator posting as a 'Reporter'" wil be albe to get their hands on anything of substance.

The Party Propaganda Ministry would not be reporting this if there were any "smoking gun" documents out in the wild, available with any chance at all of being discovered by anyone.

12 posted on 09/13/2011 5:56:08 PM PDT by cc2k ( If having an "R" makes you conservative, does walking into a barn make you a horse's (_*_)?)
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To: cc2k
"the FBI has everything locked up in an "ongoing active investigation" where neither Issa, nor Upton, nor any other Congressional committee, nor any rogue "conservative activist investigator posting as a 'Reporter'" wil be albe to get their hands on anything of substance."

That's right. Their investigation will be "ongoing" and under wraps until January 2013.

13 posted on 09/13/2011 6:08:02 PM PDT by Neanderthal
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To: cc2k
You make a good point and that could very well be true.

The wife brought up the fact the other day when I got home that the FBI raided Solyndra and my reply to her was they might have been searching for evidence to conceal, I still think it's possible.

It really ticks me off to see Zer0 using DOJ, FBI and other departments for his personal corrupt goings on. This turkey has to go next year, preferably before thru impeachment.

14 posted on 09/13/2011 6:10:04 PM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: Neanderthal

Obama owns the Justice department.. maybe he owns the FBI as well...
The FBI could care less about the Mexican border.. or the Black Panthers.. or Voter fraud.. -OR- a plethora of other things..


15 posted on 09/13/2011 6:29:19 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole...)
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