Posted on 09/24/2011 12:10:24 PM PDT by Libloather
The Phony Solyndra Scandal
By JOE NOCERA
Published: September 23, 2011
**SNIP**
Do the Republicans know this? Of course. Do they care? Of course not. For an hour and a half on Friday morning, they peppered the two men with questions about this “taxpayer ripoff,” as Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, described it, knowing full well that Harrison and Stover would invoke their constitutional right to remain silent. Joe McCarthy would have been proud.
The purpose of the hearing — indeed, the point of manufacturing a Solyndra investigation in the first place — is to embarrass the president.
**SNIP**
But if we could just stop playing gotcha for a second, we might realize that federal loan programs — especially loans for innovative energy technologies — virtually require the government to take risks the private sector won’t take. Indeed, risk-taking is what these programs are all about. Sometimes, the risks pay off. Other times, they don’t. It’s not a taxpayer ripoff if you don’t bat 1.000; on the contrary, a zero failure rate likely means that the program is too risk-averse. Thus, the real question the Solyndra case poses is this: Are the potential successes significant enough to negate the inevitable failures?
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Wow; Nocera got paid for his “research” on the article, and you don’t. Now that’s a scandal worth looking into.
Both parties are knee deep in Crony Capitalism.
Kinda like going to Vegas with someone else’s credit card! Of course I'll take risks so long as I can pass them off onto the poor lump whose card I'm using.
It’s easy to take a risk with other people’s money.
Unfortunately for the author, his premise falls apart when even a casual look at Solyndra’s business plan showed that failure was imminent.
Absolutely not. The mind set of the founding fathers was that the national purse was sacrosanct.
Whereas now it is considered free money to be thrown around as chum for votes or donations. Or as seed money to finance half baked theoretical technologies which no one would be foolish enough to finance with their own money.
“Former employees of Solyndra, the shuttered solar company that exhausted half a billion dollars of taxpayer money, said they saw questionable spending by management almost as soon as a federal agency approved a $535 million government-backed loan for the start-up.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2782055/posts
Joe Nocera, you are way too late, the word is out.
I only read the first 20 or so comments following the article, but, surprisingly most were very critical of the article, critical of Solandra, and critical of the Obama administration for making the loan. When even those who read the NYT can’t be fooled by an article making excuses for the administration, and say so in the comments, it proof that you can’t fool all the people all the time. And that’s very bad news for Obama and Co.
Huh?!?!?! If venture capitalists won't place their hard earned money on the line, why should the Marxist Central Planning Committee at the White Crib use OUR hard-earned money, confiscated by the government, to "invest" in high risk venture capital scams, where the safety net goes to a campaign bundler? NYT is guzzling the Hopium-laden KoolAid.
The New York Times defends fascism. Well, there’s a surprise.
Is this guy brain dead or what?
Well, of course....in a commie/fascist country!
Big difference between funding basic R&D, and backing a private manufacturing company.
Guess this dummy thinks that hearings should be cancelled when a witness threatens to take the 5th. You have to make them do it moron.
Let the tumbrels roll.
“phoney”
I guess being a NY Times “Journalist” means you get to ignore all the inconvenient facts that don’t fit you bigoted extremist political dogmas.
0 administration’s own business analysis said DON’T DO THE Solyndra deal.
“phoney”
I guess being a NY Times “Journalist” means you get to ignore all the inconvenient facts that don’t fit you bigoted extremist political dogmas.
0 administration’s own business analysis said DON’T DO THE Solyndra deal.
Joe Nocera is just another useful idiot gobbling up the liberal ejaculate.
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