Free Republic

Ron Klain and Solyndra The administration’s point man on a solar fraud is now in charge of Ebola. By Andrew C. McCarthy NRO October 20,2014 Ron Klain is a sharp-elbowed Democratic political operative with no medical expertise. Tapping him as “Ebola czar” may not be the president’s best move when, as it is, no one can believe a word the Obama administration says. And that’s not just because Mr. Klain is yet another lobbyist recruited despite Mr. Obama’s vow that his administration would shun lobbyists. Klain was also a central player in the president’s Solyndra fraud, which soaked taxpayers for...

California Democrat confuses Solyndra with electric car companyBy Daniel Strauss - 05/05/12 12:37 PM ET Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) confused failed solar energy firm Solyndra with the electric car company Tesla. "I wish I had enough expense allowance to get one of those new S's that Solyndra's going to make down there - the electric car," Stark said in a Saturday report by the San Francisco Chronicle, after being asked about the defunct solar energy company. "They run $60,000 to $90,000." Solyndra fell under scrutiny after failing despite recieving a guaranteed $535 million low-interest loan from the Obama administration. House...

It was a revealing moment for California Rep. Pete Stark, the irascible East Bay liberal who has forged a reputation as a firebrand during four decades in Congress. The 80-year-old Democrat, in a meeting with Chronicle editors and reporters this week, appeared to be confused about Solyndra, the Fremont solar power company whose collapse has fueled Republican criticism of the Obama administration's energy policies this election year. "I wish I had enough expense allowance to get one of those new S's that Solyndra's going to make down there - the electric car," Stark said, after being asked about the company....

Obama on Solyndra: ‘This Was Not Our Program Per Se’ Email 4 Smaller Font Text Larger Text | Print At the nation’s largest solar energy plant Wednesday, President Obama doubled down on his commitment to government subsidies for clean energy technology and green jobs — and deflected blame for instances when those investments have failed. “Are you doing your ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy right if that’s what we have to show for it — Solyndra?” asked Kai Ryssdal, host of “Marketplace” on American Public Media, in an interview with Obama. The solar energy start-up Solyndra, which had been the poster child of...

In an interview with Marketplace.org (full audio), President Obama defends using U.S. taxpayer money to invest in solar energy projects. During the interview, Obama was asked about Solyndra, one of the more well-known solar panel companies that failed after receiving a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.

Attorneys for the company filed papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware last week asking for a court order to dispose of up to 3,900 pallets filled with glass tubes that were used to make Solyndra’s solar panels. The lawyers said the company tried to auction the tubes, return them to a supplier and sell the material to recycling companies. But it was too expensive to ship back to the supplier and nobody seemed interested in buying the glass, the attorneys said in court papers. Unable to sell the assets, Solyndra said it would be cheaper just to abandon the...

Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Alvin Boutte, Jr., the adviser who encouraged the state to invest in Democrats’ beloved ShoreBank as it was failing, has agreed to pay a fine, to have his securities license suspended, and to work under “heightened supervision” in the securities industry for the next year. The ShoreBank scandal erupted in 2010 as Chicago Democrats, particularly Rep. Jan Schakowsky, tried to bail out the bank using any means necessary–whether federal, state, or private money. The bank’s closure was delayed several times–evidence, critics charged, of preferential treatment from the Obama administration. Eventually, under pressure from the Tea...

In the wake of Peter Schweizer’s explosive revelation that 80 percent of the Department of Energy’s $20.5 billion in green energy loans went to President Barack Obama’s fundraisers and donors, CBS News is now reporting that the Obama Administration spent billions of taxpayer dollars on 11 more Solyndra-style loans to so-called green energy companies that have since gone bankrupt or are facing serious financial difficulty.