CBS News: Obama’s 11 More Solyndras
by Wynton HallIn 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.
CBS News’s Sharyl Attkisson, the reporter who originally broke the Solyndra story, notes that 11 other failed clean energy companies besides Solyndra received approval for $6.5 billion in taxpayer monies. Beacon Power, Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt, Eastern Energy, and Solyndra have all gone bankrupt. Others, such as Nevada Geothermal Power, a company that was personally touted by Sen. Harry Reid, is facing serious financial problems and warned of “multiple potential defaults” in its new SEC filings. Still, despite the fact that the company had already been struggling to “pay the bills,” Ms. Attkinson reports that Nevada Geothermal Power received $98.5 million in Department of Energy loan guarantees.
The CBS report also cites First Solar, a company that Breitbart News editor Peter Schweizer reported on extensively in his bestselling book, Throw Them All Out, as having been approved for billions in government loans. In 2011, First Solar won the inauspicious title as having been the biggest S&P loser in 2011. Moreover, First Solar has strong ties to Mr. Obama’s top fundraisers. As Mr. Schweizer reported for Breitbart News, Obama bundler Bruce Heyman was with Goldman Sachs which, along with billionaire Ted Turner, are among the largest investors in First Solar. So far, Mr. Heyman has already raised $366,884 for Mr. Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. And Schweizer’s says in 2008, Mr. Turner’s companies donated more than $1 million in campaign contributions to Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign. Whether these political contributions helped First Solar land its whopping $4.7 billion in loan guarantees, the appearance at least of cronyism is certainly strong.
According to CBS News, the Department of Energy also knew that Beacon Power, a “green energy storage company,” was an all-but doomed investment that had received an embarrassing “CCC-plus” rating from Standard and Poor, making it little more than a “junk bond.” Economist Peter Morici told CBS that investments with that kind of rating have roughly a 70 percent chance of failing over the long term. Still, despite knowing how poor an investment Beacon Power was, the Obama Administration dumped $43 million of taxpayer dollars into it.
Mr. Morici told CBS that Secretary of Energy Steven Chu lies at the heart of the problem:
Tasking a Nobel Prize mathematician [Chu] to make investments for the U.S. government is like asking the manager of the New York Yankees to be the general in charge of America’s troops in Afghanistan. It’s that absurd.
Unmentioned in the report was the fact that the men Mr. Obama put in charge of deciding which companies would receive the Department of Energy’s loans and grants were not scientists at all; rather, they were instead Mr. Obama’s top fundraisers, such as Steve Spinner who was on the Obama campaign’s National Finance Committee and was a bundler himself.
Perhaps that explains why the Department of Energy refused CBS News’s interview request.
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70 Comments
Government is not empowered to make loans and grants with the money it takes from people in the form of taxation.
We have to put an end to this communist, socialist, collectivist progressive foolishness. We must protect private property once again.
Remove the usurpation government has engaged in and there will be no more Solyndras, no more campaign slush funds called "stimulus" and no more fleecing of We The People by corrupticrats.
Vote. Them. Out.
Every. Last. One. Of. Them.
And nothing will come of this either. No one in DC has enough spine to go after Obama for fear of being called a racist, even though we know that race has nothing to do with it and corruption is at the heart of it all. Whomever replaces Obama next year better have the will to clean house – it's going to take a while to get it done.
We The People have to clean house………as in House of Representatives.
The Silent SPeaker, John Friggin' Boehner (Sheesh, I've went from John Friggin' Kerry to John Friggin' Boehner) has been an epic fail. His silence and inaction has proven to us all that the Establishment Party has two wings, one Democrat and one Republican, with that machine being at odds with, on the other said than, We The People.
You are right, Sig, there is no spine in Washington. It is our responsibility to install one and that means removing the wishy washy spineless bunch that inhabits that area now.
Here's what you get when stupid, ignorant government officials pick winners and losers in the business world.
They are so pathetic…..
Morici is half right.
Chu is out of his league, sure. But Joe Girardi would do a FAR better job policing Afghanistan than this blubbering, arrogant fool did at Energy. Listen to him defending the indefensible; as with typical progressive academics he is SO much smarter than anyone else he can't relate to how wrong he is and how corrupt his decisions are.
It is reason No#1, front and center, why these people should NEVER lead anything. Leadership requiures courage, self analysis and honest determination; traits Chu has demonstrated he lacks in totality…
Obama Clean Energy playbook: Labour Charter 1927, Grand Council of Fascism, article 7: "The corporative State considers private initiative, in the field of production, as the most efficient and useful instrument of the Nation", article 9 "State intervention in economic production may take place only where private initiative is lacking or is insufficient, or when are at stakes the political interest of the State. This intervention may take the form of control, encouragement or direct management."
"The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves."
George Washington
Absolutely. I would venture to guess that fewer than 15% of those currently there should continue to be there. Unfortunately it's the old "he may be a bastard, but he's our bastard" mentality that keeps a lot of these people there decade after decade. What we really need is to put checks in place that prevent them from exploiting their positions to become wealthy and powerful while there. IMO, particularly those in the HoR should not be living to a higher standard than those who elected them (unless they want to spend their own money of course.)
This Solar Energy crony capitalist rip-off of the taxpayer needs to be dissected, broken down, and presented to the American people as short commercials over a the next 12 months. Then, expose Operation Gun Runner.
Billionaires, recieving the hard earned tax dollars of the American people, as gifts from Barack Obama for their campaign contributions.
Next time you're watching PBS, remember where the Kaiser Foundation got the money to make such a "generous" grant for the fine PBS programming you enjoy.
"Unmentioned in the report was the fact that the men Mr. Obama put in charge of deciding which companies would receive the Department of Energy’s loans and grants were not scientists at all…"
Isn't that kind of redundant?? Does Mr. Obama know ANY scientists??
obama is corrupt as hell
Yes, we need a new start with some new faces…our problems have been noticed for a long time, just a not a whole lot done about it.. .http://www.popmodal.com/video/9109/WHAT-IS-COMMUNISM
THE CHICAGO WAY …..Pay for Play
Does anyone think CNN ABC MSNBC CBS NBC are going to call this crony capitalism? Are the people who accuse Romney of crony capitalism going to call this crony capitalism?
I'm waiting.
Money laundering. Time to arrest Obie and throw him in jail.
Ash:
We need to clean the Senate! The House has passed plans to balance the budget and the Senate let them die.
The Senate wants tax increases instead of spending cuts.
If we elect 13 conservative senators and kick out 13 liberal democrat senators this year we get rid of the Senate roadblock and those 13 new conservative senators can kick out Mitch and his horrible leadership with Rand Paul while Marco is the tie breaking vote for the newly elected Republican President.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
No KCS:
Newt and Rick not to mention Romney are more of a true patriot than whoever this RP is.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
It's ok to give $70 billion in subsidies to the oil companies, but investing a fraction of that in new energy models, which can get us away from importing oil from countries that hate us is bad….All new technology has startup costs, and not all new projects will succeed. But continuing to do nothing means we keep funding our enemies (of course, the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis)
Frank Provasek
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington
Fast and Furious
Solyndra
I'm going to have to take a new look at CBS. They actually seemed to have rediscovered some journalistic integrity and are willing to cover stories that look bad for Obama. Of course it could just be Ms. Attkisson who has the integrity, but who knows, maybe some of it will rub off on the others. Good work by a true journalist in the MSM. Pity that it is so rare that it has to be highlighted.
The only man that has the stones in my opinion is Steve King, he should be Speaker of the House.
Think about this folks because the media won't. $600 million (assumes 3% per year) is the yearly interest we will pay forever for this horrible spending program.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
If the people in the Gov't could pick winners in the business world, they would be in the business world. They would have to invest their OWN money and reap the benefits thereof. It is obvious that this isn't the case. This green socialistic program is nothing more than rewarding the campaign contributers/bundlers for Obama. It is corruption, pure and simple.
Clean house this November.
No marxist muslim in the W.H.
Say what you will about Romney, at least he didn't use my money to earn his own.
The state run media? Nope! They are controlled by our government.
Can this get worse?
How has this happened?
Where are the overseers?
Obama is as corrupt and narcissitic as any 'persomn' that has been in a political spotlight. But to allow this cretin to be allowed to create all these unknown PILES of cash using OUR TAX MONEY cannot be condoned and should never had been.
EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING this unprincipled 'leader' does is to add weight to a drwoning country, which IS HIS GOAL….remember, Barry, the book "A World Without America" that you read in your first year as America's killer-in-chief?
With Boehner so silent, there is no other conclusion but to believe "they are all in this together." Afterall, these dollar numbers could turn good men bad, but when you suck already, well then you have today's POTUSA.
Thanks CBS. Your sifting through the ashes is a big help. If only you had taken a good look at this guy in 2008 you might never have had to do this story at all.
Gasoline Taxes Vs. Exxon Profit, Per Gallon http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2011/04/27/ga...
Oil trade groups: Drilling deregulation could create 190,000 jobs, Permanent jobs! Published: 12:04 AM 07/12/2011| Updated: 2:34 AM 07/12/2011 http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/12/oil-trade-group...
I agree that all new technology has start up costs, but its not the governments decision or place to be the one providing tax dollars to do it. It should come from the free market. If you want to put a stop/ dent in the oil imports, lift the ban on US drilling and watch the price fall…..not to mention create jobs.
At the very least 190,000 jobs.
It is interesting that bundlers and supporters for Obama got special government loans. The media needs to hammer this and get to the rest of the story we do not know. And Wall Street has bought Obama, but the OWS crowd and the liberals cannot see it.
Agree! The media knows that there is so much hidden past of Obama but fail to look for it. They had no problem looking into how many shoes and clothes the RNC bought for Sarah Palin. Like who cares about that. We more than likely have the biggest election fraud in American history and the media ignores it. 2012 needs to get to the bottom of the lockbox of Obamas life.
It's not an either/or proposition. Subsidies to oil companies are wrong, and so are subsidies to wishful-thinking energy projects. The proper approach is to develop our domestic oil while encouraging the energy companies to develop alternatives that are economically viable with their profits. If green energy sources are capable of turning a profit they will be successfully developed; if not then they will never work regardless of how much money is force-fed into them.
Yes. Social scientists a la Saul Alinsky, Karl Marx etc.
KCS:
Rand Paul is not running for President! Ron Paul is to the left of Obama on security. So why are you supporting the Obama candidate instead of real change.
Even Ron Paul knows he can't win the nomination, but he's running anyway.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
The Evergreen Energy outfit mentioned in the CBS report has two major players on its board of directors–one director is Phil Deutsch of Perseus Capital who is the son of former CIA Chief John Deutsch (resigned for mishandling secret docs) whose wife is the Chief of Staff for Larry Sommers. Philip Deutsch is an operative of Perseus Capital–a DC Hedge Fund operation that includes the notorious James A. Johnson of Fannie Mae infamy. Evergreen also has (or had) a bigtime lobbyist name Charles McDermott on its board. McDermott was head lobbyist for the giant recycling firm Waste Management. Before that McDermott served under Joe Kennedy III with Citizen;s Energy.
Within hours of release of the CBS story, Media Matters came out with a shoddy "refutation" of the Atkinson piece.
$20,000,000,000 will buy 2,000,000 votes at $10,000 a pop. I think that's pretty much enough to swing an election – tell me again how Obama was the choice of the people?
I am off the mind that we must throw them out, hard. There is so much corruption in Congress it's no wonder why decent hardworking Americans don't run for office.
Please send this video to any and all of your green Obama supporters. Then politely ask them to put down their crack pipe and get him out of office.
No one here is saying it's okay to subsidize anything. I personally don't want to see any subsidies. We need to make the country competitive again and the only way to do that is to rely on entrepreneurs, not the Federal Government. Entrepreneurs can't do much in this country with the government on their backs, there's too many rules, regulations and taxes. We need to dramatically reduce our tax burden on businesses and individuals and do away with a lot of regulations.
Sure Frank, one look at Spain…..the green movement centerpiece will tell you how wrong that approach is…..
Naw.I think we will trust the market….
check please
Unreal: CBS News Identifies Eleven 'New Solyndras'
…the only thing that is unreal about this is that a d-cRAT socialist stooge reporter from the C(ertified)B(iased)S(ocialists) network crawled out of OBOZO's butt to report this story.
Our government today is run similar to what organized crime did in the early 20th century. Also, organized crime was involved in every transaction and took a piece for protection from the business, and now what do we have going on? Extortion to the max by government! Can you say the Chicago way?
Rand and Ron are saying the same thing!
Knowledge is power!
Yes, the corruption in congress is rampant. I submit that it isn't inherent within that body itself though, it is injected into it by the PARTIES. It is the political faction in search of power and authority over others that has produced a corrupt legislature. That, in turn, has produced a corrupt Executive and Judiciary as well.
George Washington warned us…..it is about time we listen. Past time.
I was the CTO for a VC funded Internet startup. If you don't understand that sentence, I don't care.
We had blown through $30 million dollars in startup funds when we went bankrupt. This was in fact the third Web startup failure that I had worked at. One of my top programmers had worked at seven. He had a lot of worthless stock certificates. He considered using then as wallpaper or toliet paper.
The blunt reality is that private industry funded new business usually fail, unlike government funded new businesses that always fail.
Trust me on that one. Before I got into private industry software development I was in the business of evaluating government programs. Most government programs don't even attempt to break even. Basically they are in the business of just giving away money and even so most of them can't even do that. I personally got rid of many government programs and sat across the table from their directors face to face when I put them out of business and laid them off.
A lot of posters here have bad things to say about government efficiency and capabilities. Me too, but I came by my contempt through first hand experience.Trust me.
Though the thought that one of the MSM has reclaimed it's soul is encouraging, I'm guessing the credit belongs to Ms. Attkisson, alone.
I have said in the past that each representative should be paid the median wage of the district they represent. Part of their responsibility should be to produce and share publicly a budget based on that income as it pertains to the environment in which they represent.
That way, if they want a raise, they are forced to vote for policies that encourage growth – as opposed to permission slip that growth into paralyzation the way "government" does currently.
One thing is for certain, no elected official should ever have a larger paycheck funded by taxpayer's pocketbooks than the enlisted soldier.
I swear, everything in this country is backward anymore. Literally everything. We have to turn it around, and that means doing things differently. That starts with telling both political parties that we no longer have any faith in them – this we accomplish by refusing to cast our votes for them!
Walter, the House has passed CR after CR, thus continuing the abhorrent spending. We tried to clean the House in 2010 and in doing so removed the "It's the Democrats' fault" excuse from the Republican Party.
Senate roadblock? We handed Republicans the CONSTITUTIONAL roadblock called the ability to say "NO!". John Boehner and his establishment crew decided to offer NO!, get slapped by the Senate and then say "O.K. then" afterward.
Why are we at a debt ceiling limit AGAIN? Because REPUBLICANS went along with INCREASED SPENDING yet again. Maybe you are fine to give them a pass for doing so, I am not.
The (R) is not the answer to the (D) problem, Walter, no matter how much you wish it to be true. We have an (R) and (D) problem that has to be addressed or we will waste another election cycle, heck maybe even another entire generation. Is that what you really want?
"One thing is for certain, no elected official should ever have a larger paycheck funded by taxpayer's pocketbooks than the enlisted soldier. "
bravo ashrak!
they are picking our nominee too. what does that tell you?
Are they wrong? Lets try looking at subsidies as a payoff in order to avoid paying out damages. A clear case can be made that government damages oil industry with the heavy hand of "regulation". Frame the "payouts" as damages, not to mention the spreading the wealth around the world that is accomplished by EPA dictate, as opposed to subsidies and the "evil" of the oil companies doesn't quite pan out.
I submit that the same action is at work with the auto industry. GM bailout, right? At what point could GM make the case that CAFE standards harmed their industry and thus their profitability?
All these things are reasons that the Founders and Framers did NOT empower government with authority over the private contract. Sure, there is authority at the federal level regarding state government to state government commerce, but not between individuals.
We must be freed from the economic chains that bind us. We must see the Constitution restored so that boundaries once again apply to all levels of government. Those who seek oil as a energy source will have to compete with those who seek windmills. That is as it should be – free choice and open competition!
Let us remember – the authority to tax was implemented to fund the enumerated powers, not to socially and economically engineer a society. Taxation was not meant to punish or reward any particular behavior. So long as it is used, unjustly I might add, in that way, America will continue to sink into the abyss of evil and Liberty will continue this long and painful death.
Rathergate was a wake up call for CBS.
It has a looooong way to go, but there has been something of a small change in that entity between then and now.
and the Republican majority in the House just keeeeeeeps on spending……
Can you say OLYMPICS?
Can you say PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS?
Romney had his fingers on that tax money – and wants access to the rest of it. And to boot, Romney is all about controlling your right to keep and bear arms. Newsflash, those who want to control that right wants to control everything about you, including your money, which is the real reason they do not want you ARMED!
Ash:
You have read the constitution haven't you?
The House and the Senate must pass a bill for the President to sign.
The Democrats who controll the Senate won't pass the spending cuts. Kick out a bunch of Democrats in the Senate and you get the job done. So instead of worrying about some House Republicans there are 23 Democrats in the Senate needing to be reelected. Get them kicked out with conservatives and Bonner not to mention Mcconnell (that's your major problem!) to see the light and we get the country put back together.
Harry Reid who runs the Senate thinks we are the problem. To remove Harry Reid we have to get a bunch of those 23 Democrats in the Senate out of power!
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
We're in the back of the bus…..
And the Constitution has within it a built in protection from an overbearing Senate that thinks it runs the show. That would be the reality that the People's house controls the money. THe Senate can kick and scream all it wants to, however, when the people say NO, that means NO. If the senate chooses to stomp its feet and whine, most especially when the people spoke clearly in 2010 regarding the spending, then it is for the House to say it passed the bills and a government shutdown then belongs to the Senate.
Instead, the REPUBLICANS went with CR after CR.
SO soon you forget Walter, Republicans held majority in both houses, fair enough though absent 60 votes, and they spent and spent and spent and spent. This you cannot deny, mot honestly anyway.
When given 100% authority required to stop the spending, the Republicans chose not to stop it. Crab about that all you like, attempt to excuse it all you like, but it remains the fact of the matter regardless.
You operate under this illusion that the two parties are on opposing sides. They are not. They are two peas in a pod, locking arms to keep control in their collectivist hands.
Need something besides spending to demonstrate it?
House passes "reciprocity" bill that leaves Illinois out of it altogether, not even a year after the Supreme Court admitted that, yes, all Citizens own the individual right to carry a firearm and that, yes, that right does apply to all levels of government.
Republicans in the Congress have not fulfilled their PRIMARY duty, which is enforcing Constitutional protections – especially in the face of a state government bent on ignoring them. Indeed, that was established, I would argue codified, upon the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Indeed, that was its purpose!
Placing your hopes in the Establishment Republican party is no different from placing it in Barry Soetoro. They, Walter, are all on the same team and We The People are their opposition.
Ash:
It's nice to know that you're a supporter of Barrack Obama and want him to continue to spend a trillion dollars more than we take in and have tax increases because by ignoring those 23 democrat senators (all who voted for Obamacare by the way) and allowing Harry Reid to be Senate Majority leader you don't get the change you want.
It's does absolutely no good to have a speaker Ryan or a speaker Bachmann or the perfect speaker you want if Harry Reid in 2013 is the Senate Majority leader with 51 plus votes.
So read your constitution properly and then we can have a discussion of what the problem is.
My personal opinion is it's people like you that don't recognize that the Democrats control the senate.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Please allow a contrary opinion – specifically about Beacon Power Corporation.
I've followed this stock over 10 years. This is a case of government CREATING a bankruptcy, not a mis-investment.
The Feds granted a 30-year loan to help build a second successful electrical grid load leveling plant.
Revenues were responding nicely to its first plant in New York.
And right after the Solyndra deal hit the fan, the Feds "called" this loan for immediate repayment, FORCING the company into bankruptcy, and forcing it to sell a $70 million, successful revenue-generating plant to raise the cash, instead of allowing it to construct the second plant and move on toward profitability and creating efficiencies in the northeast power grid.
As an investor in Beacon Power, I am absolutely stunned that Obama's government has moved against a successful, environmentally sound operation apparently to avoid the appearance that they helped the company "like Solyndra." This was a GOOD deal, screwed up by our government to save face.
Since she is the name that keeps popping up on these well researched stories, I suspect that you are completely right. I just hope that some of her professionalism is contagious. It could lead to a pandemic of ethical journalism in the future.
Yup, I just hope that it continues and grows. I plan on adding some Miracle Grow and water by tuning in a little to look for her stories.
I hope you're right–I pray that you are.
Why aren't we in the business of EXPORTING oil? Just think of all the new jobs that would create, even amongst ghetto dwellers. Can't have that because then they'd want to get off of the Dem Poverty Plantation and move to the suburbs. They might even want lower taxes. While I don't think your inquiry is a political one, why are we importing oil when we could basically put the Saudis out of business and lift all boats stateside?
Provasick, WHAT are you babbling on about? The gov doesn't write checks to the Oil Companies. Is your IQ SO low that you didn't know that FACT?
Let me know or, lack of answer confirms your sub-50 I.Q. …
Yes & no Hoosier. I didn't hear her connect the dots. IE:, the campaign money laundering aspect. That was the most crucial point…
Excuse me but haven't you heard of the Small Business Administration? That is just one of many lending organizations that have been around for YEARS. What about student loans? Sallie Mae? Today, the Feds are crowding out the commercial banks of the US in this area. Government loans have long been utilized as stimulus tools.
Indeed, oil companies are receiving $70 billion is subsidies, even though President Bush, who was an oil man, said that they are not needed once oil gets over $55 a bbl
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/05/bi...
My IQ is 155, thank you, and I have an engineering degree. You purposely misspell my name, and insult me. Trash is what you are.
FAIL. No, the gov writes NO checks to the oil companies. AND, makes more $ for every gallon of gas sold than does the oil companies. BTW MORON, they RECEIVE no $ from the gov.
What don't you understand about "no $ are given to the oil companies from the gov"?
Well??????
I sent you the link….thgey get $70 billion dollars in subsidies over 10 years. And you call ME a moron. That's all the juvenile Breitbart people like to do…Lie and call people names.
Thankyou Mr. Hall and CBS; an informed public is a vital part of democracy.
This example of corruption (as well as Bush-Halliburton's no-bid contracts in Iraq) are what our government, in both democratic and republican parties, has decayed into and the majority of people will suffer because of it.
The solution:
First, stop the game of fighting between the 2 parties, it is a sucker's game that the elites want to continue so that the corruption continues and nothing changes.
Second, without a constitutional amendment stating corporations are not people and money is not free speech, the people will not be in control of their government.
Third, carefully evaluate your elected officials as if they are your employees (they are!). Set up a list of goals for each one to accomplish (which also clarifies what you expect your government to accomplish) and evaluate them by their actions, then vote accordingly.
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