Democrat Stimulus + Solyndra = Scandal

White House Push for Spending Taxpayer Funds to Serve Political Goals Raises Questions About Spending More on Failed “Green Jobs” Stimulus

• New revelations show that Obama officials actively pressured the Department of Energy (DOE) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to authorize more than $500 million in stimulus funding for Solyndra, a now-bankrupt company backed by a major Obama bundler.
• In addition to federal officials who raised concerns, a number of outside authorities warned from the outset that Solyndra presented a major financial risk for U.S. taxpayers.
• Democrats are nonetheless calling for more stimulus spending similar to the kind given to Solyndra, despite the failure of their prior stimulus and the questions the growing Solyndra scandal raises about corruption.

BACKGROUND 

New revelations show that Obama officials actively pressured the Department of Energy (DOE) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to authorize more than $500 million in stimulus funding for Solyndra, a now-bankrupt company backed by a major Obama bundler. Evidence indicates the White House insisted on rushing the prospect, despite pushback from DOE and OMB staff:

WHITE HOUSE TRIED TO RUSH APPROVAL OF $535 MILLION LOAN:

E-MAILS SHOW WHITE HOUSE TRIED “TO RUSH FEDERAL OFFICIALS” TO ISSUE SOLYNDRA LOAN: (Tim Mak, “Report: White House Pushed on Solyndra,” Politico, 9/14/2011)

OBAMA PLANNED ON ANNOUNCING SOLYNDRA LOAN GUARANTEE IN MARCH 2009…BEFORE IT HAD BEEN GUARANTEED: “A March 6, 2009 email among staffers at the White House OMB, read, ‘DOE staff just told me there’s a 99 percent certainty that President Obama, on March 19 in California for other reasons, will announce that DOE is offering a loan guarantee to Solyndra. As far as I can tell the obligation won’t be entered into until May, but once the President endorses it, I doubt seriously that the Secretary will withdraw for any reason.’” (Phillip Klein, “OMB Had Warned Solyndra ‘NOT Ready for Prime Time,’” The Washington Examiner, 9/14/2011)

THEN WHITE HOUSE TRIED TO HURRY APPROVAL SO THEY COULD HOLD EVENT TOUTING SOLYNDRA IN SEPT. 2009: (Joe Stephens, “White House Pressed on $500 Million Loan to Solar Company Now Under Investigation,” The Washington Post, 9/13/2011)

OBAMA OFFICIALS SAT IN ON SOLYNDRA BOARD MEETINGS FOR MONTHS: (Ronnie Greene and Matthew Mosk, “Obama Officials Sat In on Solyndra Meetings,” ABC News, 9/9/2011)

OMB TRIED TO DO A THOROUGH REVIEW, BUT WHITE HOUSE WOULDN’T HAVE IT:

DOE OFFICIALS SAID FROM THE OUTSET THAT SOLYNDRA’S NUMBERS SHOWED IT WOULD GO BANKRUPT IN SEPTEMBER 2011: “Even after Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, analysts in the Energy Department and in the Office of Management and Budget were repeatedly questioning the wisdom of the loan. In one exchange, an Energy official wrote of ‘a major outstanding issue’ — namely, that Solyndra’s numbers showed it would run out of cash in September 2011.” (Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross and Ronnie Greene, “White House Warned About Collapsed Energy Company,” ABC News, 9/13/2011)

OMB TO WHITE HOUSE, MARCH 2009: “THIS DEAL IS NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME”: (Phillip Klein, “OMB Had Warned Solyndra ‘NOT Ready for Prime Time,’” The Washington Examiner, 9/14/2011)

OMB STAFFER CALLED OUT WHITE HOUSE: “WE WOULD PREFER TO HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME TO DO DUE DILIGENCE REVIEWS AND HAVE THE APPROVAL SET THE DATE FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND”:(Ryan Tracy, “House Probes Solyndra Loan,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/14/2011) 

OMB STAFF WORRIED THAT “GIVEN TIME PRESSURE WE ARE UNDER TO SIGN-OFF ON SOLYNDRA,” NO TIME FOR THOROUGH RISK ASSESSMENT: (Tim Mak, “Report: White House Pushed on Solyndra,” Politico, 9/14/2011)

OMB TO WHITE HOUSE: WE “WOULD PREFER THAT THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BY POSTPONED”: (Tim Mak, “Report: White House Pushed on Solyndra,” Politico, 9/14/2011)

WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE: FULL SPEED AHEAD. “The Sept. 4, 2009, ground[b]reaking event went ahead as scheduled, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu in attendance and Biden speaking to the gathering by satellite feed.” (Joe Stephens, “White House Pressed on $500 Million Loan to Solar Company Now Under Investigation,” The Washington Post, 9/13/2011)

SOLYNDRA REVIEW TOOK ONLY 9 DAYS; AVERAGE WAS 28 DAYS: (Ryan Tracy, “House Probes Solyndra Loan,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/14/2011)

TOP OBAMA BUNDLER WAS A MAJOR SOLYNDRA INVESTOR, MET WITH WHITE HOUSE SEVERAL TIMES DURING MONTH OF AWARD:

OBAMA BUNDLER GEORGE KAISER WAS A TOP SOLYNDRA INVESTOR: “Solyndra was backed in part by capital from funds associated with George Kaiser, a Tulsa billionaire and Democratic fundraiser.” (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “House Republicans Steps up Solyndra Investigation,” The Washington Post, 9/1/2011)

KAISER HAD 16 MEETINGS WITH OBAMA AIDES, FOUR IN MARCH 2009—THE VERY MONTH SOLYNDRA LOAN WAS AWARDED $535 MILLION:  “White House visitor logs show that Kaiser had 16 meetings with Obama aides, 11 of them in 2009. His first recorded visit to the White House was March 12, 2009, when he met separatelywith Austan Goolsbee, a senior economic adviser to Obama, Pete Rouse, a senior adviser to the president, and Heather Higginbottom, deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council. The next day he met with Jason Furman, a member of Obama’s National Economic Council.” (Jim Snyder, “FBI Raids Bankrupt Solyndra as Lawmakers Question Panel Maker’s Finances,” Bloomberg, 9/9/2011) 

In addition to federal officials who raised concerns, a number of outside authorities warned from the outset that Solyndra presented a major financial risk for U.S. taxpayers:

FITCH RATING FROM 2008 DESIGNATED SOLYNDRA AS “NON-INVESTMENT GRADE” AND “SPECULATIVE”: (“Recurring Red Flags Failed to Slow Obama Administration’s Race to Help Solyndra,” The Center for Public Integrity’s “I Watch News”, 9/13/2011)

JANUARY 2009: BUSH ADMIN. DOE CREDIT COMMITTEE VOTED AGAINSTSOLYNDRA FUNDING: (Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross and Ronnie Greene, “White House Warned About Collapsed Energy Company,” ABC News, 9/13/2011)

AUDIT BY PRICEWATERHOUSE COOPERS LLP WARNED THAT SOLYNDRA’S FINANCIAL TROUBLES “RAISE[D] SUBSTANTIAL DOUBT ABOUT ITS ABILITY TO CONTINUE”: (Jim Snyder and Christopher Martin, “Obama Team Stood by Solyndra as Troubles Mounted,” Bloomberg, 9/12/2011)

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE: “GREATLY CONCERNED” THAT OBAMA’S DOE APPROVED TAXPAYER MONEY FOR SOLYNDRA AND 4 OTHER COMPANIES WITHOUT PROPER VETTING. (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “House Republicans Steps up Solyndra Investigation,” The Washington Post, 9/1/2011)

MORE GAO: FEAR THAT SOLYNDRA MAY BE THE FIRST OF MANY GREEN DEFAULTS AFTER OBAMA TEAM RUSHED LOANS THROUGH: “GAO auditors fear that similar defaults could happen with other projects, possibly including the other four it found weren’t properly vetted. The GAO last year uncovered the department’s rush to provide Solyndra its loan — less than 60 days after Chu was sworn in to the new administration — without completing required reviews.” (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “House Republicans Steps up Solyndra Investigation,” The Washington Post, 9/1/2011) 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY INSPECTOR GENERAL “CRITICIZED [DOE] FOR NOT MAINTAINING E-MAILS DISCUSSING HOW LOAN GUARANTEE WINNERS WERE SELECTED.” (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “House Republicans Steps up Solyndra Investigation,” The Washington Post, 9/1/2011)

“MIND BOGGLING” THAT DEMOCRATS “PUT BLINDERS ON,” CHOSE SOLYNDRA AS “THEIR WHITE HORSE”: “ ‘People including our government put blinders on and did not want to believe in the obvious,’ Jonathan Dorsheimer, an analyst in Boston for Canaccord Genuity Inc. of Vancouver, said in an interview with Bloomberg Government. ‘The fact that the government chose Solyndra as their white horse is mind- boggling.’ ” (Jim Snyder and Christopher Martin, “Obama Team Stood by Solyndra as Troubles Mounted,” Bloomberg, 9/12/2011)

Democrats are nonetheless calling for more stimulus spending similar to the kind given to Solyndra, despite the failure of their prior stimulus and the questions the growing Solyndra scandal raises about corruption:

WHITE HOUSE DOUBLES DOWN IN DEFENDING SOLYNDRA LOAN GUARANTEE:“Carney also defended the loan itself, saying that investing in new energy companies like Solyndra is inherently a ‘high-risk, high-reward’ venture.

“ ‘[I]t was vital to make these investments,’ Carney said. ‘But the overall understanding of the need to make, to – in these potentially high-risk but high-reward industries, that require – get the seed money from the federal government, like, say, the Internet, you have to take these measures. The President and the administration remain committed to that.’” (Alexander Mooney, “White House Beats Back Claim it Pressured Loan to Now-Bankrupt Company,” CNN, 9/14/2011)

NEW “GREEN JOBS [EFFORTS ARE] IN OBAMA’S SPEECH IF YOU DIG FOR THEM”:“So why didn’t he call them green jobs specifically? Solyndra, wacky green jobs reporting in the mainstream media and other factors give that phrase a bit of a black eye at the moment to some. The green jobs are there in his jobs package, however, and now Congress takes up the larger mantle of whether it wants to pay the President’s economic price for this jobs plan.” (Nino Marchetti, “Green Jobs in Obama’s Speech if You Dig for Them,” Reuters, 9/12/2011) 

USA TODAY: SHOULD “UNCLE SAM PLAY VENTURE CAPITALIST? SEE SOLYNDRA”:(Editorial, “Uncle Sam Play Venture Capitalist? See Solyndra,” USA Today, 9/14/2011)