The Democrats’ Solar Circus

November 3, 2011

Bonuses, Golden Parachutes and Proposed Bailouts for Solyndra, and Green Jobs Failures for America

If you thought the solar circus surrounding now-bankrupt Obama loan beneficiary Solyndra was over, think again. News reports out yesterday indicated that Solyndra executives benefited from hefty bonuses and golden parachutes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the months prior to the company’s bankruptcy filing.
Newly released Solyndra e-mails show the White House had the audacity to consider a taxpayer bailout for Solyndra–after Solyndra had already wasted $535 million in taxpayer dollars–and sought information on the company’s private investors prior to offering Solyndra a restructured loan that put those investors in front of taxpayers.
And the bad news keeps coming. Testimony from the Energy Department’s assistant inspector general Wednesday morning also revealed that despite millions of dollars in stimulus spending, the Democrats’ green jobs plan has had little success in creating sustainable new green jobs.

BACKGROUND

If you thought the solar circus surrounding now-bankrupt Obama loan beneficiary Solyndra was over, think again. News reports out yesterday indicated that Solyndra executives benefited from hefty bonuses and golden parachutes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the months prior to the company’s bankruptcy filing:

“FORMER SOLYNDRA CEO GOT $467K SEVERANCE”: “New court documents show the founder and former CEO of solar panel maker Solyndra Inc. negotiated a severance package worth almost half a million dollars.” (Randall Chase, “Former Solyndra CEO Gets $456K Severance,” Associated Press, 11/2/2011)

FISHY: SOLYNDRA CEO NEGOTIATED SEVERANCE TWO MONTHS BEFORE SOLYNDRA ANNOUNCED HIS FIRING: “Documents the company filed in bankruptcy court in Delaware also show the executive, Chris Gronet, was terminated July 1, almost two months before Solyndra announced he was leaving.”(Randall Chase, “Former Solyndra CEO Gets $456K Severance,” Associated Press, 11/2/2011)

MORE THAN A DOZEN OTHER SOLYNDRA EXECUTIVES RECEIVED “HEFTY BONUSES” THIS SUMMER, JUST MONTHS BEFORE FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY: “Senior executives at Solyndra collected hefty bonuses — ranging from $37,000 to $60,000 apiece — as the Fremont company bled cash and careened toward bankruptcy this summer.

“Bankruptcy documents filed in Delaware earlier this week reveal that more than a dozen senior executives at the defunct solar-manufacturing company were awarded sizable quarterly bonuses on April 15 and again on July 8. Solyndra ceased operations in late August and filed for bankruptcy Sept. 6. About 1,100 employees were laid off without severance pay.” (Dana Hull, “Solyndra Executives Collected Hefty Bonuses in Months Before Fremont Company Filed for Bankruptcy,” San Jose Mercury News, 11/2/2011)

MEANWHILE, WHITE HOUSE REFUSES TO RELEASE COMMUNICATIONS FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA, TOP OFFICIALS ON SOLYNDRA LOAN: “The White House will not comply with requests to turn over documents related to the bankrupt solar company Solyndra, which received a $535 million loan guarantee from the federal government, CNN learned Friday.” (Jessica Yellin, “FIRST ON CNN: Source: White House Will Not Turn Over All Solyndra Documents,” CNN, 10/14/2011)

Newly released Solyndra e-mails show the White House had the audacity to consider a taxpayer bailout for Solyndra–after Solyndra had already wasted $535 million in taxpayer dollars–and sought information on the company’s private investors prior to offering Solyndra a restructured loan that put those investors in front of taxpayers:

PRIOR TO SOLYNDRA LOAN RESTRUCTURING “BIDEN AIDE SOUGHT INFO ON SOLYNDRA INVESTORS, EMAILS SHOW”: “A top aide to Vice President Joe Biden sought information about Solyndra’s private investors just days before the Energy Department made the solar company’s loan guarantee more favorable to the financers, new internal emails released Wednesday show.” (Darren Samuelsohn, “Biden Aide Sought Info on Solyndra Investors, Emails Show,” Politico, 11/2/2011)

FIVE DAYS LATER, SOLYNDRA ANNOUNCED $75 MILLION FUNDRAISING HAUL FROM INVESTORS:“Five days later, on Feb. 28, Solyndra announced it had raised $75 million from its private investors, including George Kaiser, a major 2008 Obama campaign bundler. DOE agreed then to refinance Solyndra’s loan with new terms so that investors could be paid back first on the $75 million if the company went bankrupt.” (Darren Samuelsohn, “Biden Aide Sought Info on Solyndra Investors, Emails Show,” Politico, 11/2/2011)

OBAMA ADMIN CONSIDERED A TAXPAYER BAILOUT FOR SOLYNDRA: “Days before a solar panel maker collapsed, the Obama administration considered a bailout that would have provided an infusion of cash and a new board of directors, including two directors appointed by the Energy Department.”(Matthew Daly, “Obama Admin Considered Bailout for Solyndra,” Associated Press, 11/2/2011)

And the bad news keeps coming. Testimony from the Energy Department’s assistant inspector general Wednesday morning also revealed that despite millions of dollars in stimulus spending, the Democrats’ green jobs plan has had little success in creating sustainable new green jobs:

MONEY WELL SPENT? STIMULUS “SPENT MORE THAN $111 MILLION TO TRAIN 18,000 PEOPLE WHO STILL HAVEN’T LANDED A JOB”: “President Obama’s highly-touted green jobs program — born out of his 2009 stimulus package — has spent more than $111 million to train 18,000 people who still haven’t landed a job.” (“Obama’s $500 Million Green Jobs Program ‘Far Behind’ Projections, Watchdog Says,”FoxNews.com, 11/2/2011)

STIMULUS GREEN PROGRAM AT 21 PERCENT OF TRAINING GOAL, 10 PERCENT OF JOB-PLACEMENT GOAL. PRETTY SURE THAT’S AN “F”: “Though the department set a goal of training nearly 97,000 people and placing 80,000 in jobs, the 26,000 people trained represent 21 percent of the goal while only 10 percent had found work.” (“Obama’s $500 Million Green Jobs Program ‘Far Behind’ Projections, Watchdog Says,” FoxNews.com, 11/2/2011)

TESTIMONY “A BLOW TO OBAMA” AND HIS CALLS FOR STIMULUS 2.0: “The testimony was a blow to Obama, who is working frantically to show voters he is trying to boost the sluggish economy.” (“Obama’s $500 Million Green Jobs Program ‘Far Behind’ Projections, Watchdog Says,” FoxNews.com, 11/2/2011)

TESTIMONY BACKS UP CLAIM THAT STIMULUS WAS “ECONOMICALLY WASTEFUL”: “Friedman’s testimony bolsters Republicans’ claim that Solyndra’s demise is proof of how economically wasteful the Obama administration’s stimulus plan has been.” (Alexa Vaughn, “Energy Department Official Says Agency Overwhelmed by Loan Program,” Los Angeles Times, 11/02/2011)

NOT SO “SHOVEL READY” AFTER ALL: “Friedman said the stimulus programs for clean energy turned out to be ‘more challenging than many had originally envisioned.’ While stimulus funds were to go to ‘shovel ready’ projects with the idea of creating jobs quickly, ‘in reality, few actual “shovel ready” projects existed,’ Friedman said.” (Carloyn Lochhead, “Energy Stimulus Program a Mess, Official Says,” San Francisco Chronicle, 11/02/2011)

FEDERAL WATCHDOG WHO WARNED ABOUT SOLYNDRA SAYS GOVERNMENT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO DISBURSE STIMULUS SPENDING EFFECTIVELY: “Friedman told the committee that the Energy Department was simply overwhelmed by the amount of stimulus money it received and could not overcome challenges in getting the money out the door on a timely basis.” (“Obama’s $500 Million Green Jobs Program ‘Far Behind’ Projections, Watchdog Says,” FoxNews.com, 11/2/2011)