Democrat “Fairness” Decoder Ring: A Taxpayer-Funded Spending Spree for Solyndra
Democrats Embrace Solyndra Despite the Now-Bankrupt Company’s Long History of Wasting Taxpayer Dollars
- President Obama called for more “fairness” in his State of the Union address last night, but he and his fellow Washington Democrats have been unfair to all American taxpayers by using taxpayer dollars for political payback to their friends who help them get elected.
- The waste of taxpayer dollars on Solyndra seems even more unfair when you remember the company’s extravagant spending on singing robots in their factory and attempts to pay out half a million dollars in bonuses.
- Despite the failure of Democrats’ stimulus poster child, President Obama is embracing this unfairness to all taxpayers by promoting more of the same wasteful spending in his first 2012 campaign commercials and doubling down on Solyndra-like loans in his State of the Union address.
President Obama called for more “fairness” in his State of the Union address last night, but he and his fellow Washington Democrats have been unfair to all American taxpayers by using taxpayer dollars for political payback to their friends who help them get elected:
SOLYNDRA CAUGHT RED-HANDED “DESTROYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PARTS” DESPITE OWING TAXPAYERS NEARLY HALF A BILLION DOLLARS: “After filing for bankruptcy last year, Fremont solar company Solyndra still owes American taxpayers half a billion dollars. But CBS 5 caught them destroying millions of dollars worth of parts.”
“At Solyndra’s sprawling complex in Fremont, workers in white jumpsuits were unwrapping brand new glass tubes used in solar panels last week. They are the latest, most cutting-edge solar technology, and they are being thrown into dumpsters.” (“Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying New Parts,” CBS San Francisco, 1/19/2012)
WHY DOES A COMPANY THAT OWES TAXPAYERS MILLIONS THROW MILLIONS IN ASSETS IN THE TRASH?: “Solyndra paid at least $2 million for the specialized glass. A CBS 5 crew found one piece lying in the parking lot. Solyndra still owes the German company that made the tubes close to another $8 million.
“So why is a bankrupt company that owes a fortune to creditors, including American taxpayers, throwing away millions of dollars worth of assets?” (“Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying New Parts,” CBS San Francisco, 1/19/2012)
OBAMA’S “GREEN” PROGRAM THAT FUNDED NOW-BANKRUPT SOLYNDRA “INFUSED WITH POLITICS AT EVERY LEVEL”: “Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama’s green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials.
“The records, some previously unreported, show that when warned that financial disaster might lie ahead, the administration remained steadfast in its support for Solyndra.” (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “Solyndra: Politics Infused Obama Energy Programs,” The Washington Post, 12/25/2011)
The waste of taxpayer dollars on Solyndra seems even more unfair when you remember the company’s extravagant spending on singing robots in their factory and attempts to pay out half a million dollars in bonuses:
NOW-BANKRUPT SOLYNDRA TRIES TO DISH HALF A MILLION DOLLARS IN BONUSES: “Now seems an unlikely time for handing out bonuses at bankrupt Solyndra LLC, but that’s the plan of company attorneys intending to dole out up to a half-million dollars to persuade key employees to stay put.
“Nearly two dozen Solyndra employees could receive bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 each under a proposal filed by Solyndra’s attorneys in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.” (Jim McElhatton, “Bankrupt Solyndra seeking to pay bonuses,” The Washington Times, 1/11/12)
FLASHBACK: “SOLYNDRA FACTORY HAD DISNEY-SINGING ROBOTS, SPAS”:“Former employees told the San Francisco Chronicle that the $733 million, 300,000-square-foot factory built in 2009 had spa-like showers, robots that whistled Disney tunes and glass-walled conference rooms. ‘The new building is like the Taj Mahal,’ John Pierce, a facilities manager at Solyndra, told the paper.”(Sajid Farooq, “Solyndra Factory Had Disney-Singing Robots, Spas,” NBC Bay Area, 9/29/2011)
ENERGY DEPT. OFFICIALS MADE A LEGAL CASE FOR RESTRUCTURING SOLYNDRA LOAN WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT THE COMPANY COULD COLLAPSE: “A memo issued earlier this year makes the case that the Energy Department was within its legal rights to restructure the $535 million Solyndra loan guarantee in February as the California solar company faced financial collapse. … The memo is dated Feb. 15, 2011.” (Andrew Restuccia, “Memo Argues Energy Legally Restructured $535M Solyndra Loan,” The Hill, 10/14/2011)
EVEN THOUGH TREASURY DEPT. OFFICIALS SAID THEY BELIEVED “SUBORDINATION” OF TAXPAYERS IN RESTRUCTURING MOVE WAS ILLEGAL:“One of the witnesses — Gary Burner, the chief financial officer for Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank — raised questions about the Energy Department’s plan to restructure the loan. Internal emails show that Burner told officials with DOE’s loan programs office in February that they might need approval from the Justice Department before approving the restructuring of the Solyndra loan guarantee. A separate Treasury official, Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Mary J. Miller, wrote to a White House Office of Management and Budget official in August of this year stating that Treasury believed the ‘subordination’ of the taxpayer interest in the restructuring agreement was illegal.” (Andrew Restuccia, “Memo Argues Energy Legally Restructured $535M Solyndra Loan,” The Hill, 10/14/2011)
OBAMA’S DOE “ALL BUT” TOLD SOLYNDRA THAT THEY WOULD BE FIRST IN LINE FOR A SECOND STIMULUS LOAN: (E-mail from Steve Mitchell to George Kaiser, U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, 3/5/2010, p. 3)
OBAMA’S DOE “WAS ACTIVELY PUSHING” SECOND LOAN GUARANTEE WORTH $469 MILLION: (Carol Leonnig, “Solyndra E-mails: Dept. of Energy was Poised to Approve $469 Million for Firm,” The Washington Post, 10/5/2011)
Despite the failure of Democrats’ stimulus poster child, President Obama is embracing this unfairness to all taxpayers by promoting more of the same wasteful spending in his first 2012 campaign commercials and doubling down on Solyndra-like loans in his State of the Union address:
WHILE OBAMA CAMPAIGN SIGNALS INTENTION TO RUN ON FAILURE, CELEBRATING NOW-BANKRUPT SOLYNDRA IN THEIR FIRST 2012 AD: “Don’t think Chicago is deeply concerned about the brand damage that the Solyndra semi-scandal can wreak? Of all President Obama’s vulnerabilities (Isn’t this race supposed to be about the economy?), Team Obama chose to attack Solyndra right out of the gate, placing Obama, literally, in a sea of solar panels, amid quotes proclaiming him to be cleaner than clean — wallowing in the future.” (Glenn Thrush, “Decoding Obama’s First Ad: S-O-L-Y-N-D-R-A,” Politico, 1/19/2012)
“OBAMA TO DOUBLE DOWN ON GREEN ENERGY TONIGHT DESPITE SOLYNDRA”: “Despite the huge black eye the administration got on a half-billion-dollar taxpayer loss on the bankrupt Fremont solar manufacturer Solyndra, now a household word defined as ‘failed industrial policy,’ Obama will be promising more investments in green energy as part of his ‘built to last’ theme of home-grown manufacturing jobs.” (Carolyn Lochhead, “Obama to Double Down on Green Energy Tonight Despite Solyndra,” The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/24/2012)
OBAMA USES SOTU TO EMBRACE HIS RECORD OF FAILURE ON “GREEN” PROGRAMS LIKE SOLYNDRA: “Our experience with shale gas, our experience with natural gas, shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away. Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. I will not walk away from workers like Bryan. I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here. We’ve subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable and double down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising. Pass clean-energy tax credits.” (“Transcript: Obama Delivers State of the Union Speech,” CNN, 1/24/2012)