Green is the Color of Dems’ Wasteful Spending

Democrats’ Stimulus Spending Spree Wasted Billions on Crony Capitalism That Lost Taxpayers Money and Hurt Green Energy

• After three and a half years of the Democrats’ failed stimulus spending, taxpayers find themselves stuck with a nearly trillion dollar bill and multiple bankrupt or struggling stimulus loan recipients.
• The road to the Democrats’ green failure is paved with wasteful spending. Perhaps sensing limited accountability for the funds they received from taxpayers, some stimulus loan recipients went on a spending spree (much like the Democrats who funded them).
• Worst of all, a recent report finds that the Democrats’ stimulus crony capitalism actually hurt the very green companies they claimed they were trying to help.

After three and a half years of the Democrats’ failed stimulus spending, taxpayers find themselves stuck with a nearly trillion dollar bill and multiple bankrupt or struggling stimulus loan recipients:

PRICE TAG FOR FAILED STIMULUS: $831 BILLION: (“CBO’s Estimates of ARRA’s Economic Impact,” Congressional Budget Office, 2/22/2012)

OBAMA’S DOE LENT $14.5 BILLION OVER 27 PROJECTS, “TURNED A BLIND EYE TO THE RISKS THAT HAVE BEEN GLARINGLY APPARENT”: “By the expiration of § 1705 program in September 2011, the DOE had approved 27 projects totaling more than $14.5 billion in guaranteed loans. Inexplicably, DOE management has turned a blind eye to the risks that have been glaringly apparent since the inception of the program.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)

CRONY CAPITALISM? WASHINGTON POST AUDIT FINDS $3.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY WENT TO “21 COMPANIES WITH CONNECTIONS TO FIVE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STAFFERS AND ADVISERS”: “During the next three years, the department provided $2.4 billion in public funding to clean-energy companies in which Wagle’s former firm, Vantage Point Venture Partners, had invested, a Washington Post analysis found. Overall, the Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.” (Carol Leonnig and Joe Stephens, “Venture Capitalists Play Key Role in Obama’s Energy Department,” The Washington Post, 2/14/2012)

“REPORT: ENERGY LOANS COULD COST $3B” FROM “HIGH-RISK” GREEN PROGRAMS: (“Report: Energy Loans Could Cost $3B,” Associated Press, 2/10/2012)

$535 MILLION LOST ON NOW-BANKRUPT SOLYNDRA: (Jim Snyder and Brian Wingfield, “Solyndra $535 Million Loan Guarantee Mostly Lost to Taxpayers, Chu Tells Lawmakers,” Bloomberg, 11/17/2011) 

BEACON POWER GOES BANKRUPT AFTER $43 MILLION OBAMA STIMULUS LOAN: (Tom Hals and Roberta Rampton, “Beacon Power Bankrupt; had U.S. backing like Solyndra,” Reuters, 10/31/2011) 

ABOUND SOLAR HALTED PRODUCTION, LAID OFF WORKERS AFTER $400 MILLION STIMULUS LOAN: (Todd Woody, “Abound Solar, Recipient of $400 Million Federal Loan Guarantee, Halts Production,” Forbes, 3/1/2012) 

OBAMA-BACKED AMONIX LAID OFF 200 WORKERS EARLY THIS YEAR, RECEIVED $5.9 MILLION TAX CREDIT IN 2010: (Neil Munro, “More Solyndra-Style Failure: Obama-tied Amonix Lays Off Most of Company,” The Daily Caller, 1/30/2012)

BRIGHTSOURCE ENERGY GOT $1.6 BILLION LOAN GUARANTEE, NOW FACING FINANCIAL STRUGGLES AFTER CANCELLING ITS IPO: (Dana Hull, “BrightSource Shelves IPO, Walks Away from Public Markets,” The San Jose Mercury News, 4/18/2012) 

The road to the Democrats’ green failure is paved with wasteful spending. Perhaps sensing limited accountability for the funds they received from taxpayers, some stimulus loan recipients went on a spending spree (much like the Democrats who funded them): 

BRIGHTSOURCE ENERGY HAS SPENT $56 MILLION ON “DESERT TORTOISE RELOCATION”: “BrightSource Energy, recipient of a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to build a solar generation facility, has spent more than $56 million on a desert tortoise relocation program. BrightSource has indicated that the exploding cost of tortoise relocation program threatens to derail the entire $1.6 billion project – leaving taxpayers on the hook for the enormous sums on money spent on construction thus far.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012) 

BEACON POWER DISHED OUT MORE THAN A QUARTER-MILLION DOLLARS IN BONUSES TO TOP EXECUTIVES BEFORE GOING BANKRUPT: “Beacon Power Corp, the second recipient of a § 1705 loan guarantee, paid three executives more than a quarter million dollars in bonuses in March 2010. Eighteen months later, Beacon declared bankruptcy – leaving taxpayers to repay the loan. (pg. 13)”  (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)

“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.” (Sajid Farooq, “Solyndra Factory Had Disney-Singing Robots, Spas,” NBC Bay Area, 9/29/2011) 

SOLYNDRA FACTORY WAS COMPARED TO “THE TAJ MAHAL” BY STAFF: “‘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) 

SOLYNDRA CAUGHT RED-HANDED “DESTROYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PARTS” IN DUMPSTERS DESPITE OWING TAXPAYERS HALF A BILLION DOLLARS: (“Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying New Parts,” CBS San Francisco, 1/19/2012)

“FORMER SOLYNDRA CEO GOT $467K SEVERANCE”: (Randall Chase, “Former Solyndra CEO Gets $456K Severance,” Associated Press, 11/2/2011)  

SOLYNDRA CEO NEGOTIATED SEVERANCE IN JULY 2011, TWO MONTHS BEFORE SOLYNDRA ANNOUNCED HIS FIRING: (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: (Dana Hull, “Solyndra Executives Collected Hefty Bonuses in Months Before Fremont Company Filed for Bankruptcy,” San Jose Mercury News, 11/2/2011)

Worst of all, a recent report finds that the Democrats’ stimulus crony capitalism actually hurt the very green companies they claimed they were trying to help:

DOE SPENT TAXPAYER DOLLARS BACKING “MULTIPLE SOLAR” COMPANIES AND “ADDED TO A HEATED GLOBAL COMPETITION” THAT WAS “ALREADY CREATING AN EXCESSIVE SUPPLY OF SOLAR PANELS”:“DOE should have averted some of the risks it created in its portfolio by diversifying its investments across renewable energy technologies.  DOE’s investment in multiple solar manufacturers added to a heated global competition that was already creating an excessive supply of solar panels.  These manufacturers were forced to compete both against each other and other solar companies worldwide.  As a result, the average selling price per watt for solar panels has continued its decline.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)

MANY SOLAR COMPANIES “CAN ONLY SURVIVE THROUGH CONTINUED PROVISION OF SUBSIDIES” PAID FOR BY TAXPAYERS: “Despite Solyndra’s fall, there remains excessive competition in the manufacturing of solar panels. Just this past month, both Abound Solar and First Solar cut solar panel production globally, reflecting this excessive supply and heated competition. While U.S. solar generation projects can take advantage of falling panel prices to offset a share of the impact of reduced power prices, it appears solar manufacturers that suffer both supply and demand shocks can only survive through continued provision of subsidies. Unfortunately for these manufacturers, there is growing evidence that the subsidies are drying up.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,”U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)

“RATINGS AGENCIES FULLY INFORMED THE DOE” OF RISKS OF “EXCESSIVE GLOBAL COMPETITION”: “The ratings agencies fully informed the DOE of their expectations for falling panel prices due to excessive global competition.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)

“APPARENT CURE TO THE OVERSUPPLY IS THE OUTRIGHT SHUTTERING OF A LARGE SHARE OF SOLAR PANEL MANUFACTURERS”—SUBSIDIZED BY TAXPAYERS: “Both Germany and the U.S. appear to be phasing out subsidies over the coming years, and this should eventually help reduce the excessive supply; however, it does so at the expense of the subsidized solar firms. In other words, the apparent cure to the oversupply is the outright shuttering of a large share of solar panel manufacturers worldwide.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)