Obama's Solar Boondoggle...

[JoeB131]

LAMBRO: Barack Obama, investor-in-chief - Washington Times

A lot of the money was given to businesses that Mr. Obama thinks will be good for the environment, though his investment decisions didn’t always work out the way he hoped.

Consider the White House-backed solar energy firm Solyndra Inc., which declared bankruptcy this week after pocketing a $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. Critics called the deal a “stimulus black hole.”

When Mr. Obama visited the Solyndra factory in May 2010, he called the company a success story that was “leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.”

He was quite proud of his investment, boasting at the time, “Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot,” but now here was this shiny, new factory that “is the result of those loans” backed by his administration.

It was later learned that the White House fast-tracked Solyndra’s loan application, rushing Mr. Obama’s pet project through without a lot of serious checking. Federal investigators said that the administration had bypassed procedures to safeguard the taxpayers’ investment.

ABCNews.com - Breaking news, politics, online news, world news, feature stories, celebrity interviews and more - ABC News

Republicans in Congress have raised questions for months about the Energy Department's decision to make Solyndra the poster-child for the green energy loan program. They expressed concern that so much federal money was headed to a company whose key investor was George Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire who raised more than $50,000 for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Since May, Kaiser has declined interview requests.

 

[waltky]

Feds searchin' Solyndra...

FBI searches bankrupt Obama-visited solar company
Sep 08, 2011 - More embarrassment for the bankrupt solar energy company that had received $535 million in loan guarantees from the Obama admimistration.

'The FBI served search warrants today on the Fremont, Cal., company that closed its doors last week.

From The San Francisco Chronicle:

The search is part of a joint investigation involving the FBI and the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General, said FBI spokeswoman Julianne Sohn, who declined to elaborate.

Solyndra closed its doors on Aug. 31. It did so without warning and without WARN, a state and federal law requiring advance notice of a large layoff or shutdown. The company has said it was most likely exempt from notifying its 900 full-time and 200 contract workers ahead of time under a loophole in the law, officially known as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act.

A spokesman for Solyndra did not immediately respond to a request for comment this morning. The solar-cell maker said last week that it was filing for bankruptcy, an abrupt end for a company that was considered an innovative leader in a fast-changing industry.

Both President Obama and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the plant after it opened in 2009, citing it as a symbol of the nation's economic recovery and commitment to a green economy.

Source

 

[boedicca]

I can just imagine the fraud horrors committed at Solyndra. With that much free money available, it's highly likely that fake suppliers were set up to funnel money out of the company.

 

[Claudette]

Reminds me of the wind deal.

T. Boone Pickens spent 2 billion, yes Billion with a B, of his own money on Wind energy only to find that it ain't doable.

Pickens spent his own money. Solandra spent ours. Another wast of hard earned tax money.