Monday, September 12, 2011

Green Weenies Headed For Jail?

Last Thursday I did a piece on the failure of green government parasite Solyndra. I didn't expect to be revisiting the subject quite so soon, but it now appears that there was something genuinely rotten in the State of Green Nirvana. The $535 million handed over to Solyndra by the Obama administration may have been something more than misspent.

For the basic background on the subject of crony capitalism green profligacy, go here. After eating up all the federal handouts, and laying off its entire work force of 1100, this "model of green efficiency" filed for bankruptcy protection. The executives of Solyndra blew through the cash faster than you can say "renewable energy." The business plan was fatally-flawed, and now it appears that at least some of the Obamists knew it before, during and after the federal palm-greasing.

ABC News, not normally expected to be a hard investigative organization when it comes to Democratic boondoggles, reports that officials of the Department of Energy regularly sat in on Solyndra board meetings, offering suggestions for phony explanations for why the taxpayers money was being thrown at a scheme that was beyond redemption. The "stimulus" funds for Obama's friends at Solyndra were fast-tracked by the Department of Energy at the request of high-level Obama operatives. Between 2009 and 2011, top executive and Solyndra co-founder George B. Kaiser visited the White House no less than sixteen times.

Kaiser was a big contributor to Obama's presidential campaign, and his reward was to spend large swaths of time at the White House, rivaling the amount of time spent there by Andy Stern of the reprehensible SEIU. As part of the deal for the infusion of taxpayer money, the taxpayers position was subordinated to that of Kaiser in the event of a company failure. Kaiser met with the Deputy Directors of the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council at the White House four times in the week preceding the official grant of the $535 million loan.

While Solyndra was putting on a good show without producing anything tangible, it also spent $1 million lobbying the Obama administration and other Washington politicians (mostly Democrats) in the three years leading up to the loan. Just before he paid his back-slapping visit to the Solyndra campus, President Obama received the report of Price Waterhouse Coopers which had audited Solyndra for the Securities and Exchange Commission for most its five year existence. PWC reported: "In the first five years of operation, the company had sustained $558 million in losses and has suffered recurring losses from operations, negative cash flows since inception and has a net stockholders' deficit that, among other factors, raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern."

Ignore those annoying little facts. In obtaining search warrants for Solyndra's books, the DOJ is claiming that Solyndra's management "misled the administration" about the company's financial position and ability to produce viable green energy projects. "Shovel-ready" anyone? Federal subsidies for "green energy" have gone up 535% since 2007, with the vast majority occurring from 2009 to the present. Success rates are, to be generous, abysmal.

But gosh, it's such a good cause, the administration decided that the least it could do is cover the company's losses with taxpayer money. The PWC audit came out in March of 2010, but that didn't stop Obama from declaring in May of the same year that "companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future." For whom, Mr. President? Yourself? George Kaiser? Certainly not for the taxpayers, the employees of Solyndra, or the real world of genuine energy-production.

It is apparent that Obama and his merry band of Chicago crony-capitalists posing as socialists either knew or should have known of the inevitable failure of the start-up Solyndra. If this isn't malfeasance, it's most assuredly misfeasance. But it's also what one should expect from an administration that couldn't care less about business, knows nothing about business, and is willing to do anything to protect and encourage its largest political donors. George Kaiser remains a billionaire, and will undoubtedly be joining George Soros in funding Obama's presidential reelection bid.

This dead fish smells so bad that the FBI and the Holder Justice Department have been forced into pretending that they actually suspect possible criminal behavior and intend to do something about it. Even if the FBI search warrants produce evidence of fraud or other criminal wrongdoing, what are the odds that the crooked and highly-politicized Justice Department will do anything about it? Another thing to add to the list for the new Attorney General in 2013.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Andrew: I think this may be further proof that our President is an idiot. LOL

Tam said...

I can't wait for a new DOJ.

Tennessee Jed said...

Go go, where where, we want a perp walk over there. Sorry, still had a little football cheer in me from this weekend. I'm sure Newsweek sees this as a potential cover story, dontcha think?

Anonymous said...

Tam: Thee and me both. I've said before that we don't want to look like a banana republic by "punishing" our political enemies. I think the new AG is simply going to have to risk that image since this is the crookedest Department of Justice in my memory. They're not only crooked, but they're arrogant about it. Nothing is going to happen until we're rid of both Obama and Holder, since they would simply be investigating themselves.

AndrewPrice said...

Yeah Lawhawk, the proof is everywhere.

Anonymous said...

Tennessee: Love it! I was a bit on football overload myself. My 49ers are looking better each week. And the Cowboys-Jets game was a nail-biter from start to finish. It may seem strange that a 49ers fan would also be a Cowboys fan, but there's an explanation. During the height of both franchises' back when, Dallas was coached by the incomparable Tom Landry. Landry was a Lutheran, so he had his spring training at Cal Lutheran College (now Cal Lutheran University) in Thousand Oaks, a fifteen minute drive from our home in Simi Valley. In some ways, that kinda made it our "home team." Landry was very observant, and noticed we were there almost every time they were. He gave my son a lot of encouragement even though my son's main interest was baseball.

Anonymous said...

Andrew: Maybe that's the problem. Sometimes the obvious escapes us. More and more he reminds me of the Peter Sellers character in Being There. People mistake his simple-mindedness for wisdom and his vapid comments as profundity.

Anonymous said...

I just noticed that my favorite governor, Bobby Jindal, is going to endorse Perry. I won't make any comment on the wisdom of that (yet), but this will be a big blow to Romney in the South. I am pretty sure part of it is due to the fact that Jindal and Perry have worked closely together during the storm and oil spill disasters, achieving results despite Obama's lack of interest in doing anything at all for the Southern states.

BevfromNYC said...

LawHawk, you like the Dallas Cowboys because you are a man of great taste and refinement! Tom Landry was/is the epitome of what a coach should be. He was just a great coach and a true gentleman. Jerry Jones will never be forgiven for firing him...ever. Frankly I am surprised that Jones survived.

Now back to...our corrupt DOJ. Even the workers are going after the Solyndra executives. No one had any warning at all. They just showed up and the doors were locked.

rlaWTX said...

in my house being a Niners fan and a Cowboys fan has never been odd... But that's cuz my mom had eclectic tastes in football...

as for this latest idiocy, when I heard this on the news I knew that the WH/DOJ would distance themselves and I wondered if this wasn't a "retaliation" for being so spectacularly bad with the money they were given. However, it seems unlikely because I think the WH would really prefer they just didn't exist at all.

yeah, the new administration will have their hands full undoing and investigating...

BevfromNYC said...

Newsflash: The 11th Circuit just issued it's opinion of the HCR and at least struck down the "individual mandate" clause of the HCR citing Congress overstepped

"For these reasons, we conclude that the individual mandate contained in the
Act exceeds Congress’s enumerated commerce power." and is unconstitutional.

Upheld the Medicaid expansion

Reversed the lower court ruling on severability. They concluded that the other provisions remain operative even without the individual mandate.

Anonymous said...

Bev: I'm obviously not the only Landry fan around. He was a great man.

Anonymous said...

rlaWTX: I grew up in a house divided against itself. Not only was my mother Catholic and my father Lutheran, but she was a White Sox fan and he was a Cubs fan. So I guess being both a 49ers fan and a Cowboys fan isn't entirely unexpected. They gave me a split personality.

You should know that the Obama administration never punishes someone for being wasteful of public funds. They just don't like them getting caught and spreading the mud to their own pantlegs.

Anonymous said...

Bev: That's too bad about the Eleventh Circuit. Courts should not be picking and choosing which parts of an act are constitutional and which aren't when the unconstitutional part is the foundation for all the rest. A detail can be overlooked, modified or even stricken without voiding an act. But when there is no severability clause, and the unconstitutional portion is a key element, the whole act should be voided. I think that's what the Supreme Court will ultimately decide.

Anonymous said...

Bev: I hadn't seen the notice, so I'm wondering if there's anything different in the 11th Circuit's decision from the one they rendered on August 12. Or was this just the certified opinion confirming their August 12 opinion? In any event, the Supreme Court will ultimately be deciding the issue.

BevfromNYC said...

Uuhhh, well, this WAS the 8/12/2011 decision. My eyes saw it as 9/12/2011...nevermind....

Anonymous said...

Bev: LOL. It was well worth repeating. I'm starting to have trouble keeping all the decisions and their nuances straight at this point.

The Supreme Court renders "uniformity of opinion," and with all the wildly divergent opinions coming out of the appeals courts, the trip to the High Court is inevitable. I just wish they'd decide to take the case now rather than let any others play out in the circuit courts. It's patently obvious by now that the Supreme Court will have to make the final decision, so why wait?

In the immortal words of Barack Obama, "we can't wait another fourteen months for this to happen."

T-Rav said...

The corruption of this administration truly knows no bounds.

Anonymous said...

T-Rav: I've been around a long time, and a political activist most of my life, but this administration has managed to astound me with its complete lack of ethics, honesty and dedication to constitutional government. This is what happens when you elect a President from the South Side of Chicago.

Anonymous said...

Tuesday update: More news agencies are beginning to report that the Obama administration had actual knowledge of Solyndra's miserable financial condition at the time the stimulus loan was being pushed. Several are confirming ABC's report that administration officials actively took part in Solyndra board meetings before, at the time of, and after the loan. That strengthens the argument that the administration's actions may have been criminal. We'll have to wait to see what the FBI and the Congressional committees find as evidence.

Anonymous said...

AND THE BEAT GOES ON: The FBI has obtained further warrants and raided the home of three of the Solyndra executives. There are many things they may be looking for, but the most likely are records of bribes or attempted bribes and kickbacks. This is not going to go away any time soon.

Anonymous said...

Andrew McCarthy at National Review has called the Obama administration out in no uncertain terms concerning Solyndra. He says that the evidence gathered so far points to a clear criminal conspiracy, particularly the DOE subordinating the equity of the taxpayers to that of Kaiser and the other Solyndra execs. McCarthy is a former federal prosecutor, and has successfully prosecuted government wrongdoing in the past.

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