by Frank Whalen
Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.), chairman of the
House Oversight Committee, has announced
he will launch hearings into the government
loans program that benefited an emerging
“green” company and some of President Barack
Obama’s cronies. The deal with Solyndra, a solar cell
manufacturer, has cost taxpayers up to half a billion dollars,
according to Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.).
According to observers, the administration was driven
mad by its “green” obsessions.With Solyndra now filing
bankruptcy, the company has gone from the poster child
of Obama’s green future to a cautionary tale about cronyism,
political influence and taxpayer exploitation. [See
AFP issue #31,Aug. 1, 2011, page 13 for more.—Ed.]
As part of its stimulus plan to create jobs, the Obama
administration sought to win support from its Democratic
base by showcasing its commitment to environmentally
friendly technologies. Choosing Solyndra to be
that success story, the Department of Energy approved a
$535 million loan for the company in 2009.
The Republican handout,Human Events, reported that
the loan approval processwas fast-tracked, citing an email
toVice President Joe Biden from the Office ofManagement
and Budget (OMB) that stated White House officials
had “a situation of having to do rushed approvals on
a couple of occasions.We would prefer to have sufficient
time to do our due-diligence reviews and have the approval
set the date for the announcement rather than the
other way around.”
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said, “The White House
had scheduled Vice President Biden’s and Secretary
Chu’s appearances at a Solyndra groundbreaking event
prior to the Department of Energy even making its final
presentation to OMB on the terms of the Solyndra deal.”
Business Insider stated that auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers
revealed that the company’s finances
“raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue. . . .
Two months later the company was [still] awarded the
loan under a green jobs program.”
Members of the Obama administration were fully
aware of Solyndra’s impending failure, evidenced by a
March 10, 2009, OMB email characterizing the loan as
“not ready for prime time.”Then, after Solyndra declared
bankruptcy, a new restructured deal guaranteed that
friends of the administration would benefit.
Reporter Michael Grunwald wrote on Sept. 3, “Taxpayers
probably won’t even be the first creditors to get
paid after Solyndra files for bankruptcy next week. The
first $75 million will go to two Solyndra investors who
poured in extra cash when the company nearly went bust
in January.”
One of those investors is George Kaiser, who was a
well-known fundraiser for Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Kaiser also is Solyndra’s largest shareholder.
