Solyndra

[Jimmy Neutron]

This is going to go boom in the next few days. Early reports supposedly quoting WH emails urging the $500M+ green jobs loan despite reports that the company was not viable.

 

Solyndra story

[Azazello1313]

the obama economy in a nutshell.

[polksalet]

This is going to go boom in the next few days. Early reports supposedly quoting WH emails urging the $500M+ green jobs loan despite reports that the company was not viable.

 

Solyndra story

 

 

there is a special place in Hell for racists like you

[I Like Soup]

A definite black eye...

[tosberg34]

This is going to go boom in the next few days. Early reports supposedly quoting WH emails urging the $500M+ green jobs loan despite reports that the company was not viable.

 

Solyndra story

 

I'm sure it will be Bush's fault.

[westvirginia]

I'm sure it will be Bush's fault.

 

You don't know how right you are. See, the application for the loan was made during the shrub admin, so the obamessiah is trying to pin the blame there. Nevermind that the obamessiah went against advice from his own folks and then restructured the loan to protect the EVIL corporate investors of solyndra while putting the taxpaers on the hook.

[Azazello1313]

this is lovely as well:

 

The four-star Air Force general who oversees Air Force Space Command walked into a highly secured room on Capitol Hill a week ago to give a classified briefing to lawmakers and staff, and dropped a surprise. Pressed by members, Gen. William Shelton said the White House tried to pressure him to change his testimony to make it more favorable to a company tied to a large Democratic donor.

 

The episode —confirmed by The Daily Beast in interviews with administration officials and the chairman of a congressional oversight committee —is the latest in a string of incidents that have given Republicans sudden fodder for questions about whether the Obama administration is politically interfering in routine government matters that affect donors or fundraisers. Already, the FBI and a House committee are investigating a federal loan guarantee to a now failed solar firm called Solyndra that is tied to a large Obama fundraiser.

 

Now the Pentagon has been raising concerns about a new wireless project by a satellite broadband company in Virginia called LightSquared, whose majority owner is an investment fund run by Democratic donor Philip Falcone.

 

According to officials familiar with the situation, Shelton’s prepared testimony was leaked in advance to the company. And the White House asked the general to alter the testimony to add two points: that the general supported the White House policy to add more broadband for commercial use; and that the Pentagon would try to resolve the questions around LightSquared with testing in just 90 days. Shelton chafed at the intervention, which seemed to soften the Pentagon’s position and might be viewed as helping the company as it tries to get the project launched, officials said.

[yo mama]

I'd like to take second to express my condolences to all those folks at Solyndra who lost their jobs.

 

You may now resume hating on the president.

Edited September 15, 2011 by yo mama

[bpwallace49]

What a shocker. Politicians being beholden to their owners/donors.

 

I am sure this will go nowhere. Just like any other uncovering of corruption and favorable contracts given to politically connected donors.

[CowboyGal2011]

You don't know how right you are. See, the application for the loan was made during the shrub admin,

 

The results of the Congressional probe shared Tuesday with ABC News show that less than two weeks before President Bush left office, on January 9, 2009, the Energy Department's credit committee had voted against offering a loan commitment to Solyndra.

[Deathpig]

What a shocker. Politicians being beholden to their owners/donors.

 

I am sure this will go nowhere. Just like any other uncovering of corruption and favorable contracts given to politically connected donors.

 

+1

 

In the course of human history, never before has there been a situation where a high-ranking political official exerted his influence to give out a favorable contract. Obama will end up catching more flak for denying it then just being upfront about something that honestly shouldn't be surprising to anyone (see also: Nixon, Richard and Clinton, Bill).

[SayItAintSoJoe]

What a shocker. Politicians being beholden to their owners/donors.

 

I am sure this will go nowhere. Just like any other uncovering of corruption and favorable contracts given to politically connected donors.

 

 

I think you're wrong on this one. There is smoke here.

[Ursa Majoris]

I think you're wrong on this one. There is smoke here.

Yes there is but it will go nowhere, same as Halliburton went nowhere, same as all the rest of the cronyism, naked corruption and favors for donations went nowhere.

 

If it does get legs, it will be a simple matter to release documents concerning previous political bribery and corruption. Neither party will want to make too much of this.

[Jimmy Neutron]

Yes there is but it will go nowhere, same as Halliburton went nowhere, same as all the rest of the cronyism, naked corruption and favors for donations went nowhere.

 

If it does get legs, it will be a simple matter to release documents concerning previous political bribery and corruption. Neither party will want to make too much of this.

 

Sad, but likely true.

[Perchoutofwater]

Yes there is but it will go nowhere, same as Halliburton went nowhere, same as all the rest of the cronyism, naked corruption and favors for donations went nowhere.

 

If it does get legs, it will be a simple matter to release documents concerning previous political bribery and corruption. Neither party will want to make too much of this.

 

Something we can agree on.

[Lady.hawke]

This is going to be huge and heads will roll. It is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of giving billions to bogus green companies. Just wait and watch.

[Ditkaless Wonders]

This is going to be huge and heads will roll. It is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of giving billions to bogus green companies. Just wait and watch.

 

 

If heads roll it will only be those of the designated scapegoats. There have been scores of "gates" since watergate, and hundreds of other scandals. There has been lots of posturing and hot air blown, but in the end things go on more or less as before. Each side of the partisanship divide simply believes that the other side lacks the moral authority to point fingers, and has trumped matters up for political gain. Both sides are correct. When the pot calls the kettle black the pot is in a position to know.

[bpwallace49]

If heads roll it will only be those of the designated scapegoats. There have been scores of "gates" since watergate, and hundreds of other scandals. There has been lots of posturing and hot air blown, but in the end things go on more or less as before. Each side of the partisanship divide simply believes that the other side lacks the moral authority to point fingers, and has trumped matters up for political gain. Both sides are correct. When the pot calls the kettle black the pot is in a position to know.

 

+1

 

I doubt this goes anywhere. But it will provide a great deal of grandstanding by the opposite party when elections roll around. Same chit, different year.

[Ursa Majoris]

But it will provide a great deal of grandstanding by the opposite party when elections roll around. Same chit, different year.

I'm not so sure it will. The Democrats made virtually nothing of Halliburton, most likely because they were terrified of their own previous infractions being dragged out of the dark corner. Same will likely apply this time - Perry, for instance, has already shown he is enormously vulnerable via his Merck connections and his Texas Technology Committee, or whatever that panel was called that gave a bunch of taxpayer money to his business cronies. Bachmann has her own financial skeletons and most likely Romney does too.

 

Like I said, there may be a kerfuffle for a week or two and the hard core Lady.Hawke / H8 hatred peddlers will drone on forever in their closed box but by inter-party agreement, these things generally get swept under the rug quite quickly.

[SeductiveNun]

I'm not so sure it will. The Democrats made virtually nothing of Halliburton, most likely because they were terrified of their own previous infractions being dragged out of the dark corner. Same will likely apply this time - Perry, for instance, has already shown he is enormously vulnerable via his Merck connections and his Texas Technology Committee, or whatever that panel was called that gave a bunch of taxpayer money to his business cronies. Bachmann has her own financial skeletons and most likely Romney does too.

 

Like I said, there may be a kerfuffle for a week or two and the hard core Lady.Hawke / H8 hatred peddlers will drone on forever in their closed box but by inter-party agreement, these things generally get swept under the rug quite quickly.

Just playing at devil's advocate here. Seeing how the Tea Party members of the Republican Party seem to disregard the party leadership for their own agenda, do you think that the inter-party agreements get completely ignored by this group and they go charging forward, damning the torpedoes along the way?

[Ursa Majoris]

Just playing at devil's advocate here. Seeing how the Tea Party members of the Republican Party seem to disregard the party leadership for their own agenda, do you think that the inter-party agreements get completely ignored by this group and they go charging forward, damning the torpedoes along the way?

Maybe. Good point. Still, even Tea Party members have skeletons.

[SEC=UGA]

Maybe. Good point. Still, even Tea Party members have skeletons.

 

At least they don't have drowned campaign workers in their cars.

[dfv87]

I'm not so sure it will. The Democrats made virtually nothing of Halliburton, most likely because they were terrified of their own previous infractions being dragged out of the dark corner. Same will likely apply this time - Perry, for instance, has already shown he is enormously vulnerable via his Merck connections and his Texas Technology Committee, or whatever that panel was called that gave a bunch of taxpayer money to his business cronies. Bachmann has her own financial skeletons and most likely Romney does too.

 

Like I said, there may be a kerfuffle for a week or two and the hard core Lady.Hawke / H8 hatred peddlers will drone on forever in their closed box but by inter-party agreement, these things generally get swept under the rug quite quickly.

 

Ya just gotta love a fellow MN using the K word... Dan B would be proud!

[Deathpig]

I'm not so sure it will. The Democrats made virtually nothing of Halliburton, most likely because they were terrified of their own previous infractions being dragged out of the dark corner. Same will likely apply this time - Perry, for instance, has already shown he is enormously vulnerable via his Merck connections and his Texas Technology Committee, or whatever that panel was called that gave a bunch of taxpayer money to his business cronies. Bachmann has her own financial skeletons and most likely Romney does too.

 

Like I said, there may be a kerfuffle for a week or two and the hard core Lady.Hawke / H8 hatred peddlers will drone on forever in their closed box but by inter-party agreement, these things generally get swept under the rug quite quickly.

 

This.

 

500M gets pissed away seemingly monthly in Defense appropriation shenanigans that make this look like nothing. Where's the outrage? We blow more than this on administrative screwups ( http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/09/14/...rror/tab/print/ ). Where's the outrage?

 

 

There's only two ways this becomes a big deal.

 

One, Solyndra is the tip of the iceberg and more stories of pressure/abuse from the White House for funds/projects that benefit political allies shows up (i.e. stuff like this http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011...help-donor.html starts to gain legs).

 

Two, if Solyndra is an isolated event, then the worst thing Obama can do is arrogantly lie about it. Both Nixon and Clinton went that path and took it in the shorts.

 

If neither of those two things happen, this goes nowhere because there's nowhere for it to go. At most, some lackey gets fired and moves on to a nice beltway think tank or consulting firm.

[I Like Soup]

This.

 

500M gets pissed away seemingly monthly in Defense appropriation shenanigans that make this look like nothing. Where's the outrage? We blow more than this on administrative screwups ( http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/09/14/...rror/tab/print/ ). Where's the outrage?

 

 

There's only two ways this becomes a big deal.

 

One, Solyndra is the tip of the iceberg and more stories of pressure/abuse from the White House for funds/projects that benefit political allies shows up (i.e. stuff like this http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011...help-donor.html starts to gain legs).

 

Two, if Solyndra is an isolated event, then the worst thing Obama can do is arrogantly lie about it. Both Nixon and Clinton went that path and took it in the shorts.

 

If neither of those two things happen, this goes nowhere because there's nowhere for it to go. At most, some lackey gets fired and moves on to a nice beltway think tank or consulting firm.

 

I do think the Solyndra story will gain more traction as the stimulus that was supposed to head off unemployment at 8%, the general economic malaise and recent worst recession not named a depression n American history, and our ever increasing debt make this even more newsworthy and poignant to the people. Sure, in times past this may not have been as big of a deal, but in our current situation, this is just another bellwether of the how's/why's we are in such a crisis.

 

If I were Obama, I would have just come out and said "hey, y'all know I was pushing for green energy initiatives and trying to really jumpstart America in that direction to be competitive worldwide in that arena!"...the donation and other tie ins certainly don't help though...