President Obama once again defended the Department of Energy loansprogram that awarded a $535 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan to the failed solar company Solyndra:
Obama was asked at a press conference Thursday about the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a California-based solar panel manufacturer that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Energy Department in 2009.
“We knew from the start that the loan guarantee program was going to entail some risk by definition,” Obama said, adding that the “overall portfolio has been successful.”
“There were going to be some companies that did not work out; Solyndra was one of them,” he said.
Obama reiterated his defense of the Energy Department’s decision to green-light the Solyndra loan guarantee, even amid concerns from some administration officials about the financial state of the company.
“All I can say is that the Department of Energy made these decisions based on their best judgment about what makes sense,” Obama said.
The president dismissed a series of emails that show administration officials disagreed about the Solyndra loan guarantee in the months after the administration approved financing for the company.
“Of course there were going to be some debates internally when you have something as complicated as this,” Obama said.
Sure. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the concerns raised by Office of Management and Budget staff as to whether the Solyndra loan guarantee ‘made sense’:
- “This deal is NOT ready for prime time.”
- “The issue of working capital remains unresolved . . . [Solyndra] seems to agree that the model runs out of cash in Sept. 2011 even in the base case without any stress . . . how can we advance a project that hasn’t funded working capital requirements and that generates a working capital shortfall of $50 [million] when working capital assumptions are entered into the model?”
Within 1 minute or two of Obama stating this at his news conference today he was all over Wall Street and bankers for doing the EXACT SAME THING as he and his buddies were doing: picking winners and losers!
Obama came down hard against bankers and investors (you know, the ”rich”) for putting money into specific businesses.
But when it came to his DOE doing ithe was all for it….even when it led to costly losses for TAXPAYERS.
But I see it differently.
A businessman and an investor know what they are doing and the risks and potential for profits involved.
TAXPAYERS do not expect our government employees to fritter their hard-earned money away on risky schemes that are doomed to failure the instant the government backs off.
Solyndra wasted millions making (and then tossing in the trash) faulty panels that brought up their sales price of the good ones to $6/apiece.
China recycles all rare earths.
Thus they carefully create panels for $1 or $2 apiece.
There was never a viable business model at Solyndra.
Never.
It looks OK on paper as long as the taxpayers didn’t stop pouring cash down the Solyndra gullet.
Yet Obama was good with that.
@Nan G – Nail on the head – Once Again!
Corruption, incompetence, cronyism, No Business sense whatsoever….Green Jobs schemes…. And we are ‘somehow Wrong’ for calling a halt to this type of B/S spending….among other types of B/S spending…. Let me keep my money I can put it to better use!!!
Go Herman Cain!!!!