White House pressed on $500 million loan to solar company now under investigation

Professor Peabody · Sep 13, 2011

White House pressed on $500 million loan to solar company now under investigation

By Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, Updated: Tuesday, September 13, 5:01 PM

The Obama White House tried to rush federal reviewers for a decision on a nearly half-billion-dollar loan to the solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra so Vice President Biden could announce the approval at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the companys factory, newly obtained e-mails show.

The Silicon Valley company, a centerpiece in President Obamas initiative to develop clean energy technologies, had been tentatively approved for the loan by the Energy Department but was awaiting a final financial review by the Office of Management and Budget.

The August 2009 e-mails, released to The Washington Post, show White House officials repeatedly asking OMB reviewers when they would be able to decide on the federal loan and noting a looming press event at which they planned to announce the deal. In response, OMB officials expressed concern that they were being rushed to approve the companys project without adequate time to assess the risk to taxpayers, according to information provided by Republican congressional investigators.

Solyndra collapsed two weeks ago, leaving taxpayers liable for the $535 million loan.

One e-mail from an OMB official referred to the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra. Another complained, There isnt time to negotiate.

We have ended up with a situation of having to do rushed approvals on a couple of occasions (and we are worried about Solyndra at the end of the week), one official wrote. That Aug. 31, 2009, message, written by a senior OMB staffer and sent to Terrell P. McSweeny, Bidens domestic policy adviser, concluded, We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...nvestigation/2011/09/13/gIQAr3WbQK_print.html
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Now that's what I call transparency. Does anyone believe the Holder Justice Dept will even investigate this? It should be obvious why the first stimulus didn't work. It looks to me like $840 billion dollars of the taxpayers money was used to launder that money back into Obama's campaign fund as a Solyandra investor was a Obama campaign bundler. The situation stinks to high heaven and should have a special prosecutor assigned. The House Oversight Committee will need to do it on their own as I think Holder will simply ignore it.

waltky · Sep 14, 2011

Solyndra-gate...

House probing $528M loan to failed solar company
14 Sept.`11 WASHINGTON – House Republicans questioned Wednesday whether the White House rushed approval of a half-billion-dollar loan guarantee for a now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer once cited as the kind of renewable energy company worthy of federal stimulus money.

Solyndra Inc. was a major presence in Washington and spent millions of dollars on lobbying there, particularly about the Energy Department's loan guarantee program. And its executives raised thousands of dollars for Obama and Democrats in Congress. The collapse of the Fremont, Calif.-based company once touted by President Barack Obama ultimately left taxpayers on the hook for $528 million, raising questions if the loan was rushed to accommodate a company event in September 2009 that featured Vice President Joe Biden.

The congressional panel examining the loan disclosed emails that appeared to show senior staff at the Office of Management and Budget chafing about having to conduct "rushed approvals" of federal loan guarantees designed to help jumpstart the nation's renewable energy industry. "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," said one of the emails from an unnamed OMB aide to Biden's office.

Obama cited Solyndra as an example of how the economic stimulus bill would create jobs. But the company has since filed for bankruptcy and shed 1,100 workers, saying it couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers of solar panels. Documents reviewed by The Associated Press show Solyndra spent nearly $2 million lobbying the federal government during the last four years, including on provisions of the Energy Department's loan program just months before White House officials urged that the funds be approved.

In the first quarter of 2009, Solyndra paid McBee Strategic Consulting $20,000 to lobby on issues related to the Energy Department's loan guarantee program, records show, and it paid $30,000 in early 2008 to Dutko Worldwide to handle Solyndra's loan application. Republican lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigations panel are questioning why there was a rush to approve the loan and whether the entire loan guarantee program is warranted. "Our investigation raises several questions about whether the administration did everything it could to protect taxpayer dollars," said the committee's chairman, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.

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See also:

Obama touts jobs bill benefits for small business
Sep 14,`11 - President Barack Obama urged enthusiastic college students Wednesday to join him in his fight to get Congress to act on his new jobs bill. "Every single one of you can help make this bill a reality," the president called out at a hot and noisy rally at North Carolina State University.

Someone in the crowd yelled out, "I love you!" "If you love me you got to help me pass this bill," the president responded. It was Obama's second campaign-style rally in two days as he pushes for action on his $450 billion jobs plan. His program is running into a buzz saw of opposition from Republicans - and even some in his own Democratic Party - over his plans to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for it. The president was in Ohio Tuesday, and last week in Virginia, as he travels key electoral states to sell the plan with the economy stuck in neutral heading into his 2012 re-election campaign.

On Wednesday Obama's focus was small businesses, which would be helped by Social Security payroll tax cuts. Before speaking, he toured WestStar Precision, a small business in the Raleigh suburb of Apex. It makes specialized components for the aerospace, medical and alternative energy industries. He also announced plans to try to speed payments to federal contractors. Republicans have accused Obama of playing politics by presenting them with tax hike ideas they've already rejected. But Obama said Wednesday, "We've got to make sure everybody pays their fair share, including the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations."

"It'd be nice if we could do it all, but we can't. We've got to make choices. That's what governing's about. And we know what's right," the president said. He told the students: "The time for hand-wringing is over. The time for moping around is over. We've got to kick off our bedroom slippers and put on our marching shoes." The president's trip to North Carolina, a traditionally Republican state he won in 2008, drew scorn from Republicans. "This president is in love with the sound of his own voice, he's in love with campaigning, he's in love with fundraising, and he's in love with the stump," said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. "And he's doing what he loves to do best, which is to go to battleground states, masquerade as official business, use taxpayer money to do it, and campaign."

As the president barnstormed the country to build support for his plan, which he first unveiled last week in a speech to Congress, he drew support from House Democrats. About 50 Democratic lawmakers called Wednesday for quick passage of the jobs bill and urged Americans to make their case in calls to lawmakers. "Fourteen million people do not have 14 months to wait," said Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., who was surrounded by his colleagues on the steps of the Capitol's East Front. He was referring to the number of unemployed Americans and the time until the next election. Still, there appeared to be little if any chance that the proposal would pass Congress in one piece.

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jackdog · Sep 14, 2011

waste fraud and abuse at the highest level

Professor Peabody · Sep 15, 2011

jackdog said: ↑

waste fraud and abuse at the highest level
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We need to know if any of that loan guarantee money ends up back in Obama's campaign coffers.

Mad Conservative · Sep 15, 2011

Professor Peabody said: ↑

We need to know if any of that loan guarantee money ends up back in Obama's campaign coffers.
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Solyndra is (or, more accurately, was) a California solar energy company that was the crown jewel of Obamas first economic stimulus package, which cost $787 billion. Solyndras chief investor, George Kaiser, was also a bundler for Obamas 2008 campaign, gathering over $50,000 in campaign contributions. Kaiser, together with Solyndra executives and board members, donated $87,050 to Obamas campaign.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/13/obamas-solyndra-case-follows-blagos-pattern/#ixzz1XzXR7qRB

Now, how about a special prosecutor for this case?

Brewskier · Sep 15, 2011

We can thank the Mark Levin show for this. A former Solyndra employee called in and shed light on the fact that the company management knew ahead of time that the plant would fail, and it still proceeded with taking in these hundreds of millions and building the plant.

I wonder if MSNBC is going to report on this?

Mad Conservative · Sep 15, 2011

n the bankruptcy, DOE allowed Kaiser and other investors to recover their investments first, before DOE attempted to recover the $535 million in taxpayers money. What a sweetheart deal. Americas taxpayers have been left holding the bag.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/13/obamas-solyndra-case-follows-blagos-pattern/#ixzz1XzYLCPBg

Does anyone remember what happened to the investors at the auto companies? They were left with nothing when that bankruptcy went down. "Kaiser and other investors" were allowed to recover their investments FIRST on this deal and screw the taxpayers!

If this doesn't stink and call for a special prosecutor - nothing else but Fast and Furious does.

If you haven't read this column from a few weeks ago at the Daily Caller, I sure hope you do. It's pretty enlightening.

Death Grip · Sep 17, 2011

Emails are coming out showing the Obama Administration knew they were flushing the tax payer money away and didn't even care.

This was Chicago style political pay off.

Scumbag Democrats.

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