Comments on: Lawmakers: Gov’t didn’t do enough for Solyndra

By: John W

John W — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:33:55 +0000

This summary is what Al Gore might call “an inconvenient truth.” I’m sure the GOP investigators will rush to enter this into the record.

The administration did not have “two and a half years” as stated by Professor Elwood. The loan guarantee was approved 8 months after Obama was sworn in. To be frank, somebody should have had a heads up about what was happening to silicon prices and in China, but this is not Solar-gate.

By: Elwood

Elwood — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:47:23 +0000

Of course, Josh.

It’s all Bush’s fault!

Everybody knows that!

But why didn’t the omniscient O’bummer correct the evil Bush’s mistake? He’s had two and a half years. Seems long enough to me.

By: Josh Richman

Josh Richman — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:48:12 +0000

A litle context: http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/09/13/317594/timeline-bush-administration-solyndra-loan-guarantee/

By: Elwood

Elwood — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:34:55 +0000

To the tune of the old Pepsodent commercial:

They wonder where the money went,

That’s why the FBI was sent!

By: John W

John W — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:57:16 +0000

Speculation by Fox News (Judge Napolitano) is that they are looking for documents that would assist the government in making the case that it should have a more favorable position ahead of other creditors.

By: Elwood

Elwood — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:46:27 +0000

The FBI is serving search warrants at Solyndra this morning.

What do you suppose that is about?

Maybe they’re searching for the wonderfulness O’bummer described in his speech there.

By: Elwood

Elwood — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:42:57 +0000

“the Obama administration and Steven Chiu honestly believe that renewable energy can be the the next big thing to fuel economic growth”

And some people believe in fairies.

By: John W

John W — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:47:07 +0000

The whole $535M may be down the tubes. However, my understanding is that the government may recover some portion of it through asset sales. One of the Solyndra investors was a large contributor to the Obama campaign, and some of the criticism is that there were shortcuts in reviewing and approving the loan guarantee application. First I’ve heard of any Steve Westly involvement. Issa is not exactly the model of propriety, but he can investigate all he wants. My take on this is that, rightly or wrongly, the Obama administration and Steven Chiu honestly believe that renewable energy can be the the next big thing to fuel economic growth. David Brooks disputes that in a current column in the NYT. Solyndra seemed on the cutting edge, and the private investors had plenty of skin in the game (three times as much as the loan guarantee). So the administration made a big bet. Unfortunately, Solyndra turned out to be on the bleeding edge instead. Due diligence was poor. They relied too much on the idea of Silicon Valley magic dust. Lesson learned.

By: Rick K.

Rick K. — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:49:35 +0000

Where is our $535 million? Would someone please cut to the chase and confirm whether or not the taxpayers’ half-billion “investment” is lost and gone forever? How much of it went to exorbitant salaries and perquisites for officers? And how exactly is former State Controller Steve Westly linked to this waste? Is is true that Mr. Westly exercised his political influence to get this half-billion steered to his cronies at Solyndra? Why doesn’t some investigative reporter (a la “60 Minutes”) chase down Westly and force him to get on the record? Maybe Congressman Issa’s committee should investigate this colossal waste of our money.

By: John W

John W — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:53:35 +0000

Okay Elwood. You win. We’ll put this one in Obama’s column. There’s plenty of other far more consequential stuff for which it truly is “all Bush’s fault.”

And I must say, I didn’t even know you had expectations of me. I’m deeply touched.