Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
From interviews with former Solyndra employees, the Washington Post has pieced together how Solyndra burned through the better part of its $535 million federal loan.
Former employees of Solyndra, the shuttered solar company that exhausted half a billion dollars of taxpayer money, said they saw questionable spending by management almost as soon as a federal agency approved a $535 million government-backed loan for the start-up.
A new factory built with public money boasted a gleaming conference room with glass walls that, with the flip of a switch, turned a smoky gray to conceal the room’s occupants. Hastily purchased state-of-the-art equipment ended up being sold for pennies on the dollar, still in its plastic wrap, employees said.
As the $344 million factory went up just down the road from the company’s leased plant in Fremont, Calif., workers watched as pallets of unsold solar panels stacked up in storage. Many wondered: Was the factory needed?
“After we got the loan guarantee, they were just spending money left and right,” said former Solyndra engineer Lindsey Eastburn. “Because we were doing well, nobody cared. Because of that infusion of money, it made people sloppy.”
As more nauseating details emerge from the scandal surrounding Solyndra's demise, Republicans need to persistently make the case that this malfeasance isn't isolated to one company, but is part and parcel of President Obama's stimulus legacy. Solyndra's sloppy spending spree is really just a small manifestation of Obama's sloppy spending spree.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
The only significant expenditure is the new factory, everything else on this employees list of woe is small potatoes, which is to say non-authoritative. What no one is writing about are balance sheet transactions such as repayment of loans. Who got what as a first cut when the fed's half-billion came rolling in—that's where the digging should be done. My guess is questions along this line of inquiry will generate a lot of pleading the fifth.
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
Isn't that how it is when spending someone else's money.
Dec '10
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
Meh. The fact remains that 53% of our fellow Americans voters, voted for this turkey, when an abundance of information was available to the electorate that should have kept them from doing so. Most of those people will still vote for Obama, again. Nothing Republicans say will change that. He's always been what he is.
The only path towards his defeat is getting more good people to the polls and that won't happen if we allow the Washington types (and the Tallahassee types, here in Florida), to pick our nominee. Tallahassee picked John McCain and the Florida Primary gave the rest of America no better choice left standing. The good news is, Tallahassee may be on the run. Our village idiot, Mike Haridopolous, now sees no path to nomination for running against Bill Nelson. Florida is changed, now, and the Crists, Mel Martinezes and Jeb Bushes are no longer in charge. You will get no McCain out of Florida, this coming year.
Aug '11
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
I want to agree with what CJRun said. I could see Obama being a bad president coming from a mile away. However. He's actually a little worse than I thought he'd be. I really thought he'd swing to middle and triangulate after the Tea Party swept the House and made gains in the Senate. But he didn't. He's back to spending, I mean, "investing," and he's back to taxing. Yikes.
We do need more people voting. We need to actually grow the voter base, not get the existing base to change over to the right. But that would be good too.
Sorry to say I don't know much about FL politics-- I would guess that Florida is a hard state to campaign and govern since it's so diverse. South Florida is its own highly contentious little animal, then central and north Florida is basically the (deep?) south, but you have Jacksonville, Gainsville, Orlando and Tallahassee as pockets in that region to be careful of, if you're conservative.
Jul '10
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
Are memories so short? People knew next to nothing about that pig in the poke . The MSM, deeply committed to the Black Jesus, didn't bother looking into his shady background and turned a blind eye to his utter lack of experience in anything meaningful. So voters took a feel-good flyer that they will continue to regret for a long, long time. Experience is a hard teacher but a good one.
Jul '10
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
A remake:
Obama's Trillions
Dec '10
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
Whut? No debate chat, tonight?
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
The White House will now be saying they were missled and or worse.
If one is in the publics pocket, there are not too many reasons to fact check.
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
What about Solyndra transferring its accounts receivable to another company owned by George Kiser? What about the giant buildup in inventory that will now be sold (in a hurry - 4 weeks - and probably to someone connected to Kiser). What about the losses carried forward that only George Kiser will be able to use against any profits created by whatever company he runs in the future? Why is the federal government investing in an industry that in George Kiser admits the US can't compete with China due to labor costs? Since when does it take a half billion to start a low-tech company such as a solar panel manufacturer? I could go on and on....
Jan '11
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
Diane Ellis, Ed.:
As more nauseating details emerge from the scandal surrounding Solyndra's demise, Republicans need to persistently make the case that this malfeasance isn't isolated to one company, but is part and parcel of President Obama's stimulus legacy. Solyndra's sloppy spending spree is really just a small manifestation of Obama's sloppy spending spree.
So, does this make his latest efforts sloppy seconds?
Nov '10
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
It is a frequent phenomenon that trouble catches up with high tech firms once a large capital project like a shiny new corporate campus or factory is built and opened.
Mar '11
Re: Obama's Sloppy Spending Spree
Jerry Carroll: Are memories so short? People knew next to nothing about that pig in the poke . The MSM, deeply committed to the Black Jesus, didn't bother looking into his shady background and turned a blind eye to his utter lack of experience in anything meaningful. So voters took a feel-good flyer that they will continue to regret for a long, long time. Experience is a hard teacher but a good one. · Sep 22 at 5:25pm
Liberals never forget and never learn.