Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on September 2, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Most poker players know that before going all in on a hand, it’s best to check your hole cards first. Barack Obama went all in on Solyndra, a solar-power technology company that Obama himself visited and heralded as an example of how his green-jobs stimulus would create “countless jobs” in the US. Here he is in May 2010, justifying the $535 million bet he put on Solyndra:
As the clip notes, Solyndra went belly-up fifteen months later, and took Obama’s bet with it. Of course, Obama didn’t bet with his money; he used our money for that bet and bragged about what a great investment it was — even as Obama’s other policies may have undermined it:
Solyndra suspended operations Wednesday and will soon file for chapter 11 bankruptcy and lay off its 1,100 employees. The company cited “regulatory and policy uncertainties in recent months” as the cause of its financial hardships, which have “created significant near-term excess supply and price erosion,” according to the company’s CEO. Solyndra is the third solar company to file for bankruptcy this month.
Gee, what kind of “regulatory and policy uncertainties” might those have been? Perhaps the impact of ObamaCare on employment costs and the threat of escalating power costs thanks to Obama’s hostility towards domestic energy production?
But that’s not the best part of this OOTD, nor a lost bet for Obama at all. The Heritage Foundation blog The Foundry notes that Obama’s big bet on Solyndra paid off in other ways:
The economic conditions that have put Solyndra in such dire economic straits – the “regulatory and policy uncertainties” to which its CEO referred – may have been perceptible, even when the company received the loan guarantee. But the Department of Energy did not undergo its usual financial assessment when considering that guarantee.
“An independent federal auditor who has reviewed the energy loan program said moving so quickly without completing thorough reviews exposed the program to perceptions of political influence and put taxpayers at greater risk,” CPI’s iWatch News reported at the time.
Fueling that perception was the fact that George Kaiser, one of Solyndra’s top investors, raised about $50,000 for Obama’s presidential campaign.
What a coincidence!
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
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Terp Mole, what is your opinion on this?
rogerb on September 2, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Issa, where are you?
let’s get crackin’
cmsinaz on September 2, 2011 at 8:09 AM
someone needs to clip every company and factory Obama visited followed by the date and time it collapsed, now that would be a campaign commercial.
rob verdi on September 2, 2011 at 8:11 AM
When does Obama sue the democratic Congress ?
William Amos on September 2, 2011 at 8:11 AM
that’s rich when barney and maxine let fannie and freddie run wild when W wanted to rein them in….
cmsinaz on September 2, 2011 at 8:13 AM
Obama and the left always amuse me, they funnel tax payer money to special interests, then claim they are not anti-business because they poured public money down private sinkholes. By a happy coincidence those same companies provide consulting jobs, board positions, and donations to democrats.
rob verdi on September 2, 2011 at 8:14 AM
I believe the House Energy committee is already looking into this. Oh goody, another scandal for the MSM to cover up.
JimK on September 2, 2011 at 8:14 AM
Wasted taxpayer funds on a bad investment.
Our money flowing toward Obama donor.
Obama helped cause it to fail.
Another three-for-the-price-of-one Obamateurism.
itsnotaboutme on September 2, 2011 at 8:15 AM
And I think this is the third solar panel plant the taxpayers have bankrolled that has gone belly up in the last year.
Disgusting!
Greyledge Gal on September 2, 2011 at 8:16 AM
ding ding ding…
cmsinaz on September 2, 2011 at 8:17 AM
I saw that last night and, after having another ranting fit about ACORN and CDA and HUD and Fannie and Freddie, I wondered if this is the last step toward sinking the banks and nationalizing them.
Our financial system can’t take much more.
Greyledge Gal on September 2, 2011 at 8:19 AM
No one could afford the length of airtime rob.
Rovin on September 2, 2011 at 8:20 AM
OT i just saw on yahoo news
cmsinaz on September 2, 2011 at 8:20 AM
this gives the appearance of failure. Solyndra was never meant to succeed. It was meant to be a front through which to launder our money given under the auspices of “green” and all the altruism that follows. The intended result was that the regulations were to stay in place to kill off other companies. All the parties got their intended money, just not for the right reasons. Create a false company, get a big grant, “woops” go bellyup, take the money and run…..
what a country.
/ayers.
ted c on September 2, 2011 at 8:21 AM
If solar were a viable it wouldn’t need money confiscated from the citizens to operate. Investors would be flocking to it.
darwin-t on September 2, 2011 at 8:21 AM
And yet Maxine Waters on her CBC Grievance Tour is threatening to sue banks for not offering sweetheart deals to those faced with foreclosure (since these banks are obviously involved in a plot to undermine “her people.”
onlineanalyst on September 2, 2011 at 8:28 AM
How much federal money in loan guarantees are the American people on the hook for because the fascist-in-chief is picking winners and losers in the market place?
onlineanalyst on September 2, 2011 at 8:30 AM
Unemployment 9.1%, zero jobs added in August.
TXUS on September 2, 2011 at 8:30 AM
cripe…
cmsinaz on September 2, 2011 at 8:31 AM
Half a billion here, half a billion there … pretty soon you’re talking trillions.
I love the Headline today about how electric cars are less environmentally friendly than gas-powered cars. Green energy, solar, electric cars … there’s a real danger these feel-good catch words can become sinkholes of public money, not only destroying our economy but even damaging the environment.
Paul-Cincy on September 2, 2011 at 8:32 AM
Why would any of us be surprised?. Obama lied, taxpayers cried!!!
Vntnrse on September 2, 2011 at 8:32 AM
These government funded green energy factories are like Mel Brooks The Producers. They are frauds set up to syphon off a half a billion dollars of taxpayer funds, and then to fail.
Unlike the The Producers, they really do fail, and all the money just mysteriously disappears.
Dhuka on September 2, 2011 at 8:34 AM
I know I sent Michelle that story two days ago. I added a video on the link.
http://michellemalkin.com/2011/08/31/maxine-waters-bullies-banks-were-going-to-tax-them-out-of-business/
William Amos on September 2, 2011 at 8:35 AM
O/T:
The why-ners at MSDNC, (including “conservative Joey Scarborough”), are all calling for a third party candidate. This tells you the Liberals are getting real nervous, knowing full well that their “dear leader” is going down to defeat, (unless the Republican Party is split).
Rovin on September 2, 2011 at 8:38 AM
9.1 %
Zero net job growth—not seen since 1945
cmsinaz on September 2, 2011 at 8:38 AM
I just saw that. Zero jobs?! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. I guess that’s better than a negative number, but it’s still embarrassing. And pretty hard to spin for the White House(although they’ll try).
Doughboy on September 2, 2011 at 8:39 AM
Great work DOE. Maybe Premier Obama should expand Federal agency command/control of large amounts of taxpayer money to “invest” in “infrastructure projects” without accountability or Congressional approval.
forest on September 2, 2011 at 8:39 AM
yepper….i can see them pushing huntsman
cmsinaz on September 2, 2011 at 8:40 AM
Zero jobs is literally “countless”, right?
forest on September 2, 2011 at 8:41 AM
The Solyndra mess is emblematic of Øbama‘s overall economic program.
petefrt on September 2, 2011 at 8:44 AM
I guess that we are counting less and less of them, so I’d say yes.
ted c on September 2, 2011 at 8:47 AM
I guess we’re counting less and less of them, so I’d say yes.
ted c on September 2, 2011 at 8:48 AM
weird…comment time warp
ted c on September 2, 2011 at 8:49 AM
reminds me of that movie from the 80′s titled “Less Than Zero” with Robert Downey, Jr.
ted c on September 2, 2011 at 8:50 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CH0hQhnxv4&feature=related
ted c on September 2, 2011 at 8:53 AM
The new environmentalism: Green tech for greenbacks.
NeighborhoodCatLady on September 2, 2011 at 8:56 AM
This just in…
Per share price of Amalgamated White Wash going through the roof.
SKYFOX on September 2, 2011 at 9:08 AM
Midas touch-only what he touches turns into dirt. Someone better get movin on those windmills that are killin’ eagles and move them somewhere else-as they are endangered species-mmhh anybody?
After all, penalty and fines from these deaths go where? The federal government are killing eagles they are seeking to protect.
The gift that keeps on giving…
ProudPalinFan on September 2, 2011 at 9:13 AM
I am shocked a company who received a ridiculous and artifical amount of money didnt plan well, never goosed revenue and profit margins, in fact – there is no market for their products (which is why 2 other solar companies went out of business this month)
Half a billion could go a long way, namely as a “cut” to the federal budget, considering it was a waste of money after all.
Remember folks, Mr “Price and Earnings” has the investment portfolio of America in his hands…
Odie1941 on September 2, 2011 at 9:14 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-solyndra-failure-auditors-wonder-what-other-bad-bets-obama-officials-made/2011/09/01/gIQALMlnuJ_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage
William Amos on September 2, 2011 at 9:15 AM
What a great way to funnel taxpayer dollars to your own campaign. And if you lose an election, you get to keep your campaign funds for personal use.
rbj on September 2, 2011 at 9:16 AM
A bit of the link above-sorry for changing the topic but this is another example of his utter idiocy, covered by those who seek to enforce the law:
ProudPalinFan on September 2, 2011 at 9:16 AM
Does this department have a czar?
tinkerthinker on September 2, 2011 at 9:25 AM
Solyndra is not the only green company that went belly up with our money. There are several others. We might as well set all of our money on fire for all of the good it is doing our citzens.
BetseyRoss on September 2, 2011 at 9:33 AM
.
The big S&P up/down board ran to red within 10 seconds of the open. It’s still running that direction.
.
If private business did what the politicians do, that is reward a graft payment with a contract, loan, or investment it would be called criminal and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. People would go to jail for long periods of time. Ø is all about rewarding supporters with taxpayer money; in my mind, it’s criminal and should be recognized as such.
ExpressoBold on September 2, 2011 at 9:42 AM
In the words of Father Guido Sarducci, “Coincidencia? I don’t think so.”
coldwarrior on September 2, 2011 at 10:02 AM
CBA! What’s a CBA? We don’t need no stinkin CBA.
(For those from Rio Lindo, CBA = Cost-Benefit Analysis)
chemman on September 2, 2011 at 10:12 AM
Obama: We are pois
edon to develop new technologies…FIFY, Barry.
You want to create jobs in the energy industry, ask Bobby Jindal what to do.
Steve Z on September 2, 2011 at 10:12 AM
Any halfway competent Project Engineer could have told you that about electric cars. It is the difference between looking just at emissions and looking at its entire life-cycle.
chemman on September 2, 2011 at 10:21 AM
The march around the ‘ring of fire’ continues. Hopefully it ends there otherwise either Washington or California is in the cross-hairs next.
chemman on September 2, 2011 at 10:26 AM
I want to know who ends up buying the plant and equipment for pennies on the dollar.
Very old scam. I wonder what the costs are going to look like without a $500,000,000.00 loan to pay back on the books?
barnone on September 2, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Most ethical and brilliant administration evah??!! Don’t think so.
redfoxbluestate on September 2, 2011 at 10:28 AM
That’s rich. So when the U.S. wins the law suit they get paid back with all the money they gave to the banks because they were too big to fail.
chemman on September 2, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Yes, but death-by-windmill is a proud, honorable death. These noble birds obviously are at ease knowing they were pureed so that Mother Gaia might heal…
….or something.
BigWyo on September 2, 2011 at 10:50 AM
People in Chicago wouldn’t even bat an eye about this.
Another example of this administration’s “new normal”.
GarandFan on September 2, 2011 at 10:58 AM
More to this story, and taxpayers will foot the bill. For example, this is from an ABC News article back in May 24, 2011:
“The Obama administration bypassed procedural steps meant to protect taxpayers as it hurried to approve an energy loan guarantee to a politically-connected California solar power startup, ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News have learned.
The Energy Department in March 2009 announced its intention to award Solyndra Inc. a $535 million loan guarantee before receiving final copies of outside reviews typically used to vet such deals. An independent federal auditor who has reviewed the energy … loan program said moving so quickly without completing thorough reviews risked exposing the program to claims of political influence and put taxpayers at greater risk.”
more
petefrt on September 2, 2011 at 11:20 AM
There’s an upside, though. This might be a good time for the administration to get a deal on those solar panels they promised to install on the White House roof.
Sowell Disciple on September 2, 2011 at 12:01 PM
. . . when was that promise made? Two years ago?
Sowell Disciple on September 2, 2011 at 12:02 PM
But I just read that the gov’t is only on the hook for 73% of the loans. So, everything’s fine. Nothing to see here.
Pablo Snooze on September 2, 2011 at 1:45 PM
They have to find solar panels made by greedy unions and they can’t. Wouldn’t want to offend Godfather Trumpka.
slickwillie2001 on September 2, 2011 at 1:52 PM