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Name:
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water_watcher
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Subject:
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Good recap
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Date:
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9/14/2011 7:25:18 PM
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White House ignored red flags in loan to failed solar company
By Martin Wolk
The
Obama administration committed more than $500 million in taxpayer money to a
maker of solar power panels despite repeated red flags about the company’s viability,
NBC News’ Lisa Myers reported Wednesday.
The
FBI raided the
Silicon Valley headquarters of the company, Solyndra, last week,
investigating whether the government was misled when it loaned the company $535
million in taxpayer funds. Solyndra officials say they are cooperating with the
investigation.
Solyndra
received the loan guarantees in 2009 as part of President Barack Obama’s
promise to create millions of so-called "green" jobs. But last month,
Solyndra declared bankruptcy, laying off all 1,100 workers.
“The
evidence seems to be pretty clear to even the non-lawyer types that this
smelled from the very get-go, that this was a really bad deal,” said Rep. Fred
Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
A
committee panel, which has been looking into the company for months, will hold
a hearing Wednesday on what went wrong with Solyndra. Two company executives
are expected to appear before the panel next week, The Associated Press
reported.
(Update:
The hearing is under way. Watch
live here. Here is a link to a summary of the investigation by the Republican staff of
the committee.)
House
Republican investigators have unearthed emails -- reviewed by NBC -- which
reveal repeated warnings by government staffers about the loan. Days before
final approval there was a warning that one model showed the project would run
out of cash in September 2011, which it did.
Another
memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget, also cited by The Washington Post, questioned the model the
government was using, but said "[g]iven the time pressure we are under to
sign-off on Solyndra, we don't have time to change the model."
Why
the rush? The White House appeared to be pushing to meet political deadlines so
Vice President Joe Biden could announce final approval when he spoke at the
groundbreaking for the new plant.
A
key question is whether Solyndra's political connections were a factor. A big
Obama donor associated with the venture, identified by the Post as Tulsa billionaire
George Kaiser, repeatedly visited the White House. He has denied using his
influence to win approval of the loan.
A
White house spokesman says no political influence was involved here, that this
was a worthy investment in a company many saw as promising. And, he says, just
because this company failed, we can’t stop investing in new technologies
critical to American leadership in a global economy.
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