Solyndra takes the 5th.
WaveCameCrashin
Posts: 2,929
Crony capitalism at it's finest..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44638883/ns ... tol_hill/#
WASHINGTON — Top executives from a bankrupt California solar energy company declined to testify before a congressional hearing investigating their half-billion dollar government loan.
Solyndra Inc. CEO Brian Harrison and the company's chief financial officer, Bill Stover, both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify to avoid self-incrimination.
Harrison told the House Energy and Commerce Committee Friday: "On advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer any questions."
Stover did the same.
Other political news of note
Lawmakers from both parties said they were disappointed, but said that silence from the two executives would not stop them from pursuing their investigation into a $528 million loan that Solyndra Inc. received from the Energy Department in 2009.
The panel's chairman, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., compared the Solyndra loan to the Great Train Robbery in England in the 1960s.
"It appears we have a great heist of over half a billion dollars and ... maybe even co-conspirators called the U.S. government," Upton said.
Video: Solar energy execs face Congress grilling (on this page)
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Upton faulted the Obama administration for its role in the loan, saying at a minimum the Energy Department did not complete due diligence on the company, which lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the years before the loan was approved.
He called the loan "reckless use of taxpayer dollars on a company that was known to pose serious risks before a single dime went out the door."
Meanwhile, fallout from the Solyndra controversy continued. A solar company slated to get a separate Energy Department loan guarantee said Friday it has been told the guarantee will not be approved in time to meet a federal deadline.
The Energy Department said earlier this month it would provide a partial guarantee for a $344 million loan to San Mateo, Calif.-based SolarCity to install solar panels on 160,000 homes across 124 military bases in 33 states.
But SolarCity said in a letter to Congress Friday that the project now appears to be dead. "In the past 48 hours, DOE has informed us ... they will be unable to finalize the loan guarantee" by Sept. 30, the company said in a letter to Upton and other committee leaders. "The reason provided was the increased documentation requirements that are the result of the current congressional investigation into the Solyndra bankruptcy."
SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive called his company a victim of Solyndra, and urged Congress to extend the Sept. 30 deadline by a few weeks to allow his project and others to move forward. DOE has said as many as 14 projects worth a total of nearly $9 billion face the Sept. 30 deadline.
"It's a shame to pull the plug on this project just because of the Solyndra bankruptcy," Rive said.
Story: GOP lawmaker: Solar panel industry could fail
An Energy Department official confirmed that the SolarCity project would not close by Sept. 30, but would not say the reason.
Spokesman Damien LaVera said in an email that the department has consistently said it will not close any deal until rigorous technical, legal and financial reviews have been completed.
"Failure to close a loan application does not indicate that a project doesn't have merit or a strong business case to succeed, but rather that all of the extensive due diligence and legal documentation simply cannot be completed by September 30," LaVera said.
The Energy Department has requested additional funding for the loan program in the budget year that begins Oct. 1. "If Congress provides those funds, additional projects can be considered based upon the availability of that funding," LaVera said.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said it was important for the committee's investigation of Solyndra to continue.
Advertise | AdChoices
"The American people deserve answers. Half a billion dollars is missing," he said.
Video: Solyndra execs invoke 5th amendment (on this page)
GOP lawmakers said they were expanding their inquiry into the Solyndra loan, which has become a rallying point for Republican critics of the administration's push for so-called green jobs.
Lawmakers said they want the administration to turn over all communications between the Energy Department and White House related to Solyndra, as well as all communications between Energy and the Treasury, which lent Solyndra the money.
Committee leaders said the administration may have violated the law when it restructured Solyndra's loan in February in such a way that private investors moved ahead of taxpayers for repayment in case of default. The economic stimulus law provides for taxpayers to be ahead of other creditors in the event of bankruptcy or default.
Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman said Thursday that the restructuring was "entirely legal," noting that another aspect of the law requires Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other officials to protect the overall interests of taxpayers. Poneman said the restructuring accomplished that because it gave the struggling company a better chance to succeed.
Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month and laid off its 1,100 employees.
The Fremont, Calif.-based company was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under a stimulus-law program to encourage green energy and was frequently touted by the Obama administration as a model. President Barack Obama visited the company's Silicon Valley headquarters last year, and Vice President Joe Biden spoke by satellite at its groundbreaking ceremony.
Since then, the company's implosion and revelations that the administration hurried Office of Management and Budget officials to finish their review of the loan in time for the September 2009 groundbreaking has become an embarrassment for Obama as he tries to sell his new job-creation program.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44638883/ns ... tol_hill/#
WASHINGTON — Top executives from a bankrupt California solar energy company declined to testify before a congressional hearing investigating their half-billion dollar government loan.
Solyndra Inc. CEO Brian Harrison and the company's chief financial officer, Bill Stover, both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify to avoid self-incrimination.
Harrison told the House Energy and Commerce Committee Friday: "On advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer any questions."
Stover did the same.
Other political news of note
Lawmakers from both parties said they were disappointed, but said that silence from the two executives would not stop them from pursuing their investigation into a $528 million loan that Solyndra Inc. received from the Energy Department in 2009.
The panel's chairman, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., compared the Solyndra loan to the Great Train Robbery in England in the 1960s.
"It appears we have a great heist of over half a billion dollars and ... maybe even co-conspirators called the U.S. government," Upton said.
Video: Solar energy execs face Congress grilling (on this page)
Advertise | AdChoices
Upton faulted the Obama administration for its role in the loan, saying at a minimum the Energy Department did not complete due diligence on the company, which lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the years before the loan was approved.
He called the loan "reckless use of taxpayer dollars on a company that was known to pose serious risks before a single dime went out the door."
Meanwhile, fallout from the Solyndra controversy continued. A solar company slated to get a separate Energy Department loan guarantee said Friday it has been told the guarantee will not be approved in time to meet a federal deadline.
The Energy Department said earlier this month it would provide a partial guarantee for a $344 million loan to San Mateo, Calif.-based SolarCity to install solar panels on 160,000 homes across 124 military bases in 33 states.
But SolarCity said in a letter to Congress Friday that the project now appears to be dead. "In the past 48 hours, DOE has informed us ... they will be unable to finalize the loan guarantee" by Sept. 30, the company said in a letter to Upton and other committee leaders. "The reason provided was the increased documentation requirements that are the result of the current congressional investigation into the Solyndra bankruptcy."
SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive called his company a victim of Solyndra, and urged Congress to extend the Sept. 30 deadline by a few weeks to allow his project and others to move forward. DOE has said as many as 14 projects worth a total of nearly $9 billion face the Sept. 30 deadline.
"It's a shame to pull the plug on this project just because of the Solyndra bankruptcy," Rive said.
Story: GOP lawmaker: Solar panel industry could fail
An Energy Department official confirmed that the SolarCity project would not close by Sept. 30, but would not say the reason.
Spokesman Damien LaVera said in an email that the department has consistently said it will not close any deal until rigorous technical, legal and financial reviews have been completed.
"Failure to close a loan application does not indicate that a project doesn't have merit or a strong business case to succeed, but rather that all of the extensive due diligence and legal documentation simply cannot be completed by September 30," LaVera said.
The Energy Department has requested additional funding for the loan program in the budget year that begins Oct. 1. "If Congress provides those funds, additional projects can be considered based upon the availability of that funding," LaVera said.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said it was important for the committee's investigation of Solyndra to continue.
Advertise | AdChoices
"The American people deserve answers. Half a billion dollars is missing," he said.
Video: Solyndra execs invoke 5th amendment (on this page)
GOP lawmakers said they were expanding their inquiry into the Solyndra loan, which has become a rallying point for Republican critics of the administration's push for so-called green jobs.
Lawmakers said they want the administration to turn over all communications between the Energy Department and White House related to Solyndra, as well as all communications between Energy and the Treasury, which lent Solyndra the money.
Committee leaders said the administration may have violated the law when it restructured Solyndra's loan in February in such a way that private investors moved ahead of taxpayers for repayment in case of default. The economic stimulus law provides for taxpayers to be ahead of other creditors in the event of bankruptcy or default.
Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman said Thursday that the restructuring was "entirely legal," noting that another aspect of the law requires Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other officials to protect the overall interests of taxpayers. Poneman said the restructuring accomplished that because it gave the struggling company a better chance to succeed.
Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month and laid off its 1,100 employees.
The Fremont, Calif.-based company was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under a stimulus-law program to encourage green energy and was frequently touted by the Obama administration as a model. President Barack Obama visited the company's Silicon Valley headquarters last year, and Vice President Joe Biden spoke by satellite at its groundbreaking ceremony.
Since then, the company's implosion and revelations that the administration hurried Office of Management and Budget officials to finish their review of the loan in time for the September 2009 groundbreaking has become an embarrassment for Obama as he tries to sell his new job-creation program.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
left or right....we should all want the truth....even when it hurts!
Notice there are no responses...on this matter....i find it funny!
A man that stands for nothing....will fall for anything!
All people need to do more on every level!
It looks like the government got "duped"... not that they were involved with some sort of profiteering scandal in the private industry, e.g., Halliburton.
Bad mistake - not a crime - and certainly should not hinder clean energy funding and development.
I have no idea if this is worse than Enron, or if there was even a crime. But let's not pretend the White House didn't at least have a clue that this was a bad idea for a loan. The loan process was pushed through very quickly despite multiple people questioning the company.
The loan was restructured after it seemed apparent the company was going to fail, the restructuring caused the government to lessen priority so that when it went bankrupt, private investors would get first stab at recovering losses. So now the taxpayer is out 500million dollars. On top of all that Solyndra is refusing to testify to Congress.
I don't care if you are a republican or democrat, this deal doesn't smell right. I'm all for clean energy, especially solar. I'd say dump all the money we are wasting with wind power and look into solar. But don't do it like this.
The article in the OP was linked from MSNBC. :roll:
"With our thoughts we make the world"
The FBI should windup with Obama indictments.
I hope evidence does not magically disappear.
-One of Obamas biggest campaign money bundler works for Solyndra,
-Solyndra investors pour $$$$$ into DNC for Obama,
-Obama revives the $500M loan and gives it to them,
-They re-structure the loan to pay investors FIRST, taxpayers LAST if they go bankrupt,
-viola!, they declare bankruptcy, Taxpayers are screwed, Obamas supporters are repaid.
The lib posters on here are amazing. Not a word. Only crickets and tumbleweed blowin through this m'fn thread. Shit.... If this were bush, oh fuck, this place would be on fire kid.....
Lib fame of mind on this... Nothin to see here folks, keep movin...
no, I already posted what the reality of the situation is. Sometimes underwriters make mistakes and loans fail. That's what happened here. That's what happened MOST OF THE TIME in 2007/2008 before I got out of financial services.
they fucked up and you have a right to be pissed because it is taxpayer money that is lost... but they didn't commit a crime.
i doubt that they did this on purpose. he tried to at least do something to work on green jobs and alternative energy sources and it failed. the point is, at least he TRIED to do something and in this case it failed. i am more willing to forgive someone for trying and failing than i am if they just maintain the status quo...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Okay can we agree on an investigation and to fire those that made the mistake?...because this is a big mistake...
fire? I don't know about that. Risk is an inherent part of the lending process. Maybe it'd be a good idea to propose they cut spending by this amount somewhere else to offset the loss, e.g., 17.6 hours in Afghanistan;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02074.html
or about 24% of a B-2 bomber;
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/man/usw ... rs/b2.html
let's put this in perspective, people. And again, no crime was commited.
If they are taking the 5th you could bet A crime has been commited.
This whole " green jobs" thing is nothing more than a ruse. Spain is a perfect example.
Spain admits "Green jobs" program A disaster.
http://www.qando.net/?p=8481
Eventually, no matter hard one tries to wish it away, reality will smack you in the face. Hard.
As predicted was inevitable, today the Spanish newspaper La Gaceta runs with a full-page article fessing up to the truth about Spain’s “green jobs” boondoggle, which happens to be the one naively cited by President Obama no less than eight times as his model for the United States. It is now out there as a bust, a costly disaster that has come undone in Spain to the point that even the Socialists admit it, with the media now in full pursuit.
[...]
La Gaceta boldly exposes the failure of the Spanish renewable policy and how Obama has been following it. The headline screams: “Spain admits that the green economy as sold to Obama is a disaster.”
According to the Spanish government, the policy has been such a failure that electricity prices are skyrocketing and the economy is losing jobs as a result (emphasis added):
The internal report of the Spanish administration admits that the price of electricity has gone up, as well as the debt, due to the extra costs of solar and wind energy. Even the government numbers indicate that each green job created costs more than 2.2 traditional jobs, as was shown in the report of the Juan de Mariana Institute. Besides that, the official document is almost a copy point by point of the one that led to Calzada being denounced [lit. "vetoed"] by the Spanish Embassy in an act in the U.S. Congress.
The presentation recognizes explicitly that “the increase of the electric bill is principally due to the cost of renewable energies.” In fact, the increase in the extra costs of this industry explains more than 120% of the variation in the bill and has prevented the reduction in the costs of conventional electricity production to be reflected on the bills of the citizens.
[Translation of Spanish article provided by Chris Horner]
Despite these facts, which quite frankly have been known for quite some time, the Obama administration is still planning to move ahead with its own policy based explicitly on the Spanish one. As Horner states:
That fight [over the "green economy" policy] begins anew next week with the likely Senate vote on S.J. Res. 26, the Murkowski resolution to disapprove of the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to impose much of this agenda through the regulatory back door without Congress ever having authorized such an enormous economic intervention.
Just as with the ObamaCare boondoggle that was rammed into law despite its (a) known problems that are only now being admitted to, (b) real costs that are only now becoming evident, and (c) unacceptability to the vast majority of Americans, Obama is going full steam ahead with this “green economy” nonsense. Regardless of facts or reality, this administration is dead set on re-creating America in the image it likes best (i.e. European social democracy), regardless of the costs. So long as we end up with all the bells and whistles that are the hallmarks of our European betters (e.g. universal health care, carbon taxes, depleted military, enhanced welfare state, overwhelming government controls of the economy, sufficiently apologetic “transnationalist” foreign policy), the actual results of that transformation are unimportant. We may end up an economic basket case a la Greece, but hey, at least we’ll have all the nanny-state accouterments necessary to commiserate with the cool European kids.
It’s gotten to the point where pointing out that the emperor has no clothes only results in naked orgies of Utopian spending. This cannot end well.
[HT: InstaDriscoll]
umm yeah, the business owners aren't talking. They aren't affiliated with the US government, right? From what I've seen all they did wrong was lie about the "overall feeling" of the company. Did they cook the books? I'd like to see evidence of that if that is what you're asserting.
LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLLOLOLOLOLOL
There arent supposed to be any good green companies as its all too much money! Its cossts 2.2 jobs for 1 job and almost 3 times as much money to go green in any way! Its all impossible! Its all for nothing!
I do like windmills however!
A man that stands for nothing....will fall for anything!
All people need to do more on every level!
They are a little eerie at night though. When those red lights are all blinking on and off it makes me feel a bit like I'm in the Matrix.
A man that stands for nothing....will fall for anything!
All people need to do more on every level!
the administration fucked up.
it is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the billions spent in iraq and afghanistan, the wall street bailiouts, the oil company subsidies, the $4 billion a year given to israel....and let's not forget the billions and billions of dollars our government has been shorted by the bush tax cuts. that is money we never even took in...so compared to all of that wasted tax payer money, this deal is nothing...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
resistance isn't accomplished with a vote.
Bailing out the auto sector is worse then Enron!
This story is just like the above. Friends with friends who have friends. Who all seem to want a piece of the pie the easiest way.
The poison from the poison stream caught up to you ELEVEN years ago and you floated out of here. Sept. 14, 08