Report: Emails show White House seeking to delay Solyndra layoffs
Still think there’s no Solyndra scandal? The Washington Post blew that notion out of the water with a report that the Obama administration pushed the solar company it had subsidized and celebrated to wait until after the 2010 midterm elections to announce layoffs:
Solyndra’s chief executive warned the Energy Department on Oct. 25, 2010, that he intended to announce worker layoffs Oct. 28. He said he was spurred by numerous calls from reporters and potential investors about rumors the firm was in financial trouble and was planning to lay off workers and close one of its two plants.
But in an Oct. 30, 2010, e-mail, advisers to Solyndra’s primary investor, Argonaut Equity, explain that the Energy Department had strongly urged the company to put off the layoff announcement until Nov. 3. The midterm elections were held Nov. 2, and led to Republicans taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“DOE continues to be cooperative and have indicated that they will fund the November draw on our loan (app. $40 million) but have not committed to December yet,” a Solyndra investor adviser wrote Oct. 30. “They did push very hard for us to hold our announcement of the consolidation to employees and vendors to Nov. 3rd — oddly they didn’t give a reason for that date.”
Oddly, indeed. Read the whole thing. The Solyndra/Obama administration coziness is just one more example of the kind of crony capitalism that all Americans — regardless of party, ideology or feelings about the particular issue of renewable energy sources — ought to be tired of hearing about.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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73 comments Add your comment
cosby
November 16th, 2011
9:41 am
Chicago style politics at its best…but the main street media will never hold Obama aka Barry accountable. Time for some real investigation into the abuse by Barry aka Obama and his administration.
UGA 1999
November 16th, 2011
9:48 am
Did you guys see where shots were fired at the whitehouse…..the suspect sure looks like an OWS spectator doesnt he? ha
Don't Tread
November 16th, 2011
9:51 am
And yet, we don’t hear a peep from the OWS crowd about this giving away of taxpayer money to make a few well-connected people rich. Wonder why.
Jefferson
November 16th, 2011
10:00 am
This type of story paints Kyle as the toadie tattletale with nothing meaningful to say, so they spread rumors and fear. Much like a tabloid.
Obozonomics
November 16th, 2011
10:00 am
Independent Voter, great comment, the last election proved that 51% of America is illiterate and looking for a hand out…..
saywhat?
November 16th, 2011
10:04 am
Kyle, your headline is misleading. There was a request to delay an announcement, not to delay layoffs, which are two very different things, though neither of which seems all that nefarious to me. Also, the request did not come from “the “White House” which implies “the President”, but from the Department of Energy, and it doesn’t even say from whom within the Department of Energy. The Solyndra saga is just the latest manufactured right wing poutrage, like so many others before it, and the sheep just eat it right up. Pathetic, yet predictable.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
10:06 am
Wow, you Obozo receptacles redefine “in denial”.
Your boy king must be a real disappointment.
UGA 1999
November 16th, 2011
10:08 am
jefferson…rumors and fear? HAHA it is alittle more than that genius.
Mark T
November 16th, 2011
10:12 am
saywhat?….The Solyndra loan controversy is a political controversy involving U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration’s authorization of a $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra Corporation in 2009 as part of a program to spur alternative energy growth.[1][2][3] Solyndra and the White House had originally estimated that this government financing for Solyndra would help to create 4,000 new jobs.[1] Instead of creating those 4,000 jobs, the company ceased all business activity, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and laid-off nearly all of its employees in early September 2011….
so thats manufactured right wing poutrage…its just made up right?…talk about pathetic!
oh and GT…how many links of Union corruption do you want me to give you cause I can go all day
saywhat?
November 16th, 2011
10:15 am
Wow, you shrub trickled-on receptacles really redefine “in denial”. Your boy messiah must have been a real disappointment.
Hillbilly D
November 16th, 2011
10:28 am
My kingdom for an honest politician. (I don’t really have a kingdom but I doubt I have anything to worry about. The odds of me ever having one are slim but better than anybody finding an honest politician).
saywhat?
November 16th, 2011
10:30 am
Mark T- what do your facts have to do with political corruption? Did the Obama Adminstration do anything illegal? What happened to all the other loan guarantees authorized by the adminstration? Have they all gone wrong too?
While dissappointing that in hindsight the money was wasted, it hardly points to wrong doing on part of the President. THATS what I mean by poutrage, assigning false meaning to events, drawing nonsensical conclusions based on 1 part fact and 9 parts partisan fantasy-based conjecture. I would be happy to provide you with plenty of past examples if you so wish.
Real Athens
November 16th, 2011
10:42 am
“Chicago Style Politics” has nothing on “Georgia Good ‘Ol Boy” politics.
Don't Tread
November 16th, 2011
10:47 am
“While dissappointing [sic] that in hindsight the money was wasted, it hardly points to wrong doing on part of the President”
There’s an e-mail trail that says otherwise. And who do you think the head of the DOE reports to? (Hint: It’s a Cabinet position.)
I’m sure Eric Holder isn’t guilty of any wrongdoing either. Guess who he reports to? (Hint: It’s another Cabinet position.)
Obama is corrupt. Time for him to go.
Del
November 16th, 2011
10:57 am
I think Deborah needs to be informed that GWB and Cheney aren’t up for reelection. Solyndra isn’t going away anytime soon and Chu will have some serious splaining to do tomorrow before Congress. Crony capitalism at its worst and its smell is all over the Obama administration.
Cal
November 16th, 2011
11:06 am
ABC News reports: DC Shooting Suspect Could Be Threat to Obama, Police Say
Authorities suspect Ortega has been in the area for weeks, coming back and forth to the Washington Mall. Before the shooting, he was detained by local police at an abandoned house. U.S. Park police say Ortega may have spent time blending in with Occupy D.C. protesters.
Noooooooo! Could it be?
getalife
November 16th, 2011
11:09 am
Our President will invest in green energy without the gop.
Some will fail like Internet companies.
We all know how the Internet thingie worked out.
getalife
November 16th, 2011
11:16 am
cons love corruption and don’t want to change the good ole boy corruption in Ga.
Warren Buffett: ‘My Class Has Won’ And ‘It’s Been A Rout’
The people finally showed up to this war so it is not over yet.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
11:50 am
Our boy king will invest taxpayer millions in politically connected corporations. The owners will contribute to our boy king’s campaign. Some of these corporations will fail, just like Solyndra. Our boy king and his fatcat buddies will keep their money. The taxpayers will be left with the bill.
Mark T
November 16th, 2011
11:56 am
saywhat?…my facts dont prove anything as far as political corruption goes, but it does prove that this administration does not create jobs and does waste taxpayer money!
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
12:01 pm
Your boy king is enriching the 1% with his crony investments designed to fail. Private profit, public risk.
saywhat?
November 16th, 2011
1:07 pm
mARK T- “my facts dont prove anything as far as political corruption goes, but it does prove that this administration does not create jobs” – Your facts do nothing of the sort. Job creation has grown during Obama’s presidency, in the private sector no less, partially offset by job losses in government. Unfortunately, given the deep deep hole created by his predecessor, it will take more time for the unemployment rate to go down- “and does waste taxpayer money” -like the waste of money that was the Iraq war? I’ll take an investment like Solyndra gone bad every year vs another blunder like Iraq.
saywhat?
November 16th, 2011
1:17 pm
Don’t Tread- by all means, show me the evidence that the Secretary of the Department of Energy e-mailed Solyndra, or even e-mailed an underling asking them to do so. Until then, it is blatantly dishonest to imply that the President had any personal knowledge of this, as Kyle does with his headline. After all, Obama can barely read a teleprompter, right? He is supposed to read every single e-mail sent from every single cabinet level department too?
Perhaps if Obama’s chief of staff wrote up a list of DA’s to fire for refusing to open unwarranted politically motivated investigations, you might have a scandal on your hands, unless of course, Obama was a Republican.
The story is still nothing more than the latest poutrage for the sheep to swallow, plain and simple. Disappointing for you I know, but too bad.