Is the Federal Government ever good at picking winners and losers? Barack Obama has never worked a day in his life in the private sector. It shows. He’s pissed away $600 million of your tax dollars so far and he’s still doling it out. He’s now backing these solar entreprenuers:
History Anyone?
Guest Post from Tom Lester:
History is a great teacher! It allows us to evaluate actions of the past to make a reasonable determination of the value and benefits of present actions.
In this day and age, I’m saddened by the lack of desire by most people to read history. It seems Americans are typically much more interested in the gratification of instant amusement, eschewing some of the greatest entertainment that is contained in the history of the world and of our country. The movie industry occasionally captures a significant event in history but will often alter it to make it bigger than life and “more entertaining”.
Ask people about European or American history and you’ll likely get a blank stare and the comment, “What good does knowing that do me?” In the greater scheme of things, knowing about the battle of Trenton during the American Revolution will not yield benefits to the average person. But what of recent history?
Do the names Solyndra and Abound Solar ring any bells? Solyndra LLC, the solar-panel maker received a $535 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee which left taxpayers on the hook before going bankrupt. Abound Solar Inc., had hoped to hire up to 1,200 people in Indiana by the end of next year. It will have its assets sold at auctions this month and in October under authority granted last week by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 7 liquidation, again part of the more than $30 billion in 2010 to subsidize the U.S. solar industry.
One would think that recent history would cause our government to use caution but the Federal government is making another big bet on solar panel manufacturing with taxpayer money, hoping the third time will be the charm. This time SoloPower in Portland, Oregon, has a guaranteed government loan of $197 million. Industry analysts are not optimistic about SoloPower’s prospects. “It’s questionable …,” says Lux Research’s Andrew Soare, “It’s uncertain if solar power will be able to produce efficiently and economically at scale. It’s something that has not been done yet, and it’s still risky.” Soare points to the price advantage enjoyed by Chinese manufacturers which has helped them grab a majority of the U.S. market share.
Chinese solar panels are about 30 percent cheaper than ones made in America and the Commerce Department is urging President Obama to slap a tariff on Chinese imports. But William Yeatman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute says the Energy Department’s green loan program created with Federal stimulus money has been a failure by any measure. Congress appropriated $4.5 billion for it. Solar panel bankruptcies alone have cost taxpayers $600 million and if SoloPower stumbles, the losses will go even higher. A fourth company, 1366 Technologies, received a $150 million loan but has not even built its manufacturing plant yet. Yeatman has little faith in SoloPower: “It looks like it will fail for the same reasons as Solyndra.”
“Damn the torpedoes,” said Admiral Farragut, “full speed ahead!” In the face of recent historical failures of the “Green” program, our government proceeds as if it has no standard to judge. Add insult to injury when one considers that the U.S. now borrows 40 cents of every dollar it spends, much of it from China. It stretches logic when taxpayer money is loaned to finance an industry whose major competition is from China. And the loan probably has nothing to do with the fact that SoloPower’s chief executive Tim Harris donated more than $30,000 to Obama’s 2008 campaign?
Tom Lester
http://www.economicnoise.com (http://s.tt/1p7mR)
Stan says:
Obama has to worked a day in his life in the private sector. You take that back!!
The fuhrer works both night and day for us!! He started working hard as a little kid
He works hard for his subjects
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4th October 2012 at 5:44 pm
AWD says:
Of course, it’s got nothing to do with energy. It’s about Obama, Pelosi and Reid handing out free cash to their friends and campaign contributors. i.e. buying votes. Obama’s too fucking stupid to understand energy. He’s got hollywood stars, MSNBC, and “advisors” for that. He’s too busy playing golf to even attend economic meetings. He’s probably been to 3 energy meetings during his presidency. He’s never run a lemonade stand.
The homeboys running their ghetto blasters with solar. The funniest picture I’ve seen this week.
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4th October 2012 at 6:13 pm
DaveL says:
Obama has been so focused like a laser that he has burned out his brain.
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4th October 2012 at 7:09 pm
Kill Bill says:
Peter Schweizer covers this in his book “Throw Them All Out” and more including both dumbos and repukes.
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4th October 2012 at 7:18 pm
ron says:
Yes learn from history.Spain tried the green energy thing and look what that got them.Broke!
Mitt said the USA needs to be energy independent,does every wanna be president say this?
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4th October 2012 at 7:48 pm
Stucky says:
One of the best lines from the debate last night from Romney, to Obama —- “You don’t pick winners and losers. You pick only losers.”
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4th October 2012 at 9:02 pm
ecliptix543 says:
The Chinese have been net sellers of US debt for some time now. We’re pissing away Bennie’s monopoly money, loaned at interest from the thieves and shysters of (Up Against The) Wall Street.
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4th October 2012 at 9:19 pm
crazyivan says:
This whole debate thing has slumped me into despair. No wonder I havn’t turned on the TV in a couple of months. And it is not out of the disgust or lack of respect that I have for both men that hurts so bad, it is the realization that given likewise scrutiny I would fare no better.
In my twenty’s I was informed by a mayor of a small town in Montana that there were two types of people; the givers and the takers. And I was a taker. This coming while we were both drinking together in one of the three bars in town. This statement was easy to blow off as I had just hours before seen him hustle across main street to sniff the bycicle seat of a young girl whom had just parked it in front of the grocery store. His day to day contributions to that community were were both robust and honorable though.
However, for years I have tried to make his pronouncement of good verses bad a determination as to how to act in society. I really don’t feel like that I have in any signficant way improved my basic intrinsict approach to life.
Given the power that these two scumbags have accrued, I have subsequently given up on any thoughts of running for public office. I know that it would just make me more unrepresentable.
As a side note, I think Colma, could rethink his prudish position on antelope and vodka.
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4th October 2012 at 4:40 pm