Speaking of solar power:

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra during a
tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000 workers and make
enough panels over the lifetime of its planned expanded facility that it
would be like replacing eight coal-fired power plants.

“It’s here that companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a
brighter and more prosperous future,” Mr. Obama said.

In a bankruptcy filing earlier this week, W.G. Stover Jr., chief
financial officer for Solyndra, blamed the company’s financial woes on
“the combination of general business conditions and an oversupply of
solar panels” that reduced prices worldwide. He cited the oversupply on
expanding capacity by foreign solar panel manufacturers that “utilized
low cost capital provided by their governments to expand operations.

Full story:

====================================

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...iled-by-obama/

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds
The Washington Times
Thursday, September 8, 2011

FBI agents executed search warrants Thursday at the California
headquarters of Solyndra LLC, which was awarded more than $500 million
in federal stimulus loans in 2009 to make solar panels in what the Obama
administration called part of an aggressive effort to put more Americans
to work and end U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

But the firm filed a bankruptcy petition Tuesday in Delaware, shedding
more than 900 full-time employees, leaving just a “core group” of 113
employees, according to bankruptcy records.

FBI spokesman Peter D. Lee said multiple search warrants were served at
the company’s Fremont, Calif., headquarters in what he called a joint
investigation by the FBI and the Energy Department's Office of Inspector
General. But he said he could not provide any details about the ongoing
probe.

Energy spokeswoman Karen Sulier confirmed that the department was
involved in the investigation but would not elaborate. Solyndra
spokesman David Miller said the company was cooperating in the
investigation but did not know the reason for the search.

News of the raid prompted key Republicans in Congress, who already were
investigating the loan to the company, to issue a statement calling for
answers from the company.

“There is much to learn as the investigation moves forward, and it is
imperative that American taxpayers are not paying the price for the sins
of Solyndra,” Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican said in a joint
statement with Rep. Cliff Stearns, Florida Republican.

Mr. Upton is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Mr.
Stearns chairs of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee.

They said they hoped to hear directly from Solyndra executives at a
previously-scheduled hearing next week on the company’s loan. Among
those invited to testify are Jeffrey Zients, deputy director of the
Office of Management and Budget, and Solyndra’s president and chief
executive, Brian Harrison.

“As our investigation continues, we hope to hear directly from
Solyndra’s executives next week — the same executives who visited
Capitol Hill as part of a PR campaign in July and misrepresented the
company’s financial situation,” the lawmakers said.

The raid provides the starkest example yet of how fast Solyndra has
fallen after winning not only lucrative loans, by widespread praise
among top government officials.

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra during a
tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000 workers and make
enough panels over the lifetime of its planned expanded facility that it
would be like replacing eight coal-fired power plants.

“It’s here that companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a
brighter and more prosperous future,” Mr. Obama said.

The company’s bankruptcy petition came two years after Energy Secretary
Stephen Chu and Vice President Joseph R. Biden announced approval of
$535 million in federal loans to Solyndra under a green energy program
touted by Mr. Obama.

“This announcement today is part of the unprecedented investment this
administration is making in renewable energy and exactly what the
Recovery Act is all about,” Mr. Biden said.

Republicans have been looking into the Solyndra loan for several months
and have subpoenaed documents concerning it from the White House Office
of Management and Budget. Mr. Stearns and Mr. Upton sent a letter last
week to the White House seeking information about the White House’s role
in the loans to Solyndra.

In the letter, Mr. Stearns and Mr. Upton said they’ve learned that
Energy Department officials, as well as officials from the Office of
Management and Budget, were aware of White House interest in the
Solyndra loan deal. In addition, they said they were aware that a major
investor in Solyndra, George Kaiser, was a bundler for Mr. Obama’s
presidential campaign.

In a bankruptcy filing earlier this week, W.G. Stover Jr., chief
financial officer for Solyndra, blamed the company’s financial woes on
“the combination of general business conditions and an oversupply of
solar panels” that reduced prices worldwide. He cited the oversupply on
expanding capacity by foreign solar panel manufacturers that “utilized
low cost capital provided by their governments to expand operations.

“In response, Solyndra was forced to reduce its average selling prices
to remain competitive,” Mr. Stover explained in the 56-page court
filing. In addition, he said the reduction or elimination of government
subsidies and incentives to buy solar energy, particularly in Europe,
also hurt demand for the company’s panels.

In a statement following news of the company’s bankruptcy, the Energy
Department issued a statement noting that “changing economics have
affected a number of solar manufacturers in recent months, including
unfortunately, Solyndra …”

“This loan guarantee was pursued by both the Bush and Obama
administrations,” said Dan Leistikow, director of public affairs for the
Energy Department

Reacting to news of the company’s layoffs last week, Jay Carney, White
House press secretary, said there were more than 40 companies in the
same loan program that funded Solyndra and “you cannot measure the
success based on one company or the other.”

Last week, Rep. Henry Waxman, California Democrat and ranking member of
the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the bankruptcies of two
U.S. solar companies in a month were “unfortunuate warnings that the
United States is in danger of losing its leadership position in the
clean energy economy of the future.”

“We should be doing everything possible to ensure the United States does
not cede the renewable energy market to China and other countries,” he
said.

On 09/08/2011 07:33 PM, Home Guy wrote:
Speaking of solar power:

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra during a
tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000 workers and make
enough panels over the lifetime of its planned expanded facility that it
would be like replacing eight coal-fired power plants.

snip
Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses, rather
than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. Compounding the problem
is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any accountability, as the
company in this story apparently did.

On Sep 8, 10:30*pm, cjt wrote:
On 09/08/2011 07:33 PM, Home Guy wrote: Speaking of solar power:

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra during a
tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000 workers and make
enough panels over the lifetime of its planned expanded facility that it
would be like replacing eight coal-fired power plants.

snip
Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. *That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses, rather
than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. *Compounding the problem
is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any accountability, as the
company in this story apparently did.

Actually the argument Republicans have been
making recently is a reduction in
tax rates for all businesses, not tax breaks.
Those cuts would
apply across the board to all businesses. Also,
most Republicans are in favor of lowering the
corporate tax rate, while closing the existing
tax break loopholes, thereby making the tax
broader and fairer. They are also obviously in
favor of lower taxes for individuals as they
supported keeping the current rates that went
into effect during the Bush administration.

The tax break idea, where govt decides who should
get those breaks and who should not is more
akin to the above stimulus loan for solar power
companies. As for dodging taxes, that is just
as easily done by individuals as it is by
businesses.

Home Guy wrote in :

Speaking of solar power:


Last week, Rep. Henry Waxman, California Democrat and ranking member
of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said...

....
....

"We should be doing everything possible to ensure the United States does
not cede the renewable energy market to China and other countries," he
said.

Yes Henry, everything possible. Maybe the gvmt should bail them out. Then they can steal it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_499598.html

"cjt" wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses, rather
than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. Compounding the problem
is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any accountability, as the
company in this story apparently did.

http://www.newser.com/article/d9peml...ghanistan.html

http://tinyurl.com/3vnv8cv

Panel says as much as $60 billion lost to waste, fraud in Iraq and
Afghanistan Up to $60B in war funds said wasted

Yep, nothing like giving the business sector responsibility to prove that
they can't behave honorably or responsibly. Give Bank of America money to
loan to a credit-crunched economy and what do they do? They buy
Countrywide, a mortgage company that led the country in producing junk
mortgages that nearly decimated our economy.

Corporations came into existence primarily as a way to dodge responsibility.
As someone pointed out earlier about certain contractors and remodelers they
merely break up and reform under another name when the debt load or unhappy
customer lists get too large. Geez. Perpetual life, the ability to shed
debts and bad reputations like a snake shedding its skin and now, according
to SCOTUS, the right to buy the Congressman or woman of their choice as if
they had the right to vote. Who *wouldn't* want to be a corporation and not
a person?

--
Bobby G.

cjt wrote:
On 09/08/2011 07:33 PM, Home Guy wrote:
Speaking of solar power:

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra
during a tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000
workers and make enough panels over the lifetime of its planned
expanded facility that it would be like replacing eight coal-fired
power plants.
snip
Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses,
rather than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. Compounding
the problem is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any
accountability, as the company in this story apparently did.

Corporations are people, too.

cjt wrote in :

On 09/08/2011 07:33 PM, Home Guy wrote:
Speaking of solar power:

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra during a
tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000 workers and make
enough panels over the lifetime of its planned expanded facility that it
would be like replacing eight coal-fired power plants.

snip
Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses, rather
than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. Compounding the problem
is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any accountability, as the
company in this story apparently did.


look where the money recovered from the sale of Solyndra's assets will go.

Guess who's first in line....

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

On Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:21:56 -0500, Jim Yanik wrote:

cjt wrote in :

On 09/08/2011 07:33 PM, Home Guy wrote:
Speaking of solar power:

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra during a
tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000 workers and make
enough panels over the lifetime of its planned expanded facility that it
would be like replacing eight coal-fired power plants.

snip
Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses, rather
than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. Compounding the problem
is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any accountability, as the
company in this story apparently did.


look where the money recovered from the sale of Solyndra's assets will go.

Guess who's first in line....

Unions?

On Sep 9, 3:21*pm, Jim Yanik wrote:
cjt wrote :





On 09/08/2011 07:33 PM, Home Guy wrote:
Speaking of solar power:

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

A little more than a year ago, President Obama hailed Solyndra during a
tour of the company, saying it expected to hire 1,000 workers and make
enough panels over the lifetime of its planned expanded facility that it
would be like replacing eight coal-fired power plants.

snip
Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. *That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses, rather
than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. *Compounding the problem
is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any accountability, as the
company in this story apparently did.

look where the money recovered from the sale of Solyndra's assets will go..

Guess who's first in line....

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It would be the taxman over here.

So these things are not entitled to China?

FBI raids solar panel company hailed by Obama
Firm got $500 million in stimulus funds

--
@~@ You have the right to remain silent.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty!
/( _ )\ May the Force and farces be with you!
^ ^ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.39.3
�借貸! ��騙! ��交! �打交! �打劫! �自殺! 請考慮綜� (CSSA):
http://www.swd.gov.hk/tc/index/site_...sub_addressesa

"Robert Green" wrote in
:

"cjt" wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

Clearly there are a lot of businesses out there that are not
trustworthy. That's one reason I cringe every time somebody tries to
make the argument (so popular among Republicans) that businesses,
rather than people, should be the focus of tax breaks. Compounding
the problem is the fact that businesses can easily dodge any
accountability, as the company in this story apparently did.

http://www.newser.com/article/d9peml...l-says-as-much
-as-60-billion-lost-to-waste-fraud-in-iraq-and-afghanistan.html

http://tinyurl.com/3vnv8cv

Panel says as much as $60 billion lost to waste, fraud in Iraq and
Afghanistan Up to $60B in war funds said wasted

Yep, nothing like giving the business sector responsibility to prove
that they can't behave honorably or responsibly. Give Bank of
America money to loan to a credit-crunched economy and what do they
do? They buy Countrywide, a mortgage company that led the country in
producing junk mortgages that nearly decimated our economy.

Corporations came into existence primarily as a way to dodge
responsibility. As someone pointed out earlier about certain
contractors and remodelers they merely break up and reform under
another name when the debt load or unhappy customer lists get too
large. Geez. Perpetual life, the ability to shed debts and bad
reputations like a snake shedding its skin and now, according to
SCOTUS, the right to buy the Congressman or woman of their choice as
if they had the right to vote. Who *wouldn't* want to be a
corporation and not a person?

--
Bobby G.




lost to waste, fraud

And then there's "lost" as in Honey have you seen my keys?

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun...lions-20110613