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Solyndra CEO applauds Obama's 'Bank of Washington' in email
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
August 5th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
August 5th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
"The Bank of Washington continues to help us!" Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet
declared in an October 2009 e-mail. Solyndra was a notorious "green"
company that went under to great embarrassment by the Obama
administration. In the recently revealed email, Gronet sketched plans
for Solyndra to exploit several additional federal programs and
tax-incentives.
The email was recently obtained and published by the Republican National Committee.
Darrell Issa, the GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee says that "some names fit . Using the name of 'Bank of Washington' has a legitimacy that I think will transcend this election," Issa said in a press conference last week called to highlight the Solyndra email.
The missive adds fuel to the fire to the GOP claims that Obama's support of green-tech companies amounted to "crony capitalism."
Several White House officials had close ties to green-tech companies, and many green-tech executives have donated to Obama's political campaigns.
Solyndra received several benefits from the Obama administration, which allocated roughly $60 billion to spur a variety of green-tech companies.
Solyndra, in addition to many other so-called "green" companies have since folded. These companies' failures have cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
As a foremost example, taxpayers' funds given to Nevada Geothermal Power also will pay off private-sector debts, Issa says. "All of the money they got . was to pay off existing private investment, serving no purpose to the taxpayer or the enterprise."
The Nevada company received $98 million worth of government loan-guarantees, which will pay off commercial creditors if the troubled company's downward slide continues. That company was at one time heralded as "the Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy" by Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the Democrats' leader in the Senate.
Obama has defended his high-risk spending strategy, saying on numerous occasions that it is needed to help the nation shift from the use of oil and gasoline.
The price tag for Solyndra's failure was particularly high, partly because Obama's deputies agreed to place the repayment of Solyndra's commercial creditors at a higher priority than repaying the debts owed to taxpayers.
© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.