Energy Sec. Chu Takes The Fall for Solyndra Loan
- Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:25pm by
Becket Adams
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday that no one from the White House ever contacted him to make a political decision on a half-billion-dollar loan to a California solar company that later went bankrupt.
Testifying under oath on a widening controversy, Chu said he was unaware of his staff predictions in 2009 that Solyndra was likely to face severe cash-flow problems. He said that market changes which led to a steep decline in the price of solar panels were “totally unexpected.”
Solyndra went belly-up after getting the $528 million loan from the government, and Chu told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that he made all decisions involving the loan to the solar-panel manufacturer. He said he made all judgments regarding Solyndra with the best interests of the taxpayer in mind.
Chu also said he doesn’t expect taxpayers will recover much of the money lost in the transaction.
The secretary’s position before the committee was that politics played no role in the decisions on the loan, despite emails and other documents released by panel that revealed some pressure from the administration on Solyndra to delay an early round of layoffs until after the 2010 elections. Other documents showed that campaign donor George Kaiser was involved in discussions about the loan program.
“I want to be clear: Over the course of Solyndra’s loan guarantee, I did not make any decision based on political considerations,” Chu said. He was facing sharp questions in the biggest showdown so far in the energy panel’s nine-month investigation of Solyndra.
Still, according to Politico, in response to a question during his actual testimony about whether he would approve the loan if he knew then what he knows now, he would do things differently:
“Certainly knowing what I know now, we’d say no,” Chu said during a hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. “But you don’t make decisions [by] fast-forwarding two years in the future and then go back. I wish I could do that.”
That said, he wouldn’t apologize:
Earlier, Chu declined to apologize for the failure of the California solar company.
“Based on what you know and what’s happened, who has to apologize” for Solyndra? Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) asked Chu.
“It is extremely unfortunate what has happened to Solyndra,” Chu replied, adding, “Was there incompetence? Was there any undue influence? I’d have to say no.”
Chu denied he was influenced by a major Obama campaign donor, George Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire who invested $400 million in the solar company through an investment vehicle connected to a family foundation. Kaiser has said he played no part in helping Solyndra win the 2009 loan, but emails released last week show he discussed Solyndra with the White House on at least one occasion. Kaiser also directed business associates on how to approach the White House and Energy Department to help Solyndra deal with its financial problems.
Chu told lawmakers he did not know who Kaiser was when the loan was approved. He says he is aware of Kaiser now, in the wake of media reports about Kaiser’s investment in Solyndra.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he found it hard to believe that Chu did not know who Kaiser was, since Kaiser was an Obama financial “bundler” who visited the White House frequently in 2009, while the Solyndra loan was being considered.
“Everybody and their dog at DOE knew who he was. He was there at the White House 16 times,” Barton said of Kaiser.
In a joint statement, Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan and Cliff Stearns of Florida said at the outset Thursday that they intended to find out how decisions were made to guarantee and lend more than $500 million to Solyndra. Upton chairs the energy panel while Stearns heads a subcommittee on investigations.
“We want to find out why the administration restructured the loan after Solyndra had reached a technical default, and how they explain putting private investors in line ahead of taxpayers,” the pair said. “And we need to understand how all the warnings, from inside and outside the Department of Energy, were ignored and this risky bet was allowed to happen.”
Chu said his decision to approve the loan was based on the analysis of experienced professionals and on the strength of the information they had available to them at the time.
“The Solyndra transaction went through more than two years of rigorous technical, financial and legal due diligence, spanning two administrations, before a loan guarantee was issued,” he said. “Based on thorough internal and external analysis of both the market and the technology, and extensive review of information provided by Solyndra and others, the (Energy) Department concluded that Solyndra was poised to compete in the marketplace and had a good prospect of repaying the government’s loan.”
Chu also took responsibility for a later decision to approve a restructuring of Solyndra’s debt that allowed two private investors to move ahead of taxpayers for repayment in case of default
The Energy Department faced a difficult decision in late 2010 and early this year, he said: Force Solyndra into immediate bankruptcy or restructure the loan guarantee to allow the company to accept emergency financing that would be paid back first if the company was still unable to recover.
“Immediate bankruptcy meant a 100 percent certainty of default, with an unfinished plant as collateral. Restructuring improved the chance of recovering taxpayer money by giving the company a fighting chance at success,” Chu said.
Although both options involved significant uncertainty, Chu said he made the judgment that restructuring was the better option to recover the maximum amount of the government’s loan. The decision also meant continued employment for the company’s approximately 1,100 workers, he said.
Chu said it was worth noting that U.S. taxpayers remain first in line for repayment of the initial loan and noted that private groups invested nearly $1 billion in the company.
Solyndra faced another crisis in August, Chu said. This time, after consulting with outside analysts, he decided that the U.S. should not provide additional support to Solyndra. Days later, the company filed for bankruptcy.
While disappointed, Chu said the U.S. should continue to support clean energy.
“When it comes to the clean energy race, America faces a simple choice: compete or accept defeat. I believe we can and must compete,” he said.
Solyndra was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under the 2009 stimulus law, and the Obama administration frequently touted the company as a model for its clean energy program. Chu attended a 2009 groundbreaking when the loan was announced, and President Barack Obama visited the company’s Fremont, Calif., headquarters last year.
Since then, the company‘s implosion and revelations that the administration hurried a review of the loan in time for the September 2009 groundbreaking has become an embarrassment for Chu and Obama and a rallying cry for GOP critics of the administration’s green energy program.
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Comments (105)
leary1
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:52pmchu is a stuffed shirt trying to protect obama and company, FIRE AND ARREST ALL INVOLVED!! CHU CAN TAKE THE BLAME THEN OBAMA CAN PARDON HIM, isn`t that how it works???
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:13pmBoth men are living proof of how useless a Nobel Prize is.
Report Post »TexasHunter
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:22pmDetroit, right there with you! Tick Tock. Fasten seat belts for it may get a little bumpy.
Report Post »Founding Father2
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:31pmAs I said below, he will not apologize ( http://www.americanparchment.com/video/2011/nov/chu_solyndra_apology.html )and he will not get punished, so where is the accountability.
Report Post »lillymckim
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:47pmI knew he would…
Report Post »someonewhocares
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:59pmHe should be put in jail.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »mils
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:06pmput chu in prison….no pardons….yes, we can do that.
Report Post »Jim in Houston
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:14pmWhy would anyone who isn‘t brain dead want to take a fall for O’Blamer? People are only to be used by this ass clown, not to be respected or as friends – just useful idiots.
Report Post »Paydert33
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:40pmSome Asians like to fall on their swords for the likes of o-loser. What is lying chu going to say………Sure the White House was involved? o-loser knew about the loan, as Kaiser was at the White House 16 TIMES. So, let me get this straight…..chu was the last authority to finalize a $500 MILLION LOAN to Solyndra? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! These people are pure-nut-jobs to think we are so stupid out here that we would believe their lying eyes. Yea, right, chu, o-loser didn’t know a thing….riiiiiiiiiight! All you marxists in the wh just keep “trying” to protect this arrogant, marxists, worst liar-in-chief-ever. The only action we have against this awful, disgusting liar is at the voting booth.
Report Post »Rose Tyler
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 5:17pmThen wait untill after the election to arrest him, Obama too.
Report Post »Cape_Lookout_RW_Extremist
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 5:41pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGlBHyVeYU
Report Post »proantisocialist
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 7:10pmthe left always eats its young….
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 8:29amChu’s big error was to adopt DARPA concept and apply it to the department of energy. Called ARPA-E under Chu received 400M to start up the program when he entered office.
DARPA (some may think it is great due to the net) is strictly a dual purpose program that is to benefit both the government and private sector.
I got to do some work for DARPA and let me tell you it is a throw away agency. The scientist run it and the business people are merely glorified paper pushes with little to no input or authority.
And that is what you see today in the Department of Energy…if Chu had any smarts he would have handed off the ball to DARPA, who knows how to keep a secret. LMAO
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 9:01am.
Report Post »What’s the penalty for perjury?
G.W. Dobbs
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 11:09amChu is an ass kissing Democrat and reminds me of Janet Reno (taking blame for Waco). 500 million is chicken feed to him and is money well spent because it is WASTED and comes back in “donations”. FIRE HIM.
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 1:11pm@ Gonzo
Report Post »You nailed it. Can we get a Nobel prize in ******* jacks now? Scary, but it really does feel like they are trying to implode the whole system. We are broke, and Chu doesn’t take math seriously. A nobel winner with no math skills, once again.
Censored_by_the_Illuminati
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:52pmHe said that market changes which led to a steep decline in the price of solar panels were “totally unexpected.” CHU ON THIS. GE has just announced a new solar panel plant. This unexpected market change ramble is all “cover my rear” tactics that don’t pan out.
Report Post »geonj
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:51pmchu should go to jail for such blantant lies. and obama must be held accountable.
Report Post »JohnTwoFeathers
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:51pmAin’t gonna happen NJ. Oblamo can’t do no wrong…He gets a sacrifical lamb to take the heat. Biteme and his cronies can have an orgasm in his office over filtering money to the Democratic coffers and Yes Chu will be pardoned when the Clown in Chief leaves MY Whitehouse.
Report Post »west1890
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 9:29pmNot only pardoned- he’s probably been given a nice fat Swiss or Caribbean bank account for his services as the Obama fall guy
Report Post »netmail
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:45pmIt was common knowledge before they cut the check that it was a very speculative deal so it HAD to be a political decision. Chu…you are guilty of wasting our money and today you are guilty of LYING. If it was up to me, all of your assets would be siezed and you’d be in jail today. I’d interogate you until you gave up every little detail about this sleezy, corrupt rip off of the American people and then we’d move right on to the next perp involved in this scam, all the way up to the POTUS if that’s where the truth leads to. Im livin‘ in a freakin’ dream world.
Report Post »WalkSoft
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:44pmNow thats Taking one for duh gipper
Report Post »Founding Father2
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:41pmEven with all that he still will not apologize for the lose of half a billion dollar of our money: http://www.americanparchment.com/video/2011/nov/chu_solyndra_apology.html
Report Post »Al Gored
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:40pmHey Chu,
Happy ClimateGate Day
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:36pmAs SGT Schultz said: I know nothing.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:33pmDen of blatent unrepentant, incompetent , thieves…. PERIOD
lukerw
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:05pmI’ll argue about the “incompetent” part… they know just what they are doing!
Report Post »The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:26pmI wonder if Obama will personally deliver his suitcase full of $100.00 bills…or if he’ll have Biden do it? Thanks for falling on your sword and taking the blame…now here is your um, consultation fee.
Report Post »W@nd@
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:25pmGee how many meetings have you had with your people mr. globe trotting potus?
For what reason did these bundlers show up at white house meetings,
(more than your Cabinet btw)
you know the likes of Kaiser and others of campaign funding fame…
Seems they met with you more than your chosen Department heads…
and you expect us to find this no big deal?
Guess this is what happens when you ignore those you put in place
to head these very important Departments…?
which by this example lets us see what you think of our government protocol!
” hard to believe that Chu did not know who Kaiser was, since Kaiser was an Obama financial “bundler” who visited the White House frequently in 2009, while the Solyndra loan was being considered.”
and this was not a political consideration or a quid pro quo?
Hello…
the specialty of this administration and their co-horts is fabrication and lies!
Report Post »cronism, deceit, obfuscation, and collusion!
I think you all should go to jail! you are not worthy to serve this country in any capacity!
gmoneytx
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:22pmSolyndra went belly-up after getting the $528 million loan from the government, and Chu told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that he made all decisions involving the loan to the solar-panel manufacturer. He said he made all judgments regarding Solyndra with the best interests of the taxpayer in mind.
My question is, why the hell does an energy secretary have any decision making power in the first place when it comes to loaning money…we all know that’s BS.
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:22pmIs there anyone who thinks it was all Chu’s doing? The WH is totally innocent …Ohhhhhh Yeahhhhh.
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:12pmAnother lackey taking the fall for Obama. Makes you wonder what this Commander in Chief actually does. Oh, that’s right, he gives speeches.
Report Post »OniKaze
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:32pmTaking a fall, I doubt… I‘m sure he is doing this because he wasn’t given a choice. I‘m sure the Fuhrer’s administration put the proverbial gun to his head, and told him, “YOU WILL TAKE THE FALL FOR THIS, or face the consequences…”
I know about some of our Governments dirty deeds, and this falls right in line with some of the things I KNOW they do…
I doubt Mr. Chu is doing this willingly…
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:38pmKinda like what happened with GM? You will not declare bankruptcy, or else…
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:53pmCorrection: He reads speeches.
Report Post »leary1
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 5:02pmas gonzo said HE READS SPEECHES…..AND HE STILL STUTTERS AND HAS GAFFES. OBAMA IS A TOTAL EMPTY BOX, he has a hard time speaking on the fly almost like he is being told what to say after every question. Is he really a machine ?????
Report Post »REALITYBITES
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:12pmYet more lies, more B.S. from anyone connected to this administration. I wonder how long he was marinated for THAT grilling, not that it matters..
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:10pmChu is sacrificed to the wolves, and the self annointed one, the modern Benedict Arnold of the White House is allowed to get away with it.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:16pmHe will be well compensated for the sacrifice. You can count on that.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 8:44amChu pushed for the concept and set up a quasi DARPA org within the Energy department called ARPA-E…Obama is a an easy sell when it comes to ideals that fit his plan…
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 8:53amHe was well compensated before he took over the office. lol
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:04pm.
Report Post »I wonder if he named any of his kids Ah?……………
Gonzo
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:15pmGo Dawgs!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:21pm.
Report Post »Mike likes Dawg……Geaux Tigers………..
Detroit paperboy
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:49pmOr Fu
Report Post »ares338
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:02pmChu falls on his sword for “de massah”. You live by the Obama, you die by the Obama.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:58pmLooks like O found a useful idiot.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 8:41amO is stupid but we all know that. There is an existing agency that does these sort of deals but with more step by step process to actually try to prove out a product before jumping into it full fledge.
He could have done this under DARPA and NO one would have known a bloody thing…been there saw it all. To apply the DARPA concept to the energy department was dumb than a bag of duck tongues. ARPA-E was established by wannbie Chu for the Energy department. Got 400M to start it up…Scientist could care less about the cost as long as they seemingly push the tech envelope.
This will be embarrassing to DARPA…wonder if they assisted in the set up of ARPA-E.
Oh I know ARPA before it became DARPA when the net was pushed. And I know of how they think and conduct business. It’s a flexible organization with a lot of spin.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 9:03amAnd to think that the Coffman letter got everyone all excited about the overprice hammer, toilet seat and Mr. coffiee. LMAO.
Only the hammer was grosely over priced. The toilet seat, which cost a little more than the commercial system due to the low quantity buy, was much like what you see when you can afford to travel by air and willing to be felt up by TSA. It is connected to the entire plastic surround…and Mr. Coffee was actually the same coffee system that the commercial airplanes use…all plumbed up and can produce many cups of coffee in less than a minute. But the politicians and msms of the day spun it up. Typical.
And what did the gov’t do to appease the outcry…they plused up the engineering department and the buying offices at the ALCs…hahaha talk about massive offset costs. No one did a cost benefit analysis and it was pushed by the politicians to shut up the people. LMAO. Cost of millions to manage low dollar incidental blips of 499 bucks…simply amazingly stupid.
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:56pmChure thing, Chu…you were only following orders…
Report Post »stoptheliesbho
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:53pmMan, i wonder what NObama promised this guy in order to have him take the fall…..Secretary of All Things Hipster when OWS protesters take over America?
Report Post »AZ Prosecutor
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:50pmResign . . . yet?
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:49pmObama administration scapegoat!
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:47pmI thought you always got the guy at the top when this kind of **** happened, a 1/2 billion dollar mistake, obama should go at the very least.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:45pmWay to fall on your sword for your beloved leader Chu. I‘m sure he’ll make it up to you.
Report Post »patriotgamer
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:18pmGetting sick and tured of being talked to like a child…“Let me be clear”. How many times have you heard that come out of the mouth of our disgraced President and his goons? I know what they are saying whne they speak – lies!
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