Shock Report: Administration Was Preparing To Give Solyndra Another Loan Despite Known Financial Issues
- Posted on October 5, 2011 at 4:40pm by
Becket Adams
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The Obama administration’s Department of Energy was set to give Solyndra a second major taxpayer loan of $469 million, even as the company’s financial situation was growing direr, reports the Washington Post.
The Energy Department was actively pursuing a second loan guarantee for Solyndra in April and May 2010.
What else happened at that time in 2010?
In April of that year, a month before the president visited the solar power company, recently released emails reveal that some people within the White House knew that “bad days” were on the way, reports CBS.
And the Energy Department was pushing for a another million dollar loan guarantee?
The Washington Post reports the details:
White House career staffers, who had first raised concerns in the fall of 2009 about the Department of Energy providing Solyndra with its first taxpayer-backed loan of $535 million , wrote e-mails in gallows humor in April 2010 about the prospect of giving Solyndra more money. That spring, industry analysts were publicly questioning how the Silicon Valley startup could so quickly be running out both the federal loan and $933 million in private capital.
“Apparently the loan size for Phase II is $469 million,” one Office of Management and Budget analyst wrote of DOE seeking a second loan for Solyndra. “I’ve been told we should expect the see that project soon for conditional commitment.”
“Possible to close and default on one before closing on a second??? Could be a new record,” another analyst wrote.
It was not until October of 2010 that the idea of a second loan guarantee was abandoned, a Department of Energy spokesman recently confirmed to the Post. At the same time, Solyndra executives and investors were also warning the DOE that the company was facing the threat of having to “liquidate without emergency cash.”
According to the same article:
Even in May 2010, Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s top advisers — his senior adviser on stimulus , Matt Rogers, and his chief of staff, Rod O’Connor — were telling the White House not to worry about the auditors’ warnings on Solyndra’s finances. They also referenced the need for more federal money for Solyndra.
O’Connor told a top White House adviser to Vice President Biden that the warnings were exaggerated, when a venture capitalist and Obama donor had flagged the company’s finances as a reason the president shouldn’t visit Solyndra as scheduled on May 25. O’Connor also raised the issue of more government support for Solyndra.
“Bottom line is that we believe the company is okay in the medium term, but will need some help of one kind or another down the road,” O’Connor wrote on May 24.
Rogers, a former McKinsey consultant, assured the White House that these types of warnings were “typical” for startups. However, Rogers did point out that the shifts in the market were not in Solyndra’s favor, but focused on the short term and expressed no disapproval for the president visiting the company.
“On September 11, 2009, we applied for a second loan guarantee from the DOE, in the amount of approximately $469 million, to partially fund Phase II,” Solyndra wrote in a report it filed with the SEC on December 18, 2009, according to an earlier Blaze report. “If we are unable to obtain the DOE guaranteed loan in whole or in part, we intend to fund any financing shortfall with some combination of the proceeds of this offering, cash flows from operations, debt financing and additional equity financing.”
A Department of Energy confirmed to the Post that the agency had been reviewing Solyndra’s second loan application through much of 2010.
“Solyndra inquired about applying for a second loan guarantee, but DOE and Solyndra mutually agreed not to pursue that application until after the project we were already supporting was complete,” LaVera said in a e-mailed response to the Post’s questions.
“In early fall of 2010, Solyndra informed the Department that it was having an acute liquidity problem and that it would need to raise additional capital to continue operations,” LaVera said. “Solyndra subsequently hired Goldman Sachs to assist with the equity raise. In early November, it became clear that that effort was not likely to be successful and DOE began to discuss funding alternatives with the company and its existing investors.”
Now that it has been revealed that administration officials were aware of these financial issues, can the president still say that investment was a safe bet?
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Comments (43)
Junter
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 11:38amI agree OBAMA should be impeached.
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 11:06amThe FED GOVT GETS TOO MUCH MONEY
Report Post »marthasusan40
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 11:04amI know what we should do, lets get another stimulus package going…oh yea, the new jobs bill is code for stimulus….then, lets invest in companies that will most likely go out of business…and never pay back any of the money, but not before they have time to make a big donation to try and get Obama and his corrupt administration re-elected…….I do not think so….America has woke up……
Report Post »STOP the insanity…………………….
gingerbread
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:54amNot only that. These GANGSTER REGIME is preparing to pour more of our tax dollars into more of these “GREEN” jobs companies. And there isn’t a damned thing we can do about it, because we have a gutless congress.
Report Post »Shotgun167
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:33amThe law says that taxpayers get paid back before private investors. DOE gave the loan guarantee, putting the taxpayers in the back of the line. That guarantee was illegal. An illegal contract cannot be enforced. Why doesn’t the DOJ simply stipulate that the contract is null and void, and that the taxpayers be put back in front of the line, and get our money back?
Because the private investors are Democratic donors.
Report Post »Hiswill
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 11:00amObama‘s government doesn’t care. It‘s not their money and it’s pretty much easy come, easy go and no one is held responsible for the waste of hard earned tax payer money
Report Post »kindling
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:30amIMPEACH OBAMA AND ALL HIS DOJ AND FINANCE PEOPLE! In face get rid of everyone that he has appointed because if he likes them they are dangerous. We have to at least have to start impeachment of Obama before the 2012 election so that will be in history books. Let them spin that for a few years.
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:33amSING IT FOREST!!! “Stupid is as Stupid does” Ta Da….!
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:36am@KINDLING: I wasn’t clear. I did not mean that as a post against you. I meant it as O’Bambam throwing more money down for a failing company. Sorry if there was any confusion. I agree with ya.
Report Post »Lotus503
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:19amJust imagine…if Mr. Obama is impeached and removed from office…we‘ll get ol’ uncle Joe Biden. We’d be going from an egotistical meglomaniac to a bumbling fool in the presidency. Either way, we lose.
Report Post »DNC TALIBAN
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:31amObama needs more money for re-election.
Report Post »kindling
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 10:33amBiden is no where the threat Obama is, he hasn’t got the brains or support of the left Obama does. My only problem with him is that I would have to get a stupid male sheep to name Biden and I don’t need any more stupid male sheep.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 9:50amFOLLOW THE MONEY !
I call for an investigative reporter to get to the bottom of where the money went, WHO profited, WHO authorized payments, how many $5,000.00 plastic toilet seats were bought, etc.
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 9:15amBLAZE!! So many great stories today. I can’t type fast enough! (sorry for any spelling errors) This was what I had read as well. WHY on earth would we FLUSH MORE tax dollars down that toilet? WHAT?
Report Post »……..”not to worry about the auditors’ warnings on Solyndra’s finances.” UNBELIEVABLE!
cemerius
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 8:52amOff with their heads!!!
Report Post »old white guy
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 8:58amunf–king believable.
Report Post »TEARS FOR AMERICA
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 8:07amAnd we forgot that Obama is loving Cuba’s oil exploration right off our shores while our wells have moved to Brazil…the Chicago way is putting us in our graves and this President is helping…
Report Post »poster
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 7:56amObama wasn’t set to give another loan to Solydra… he was set to give his own campaign more money — (and a few bucks for a Moochelle vacation)
Report Post »Bill Rowland
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 7:28amFollow the money! Obumbler is a Chicago Politician, you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours. Look for off shore bank accounts for Obumbler, Chu, Holder.
Where did the profit go from selling the guns to Mexican Cartels? Did the DNC get it? Did it go to a PAC to re-elect Obumbler?
When politicians from Chicago are involved follow the money.
OMG – Psalm 109-8
Report Post »arfarb55
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 6:51amWhy is this fool and his cronies still in the White House? OMG= obama MUST go…
Report Post »mikee1
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 6:49amGov. capitalism, a.k.a. CRONY CAPITALISM, IS EPIDEMIC. You would be surprised how many big cos. and businesses are at the public troth to one degree or another. It is so big, that the economy would be even worse off it it suddenly stopped. In Chicago, must successful businesses are CONNECTED TO THE LOCAL GOV., for example. After decades of this, there is no easy way out now. God bless and help the independents. They are only attacked by the GOV. Now, the GOV. HAS TO BE ATTACKED FINANCIALLY, AT LEAST. WHERE ARE THE INDICTMENTS ON SOLYNDRA AND FAST AND FURIOUS?
Report Post »dave88
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 6:38amI wonder if Obama would guarantee a loan for me to open a unicorn breeding operation? I would only need a few billion.
Report Post »Drakkhanlord
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 5:23amTEN PLANKS OF THE COM MUNIST MANI FESTO …Reads like the Life we have been living.
search and see for yourselves…
Report Post »Drakkhanlord
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 5:19amTEN PLANKS OF THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO …Reads like the Life we have been living.
search and see for yourselves…
Report Post »Mikev5
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 4:46amI will be OUTRAGED if this just fades out and disappears.
The American people want justice out of Obama
Report Post »Mikev5
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 4:40amIf this doesn’t become as big as Watergate or Iran Contra something is seriously wrong with our media outlets talk about turning a blind eye how blind can you get this administration is the biggest set of crooks and liars this country has ever seen its shameful the blind support Obama gets when will the people get a clue this man and his administration are corrupt to the core.
Report Post »Arc
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 3:42amThe SEC’s watching porn.
The DOJ is selling guns to criminals.
The Dept of Energy apparently doesn’t have enough energy to power a calculator.
The Dept of Education is allowing marxism and socialism to be taught in schools.
The Dept of Interior is selling PUBLIC Land.
The FCC would like to monitor & control all internet traffic.
The White House is providing loans to Brazil to explore for oil off the South American coast.
The State Department is dragging its feet on a show of support for Israel
The Commerce Dept is moonlighting by selling HEALTH insurance.
Protesters on Wall Street can’t tell you WHY they are there.
The Union is supporting the protesters in their stupidity.
MoveOn.Org is supporting both protesters and Unions.
And the American Soldier is in a foreign land, giving up a few personal rights to ensure that their fellow countrymen can engage in the items listed above.
What’s wrong with that picture?
Report Post »VApatriot2
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 9:21amYour last paragraph sums it up in a nutshell and the picture is bleak. The media has been bought and paid for to look the other way or not report at all the truth you’ve listed. I am sad, I am angry, I am mortified for the future of my grandchildren and I’d really like to punch the crap out of someone! Think I can help with that come November 8, 2012. Meanwhile, we continue to pray for this once great nation.
Report Post »TEIN
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 11:01amAs well as how many more dots needs to be added to connect-the-dots picture on how corrupt this administration is?? Who would ever thought of longing for the days of just having the corruption of Pres. Nixon administration??
Report Post »mad_hatter
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 1:38amThe RNC took Obama to task in a new web ad they just released: http://www.americanparchment.com/video/2011/oct/rnc_ad_solyndra.html
Report Post »team1blazer
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 12:36amObama M.O….double down on bad policy. My dad would call it “throwing good money after bad”. The problem is, its NOT his money…it’s OURS.
Report Post »netmail
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 12:00amObama wanted to double down on Solyndra before the next election because he’s thinking: ‘Who cares? By then it won’t even matter.’ Fortunately, I think this evil cat is running out of kitty litter. His administration is tripping over all the clumps and something is in the air.
Report Post »kraphtsman
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 8:53pmThese bad loans ad NOTHING to do with Solyndra’s viability as an investmetn… and EVERYTHING to do with enriching Democrat campaign contributors (and a number of HIGHLY placed, sitting Democrat politicians’ personal financial portfolios).
TIME FOR THE SPECIAL PROSECUTORS TO BEGIN !!!!
Report Post »carbonyes
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 9:54pmThe whole enterprise stinks. It is typical of Obama and his Chicago style cronyism. The investigation should begin, leave no stone unturned and the heads should roll, including Obama’s. That is why they were scurrying around like a bunch of rats when the bottom fell out, trying to cover their a$$e$.
Report Post »