Mitt Romney Visits Solyndra, Highlights Obama's Failure

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May 31, 2012 1:27pm
By Emily Friedman @EmilyABC
Mitt Romney Visits Solyndra Amid Attack on Obama Jobs Record
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Mitt Romney arrived at the shuttered headquarters of Solyndra Inc. this morning, a surprise visit that was shrouded in secrecy and part of the presumptive GOP presidential candidates attack on President Obamas record on jobs creation. Two years ago President Obama was here to tout this building and this business as a symbol of the success of his stimulus,said Romney, stepping off a bus and onto the public sidewalk in front of the Solyndra buildings just outside Silicon Valley. Well you can see that its a symbol of something very different today. Read More About Solyndra from ABCs The Blotter Its a symbol not of success but of failure,he said. Its also a symbol of a serious conflict of interest. An independent inspector general looked at this investment and concluded that the administration had steered money to friends and family to campaign contributors. This building, this half a billion dollar taxpayer investment, represents a serious conflict of interest on the part of the president and his team. Its also a symbol of how the president thinks about free enterprise,said Romney. Free enterprise to the president means taking money from the taxpayers and giving it freely to his friends. You look at this building behind us; this is not the kind of building that is built by private enterprise,he said. This is the kind of enterprise the kind of building thats built with half a billion dollars of taxpayers money. Its not just the Taj Mahal of corporate headquarters. you probably also heard that inside there are showers that have LCD displays that tell what the temperatures are of the shower water. and the robots inside actually provide
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Solyndra is the failed California-based solar technology company that received more than $500 million in federal stimulus money before it went bankrupt last year. It has since become a mantle of Romneys argument that Obama doesnt know how to run the economy. Beginning in March 2011, ABC News, in partnership with iWatch News-The Center for Public Integrity, was first to report on simmering questions about the role political influence might have played in Solyndras selection as the Obama administrations first loan-guarantee recipient. Federal auditors had flagged the loan, saying some applicants had benefited from special treatment. Romneys visit was only revealed after Romney and reporters who follow him on the campaign trail were en route to the location. It was never advised publicly by the campaign, which usually informs both national and local reporters where the candidate will appear. The reason for keeping it quiet is because we knew if word got out that Solyndra would do everything in their power and the Obama administration would do everything in their power to stop us from having this news conference,an aide said in a briefing en route. But taxpayers made a substantial investment in Solyndra, there are serious questions about what happened at Solyndra, why that investment was selected, what happened to that money. The Romney campaign this week rejiggered its focus on Solyndra, which was a major talking point for Romney during the primary, in an attempt to highlight what it calls Obamas mishandling of the economy, but has lately been replaced with a focus on Obamas health care law and education issues. Romneys visit to the shuttered plant comes on the same day that Obamas top strategist, David Axelrod, held a news conference in Boston, the city where Romneys campaign headquarters is located, to discuss the Republican candidates record as governor. Axelrods appearance will mark one of the first steps in the Obama re-election campaigns strategy to highlight Romneys record during his years as Massachusettsgovernor. The Romney campaign earlier this week released a video, Not Even Half, which highlighted the Obama administrations investment in the now-failed Fremont, Calif., manufacturer. At the time of the federal investment, Solyndra was the nations largest solar energy plant and was touted as an example of the presidents commitment to government subsidies that would promote clean energy technology and so-called green jobs. Solyndra went bankrupt in 2011, laying off more than 1,000 employees, after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees through a s Act program. The investment has been slammed by Republicans who believe the Obama administration chose the plant because of its ties to major donors. It has been the subject of an ongoing congressional investigation. When the company went bankrupt, taxpayers were left to pay off the loans associated with the grant and Republicans seized on the investment as an example of the administrations, as Romney says, trying to pick winners and losersin the free market that would benefit high dollar donors. At a private fundraiser in Hillsborough, Calif., Wednesday night, Romney previewed his attacks on the administrations involvement in Solyndra. Have you seen Solyndras corporate headquarters?Romney asked. You probably have. Who wants to put money in a solar company when a government puts a half a billion into one of its choice?Romney asked, suggesting that investors and entrepreneurs would be less likely to found their own companies if they believethegovernmentwouldhelpacompetitor.They dont understand how the free economy works. During a February campaign speech in Nevada, Romney made similar claims, comparing his own experience starting office supply giant Staples during his time at Bain to the facilities at Solyndra, which he often compares to the Taj Mahal.
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Hes been choosing businesses that add to his campaign, and putting money in them,Romney said during a February campaign rally in Henderson, Nev. When we started a little company called Staples, instead of having offices in a big glass Taj Mahal, like Solyndra, our offices were in the back of a shopping mall. So his view is what I call crony capitalism,Romney said. Give money to your friends that contributed to your campaign. Thats crony capitalism.
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USER COMMENTS
Letters to ABC News on our Global Health Coverage

Give money to your friends that contributed to your campaign. Thats crony capitalism.-Yep , thats what the R / Bush2 tax cuts for the rich were intended to do , i.e. buy votes . Didnt exactly work as planned , but never fear . Jeb Bush and Diebold to the rescue !
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POSTED BY: DAVEM | MAY 31, 2012, 1:40 PM 1:40 PM
Really????? Are you kidding me??? Obama tried to invest in something good, grow a company, actually build something that made our country competitive. Romney bought companies in trouble, took out loans against whatever equity was left in them, paid himself that cash in the form of huge million dollar paycheck and bonuses, drive the company into backruptcy, then pay back pennies to the dollar to the pension funds, vaca pay, all the creditors and stiff the bank for the loan. Its in his pocket, untouchable. Then he fires all the employees, who have no pensions now, or vaca, etc, he sells off the bits and pieces of the company and walks away MILLIONS in profit to himself, while the average worker was just screwed out of their pensions and any other 401K or anything, all in chapter 11, all gone, well, not really, its in Romneys bank account, the bank is left with this bad loan. The bank then packages up the bad loan, sells it on the free market as a securitythat will soon fail and take down someone elses 401K. the tax payers pay for the unemployment of the laid off workers and we all have the privalege of paying $4 per ATM transaction to pay for the bad loan. THIS is how the ultra rich INCREASED their net worth over 20% over the past 10 years while the middle class net worth went DOWN 20 40%!!!!!! Who the %&^%^&%^&%$ is Romney to tour a shut down factory????? Hes buiding a car elevator in his new mansion on the backs of laid off workers in firms he NEVER tried to do anything BUT close and suck out all remaining equity!!!!!!!! Hes nothing but a legal thief.
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POSTED BY: JOHNNY B GOOD | MAY 31, 2012, 1:45 PM 1:45 PM
Im an engineer and I have NO PROBLEM with funding startups to compete with China in new technologies. we should be doing MORE of it, not less. God knows teh rich in this country do NOT invest in building anything, they invest in tearing it down and shipping it out. Its much easier. I applaud Obama for trying, and hopefully he will win another term so he can keep investing in things and as Americans always do, soon well have another winner and be a market leader again.
POSTED BY: NOT UR AVERAGE JOE | MAY 31, 2012, 1:46 PM 1:46 PM
I dont know what palnet Republicans live in but I hope that they know that Solyndra does not mean anything to the rest of the voters. I mean yes the Govt invested in clean energy and it failed but my question is so what??? Is an investment in something as worthy as clean energy supposed to be a success all the time? Well you all can run with it all you want but it only shows that you do not have anything substantial other than the Solyndra and Fast and Furious which I might add all started with Bush first. Its already been debunked unless you watch ONLY FAUX news or read the extreme druge report. Good luck making it stick
POSTED BY: GGGG | MAY 31, 2012, 1:47 PM 1:47 PM
President Obamos actions with Solyndra and other failedinvestments make Mitt Romneys Bain activities look like genius! Bain failureswas the private money of investors who knew their risks were where President Obamas failureswere public money where investorscant afford these losses!
POSTED BY: COMMON _ SENSE | MAY 31, 2012, 1:52 PM 1:52 PM
It was recomended to not make the investment. It wasnt just some investment that seemed good. It was considered a BAD investment by the government, but Obama went ahead anyway! Why anyone would applaud making bad investments is quite ignorant. So the real question is why? But coincidentally Oabam got some campaign contributions! Nah, couldnt have been that.
POSTED BY: REAL_HOPE_AND_CHANGE | MAY 31, 2012, 1:52 PM 1:52 PM
Solyndra was one company out of 26 that failed. The rest are doing fine. Unlike Mitt the venture capital that went into Solyndra was there to make a viable company, not to strip assets and lay off workers. It failed; they priced their product too low. Any true venture capitalist will tell you sometimes you win sometimes you lose. A 96 percent success rate is excellent, something Bain cant come close to.
POSTED BY: TMFERRETTI | MAY 31, 2012, 1:57 PM 1:57 PM
DAVEM | MAY 31, 2012, 1:40 PM Yep , thats what the R / Bush2 tax cuts for the rich were intended to do , i.e. buy votes . Didnt exactly work as planned , but never fear ..Those tax cuts resulted in record federal income tax receipts 2006-2008. Isnt that what the IRS wants?
POSTED BY: DEANBOB | MAY 31, 2012, 2:02 PM 2:02 PM
TMFerretti exactly!. Venture capitalists invest in companies hoping they will succeed and grow. Not all work. Vulture Capitalists go in, strip companies of assets, send business overseas, gut the pensions and THEN take what is left as management fees. Then they leave, and the company, now significantly weaker, goes bankrupt.
POSTED BY: PKSK531 | MAY 31, 2012, 2:02 PM 2:02 PM
Obama belongs in jail with the rest of his administration.
POSTED BY: GREG C | MAY 31, 2012, 2:06 PM 2:06 PM
Excuse me, but when did the American taxpayer give permission for a corrupt, Marxist politician to pay back contributors to his campaign with their money? Are you really that ignorant or are you simply Marxists like Obama??
POSTED BY: YANKEEI | MAY 31, 2012, 2:11 PM 2:11 PM
Lay into him, Mitt!
POSTED BY: DAVE | MAY 31, 2012, 2:12 PM 2:12 PM
Looks like the O-man has a bunch of apologist talking him up on ABC News today. I wonder if they are former Solyndra owners trying to protect their reward cash that Barry gave them. I guess well never know.
POSTED BY: MR. REALITY | MAY 31, 2012, 2:14 PM 2:14 PM
Ok lets look at the whole thing on both sides. Bain- has had some ups and downs. What is the name of the game with them? Buy failing companies try to build them up and save them to make money. Does it always work? No. Thats part of business. But nobody is talking about the companies that didnt fail. Same way with what happened to Solyndra. Do you think that the workers got any money when that company failed? Also, Obama and the government didnt buy the company. They gave them a loan of 535 mil. Which obviously didnt work. And they used our money. Thats not right.
POSTED BY: CHARLEY | MAY 31, 2012, 2:14 PM 2:14 PM
Solyndra was one of MANY crony venture failures that were engineered by the Obama administration. Obama is a crook, a liar, and a thief.
POSTED BY: ONE AMERICAN | MAY 31, 2012, 2:15 PM 2:15 PM
Solyndra is not the only failureObama is a far cry from a 96% rate. Check your facts.
POSTED BY: RUBE | MAY 31, 2012, 2:16 PM 2:16 PM
Solyndra was almost a success. We just need another $500 million or so.
POSTED BY: GEORGE KAISER | MAY 31, 2012, 2:16 PM 2:16 PM
Solyndra is the tip of the iceberg1. Obama has declared that all the projects received funding based solely on their merits.But 71 percent of the Obama Energy Departments grants and loans went to individuals who were bundlers, members of Obamas National Finance Committee, or large donors to the Democratic Party.Collectively, these Obama cronies raised $457,834 for his campaign, and they were in turn approved for grants or loans of nearly
$11.35 billion.
POSTED BY: OLD_BOY_NTWK | MAY 31, 2012, 2:16 PM 2:16 PM
Obama has to pay his donors back.. this one cost the taxpayers $535,000,000 and 1100 layoffs OBAMA_________________________VS________________________AMERICA
POSTED BY: YEP I SAID THAT | MAY 31, 2012, 2:16 PM 2:16 PM
Good for Romney. Call attention fo the failures of this admin
POSTED BY: LVH | MAY 31, 2012, 2:16 PM 2:16 PM
Solyndra Green. Its all about the money given their executives and how much wound up in Obamaa campaign fund.
POSTED BY: DAVE-0 | MAY 31, 2012, 2:17 PM 2:17 PM
Give money to your friends that contributed to your campaign. Thats crony capitalism.-Yep , thats what the R / Bush2 tax cuts for the rich were intended to do , i.e. buy votes . Didnt exactly work as planned , but never fear . Jeb Bush and Diebold to the rescue ! Posted by: davem | May 31, 2012, 1:40 pm 1:40 pm Obama, a one percenter, extended those same tax cuts and even took advantage of them himself, saving over $200,000 total on his 2010 and 2011 taxes. Are you accusing Obama of buying votes?
POSTED BY: REALITY CHECK | MAY 31, 2012, 2:17 PM 2:17 PM
AMEN!! Solyndra is just the tip of the iceberg. First Solar, SunPower, Trina Solarwill all follow with bankruptcy. Tens of billions flushed down the toilet to fund a stupid, completely inefficient technology.
POSTED BY: AJ RHINO | MAY 31, 2012, 2:18 PM 2:18 PM
if we gave this company more money they wouldnt of failed. just like if we would give the masses more free welfare and stuff theyll start working too
POSTED BY: FOOLEDLIKETHEREST | MAY 31, 2012, 2:23 PM 2:23 PM
Where the Obama supporters lose their argument is that the money invested in their venturesare the taxpayers hard earned dollars. Its not the governments job to gamble that money, whereas in venture capital it is. Mitt Romney is simply a businessman and the business of America is business. Why is it assumed that the Government allocates resources better than the Private sector ? The answer is that its never been proven. Solar Trust of America, a California solar outfit that received $2.1 billion in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, listing its assets between $1 and $10 million and liabilities up to $100 million.
POSTED BY: JAY | MAY 31, 2012, 2:23 PM 2:23 PM
Solyndra was almost a success. We just need another $500 million or so.LOL, Minus the kick back to the obama campaign. Public money well spent so sayth the typical demicrat loon!
POSTED BY: REAL_HOPE_AND_CHANGE | MAY 31, 2012, 2:24 PM 2:24 PM
Its not even crony capitalism, it is the Chicago Way
POSTED BY: MWC | MAY 31, 2012, 2:24 PM 2:24 PM
Give money to your friends that contributed to your campaign. Thats crony capitalism.-Yep , thats what the R / Bush2 tax cuts for the rich were intended to do , i.e. buy votes . Didnt exactly work as planned , but never fear . Jeb Bush and Diebold to the rescue ! Letting people keep more of their own money isnt giving. Taking money from me and giving to your political allies for a doomed to fail business is. As far as Banes is concerned, private money taking known risks. The investors would have earned more if they could have kept it going, but all investors are entitled to whatever can be salvaged. Why arent you talking about the owners of Solyndra who walked away rich (off the tax payer) when the company failed?
POSTED BY: CONDOR | MAY 31, 2012, 2:25 PM 2:25 PM
Interesting thing that Obi supporters forget is that the american taxpayer doesnt have a choice as to where their money is invested. Liberals seem to think that money from the govt comes from trees rather then the sweat of the taxpayer. but then most liberals dont have to worry about getting sweaty since their govt check arrives directly to their bank accounts now.
POSTED BY: 9112015 | MAY 31, 2012, 2:25 PM 2:25 PM
It was considered a bad investment because other us companies that were producing solar cells were doing so with
cheap Chinese labor. Solyndra was a bad investment because they were trying to do it with US workers.
POSTED BY: NEWSFAN | MAY 31, 2012, 2:25 PM 2:25 PM
Solyndrais Kenyan for money laundering.
POSTED BY: BLUESKYGUY | MAY 31, 2012, 2:26 PM 2:26 PM
Yeah, push Obama to the ground and trim off his hair.
POSTED BY: JEFFR | MAY 31, 2012, 2:27 PM 2:27 PM
LOL!!! I just heard the CNN hosts lamented as they just figured out Obama has no courage! LOL!!!! ..but, but, but, werent we told that Barack Obama singlehandedly killed Osama bin Laden?
POSTED BY: JUSTAGUY | MAY 31, 2012, 2:27 PM 2:27 PM
71% of all government investmentin green energywent to companies owned by major donors to Obamas election campaign. Funny coincidence, that.
POSTED BY: PETER | MAY 31, 2012, 2:29 PM 2:29 PM
Seems the defenders of the 0 ie ZERO HERO are scrambling to bolster their guy. How sad that is, must suck to be them!!
POSTED BY: NO_OZOMBIES | MAY 31, 2012, 2:29 PM 2:29 PM
Maybe OBama will fund a private prison company, with a select cell for his future occupancy.
POSTED BY: CHECKERS | MAY 31, 2012, 2:30 PM 2:30 PM
I really hope Romney wins in November, Obama has been the most inept, incompetent, nincompoop Ive ever seen. I was cautiously optimistic in 2008 since I was no fan of Bush and thought that maybe the country needed a different direction but much to my surprise Obama has been and continues to be even worse than Bush it blows my mind. Romney might suck but Obama has a proven massive black hole level of suckage. A message should have been sent in 2004 that incompetence will not be rewarded, if the Democrats had picked a better candidate But now, we have a chance to send the exact same message, Obama has failed as badly or possibly worse than Bush; someone else needs a chance.
POSTED BY: MERP | MAY 31, 2012, 2:30 PM 2:30 PM
Too bad none of the 24-hour news networks went to Mr. Romneys staged event. They were all covering the unveiling of the Bush portraits in the White House. Not really the kind of thing to be competing with, so bad timing on Romneys part.
POSTED BY: VISITOR | MAY 31, 2012, 2:31 PM 2:31 PM
I agree with Romney. Instead of giving money to a favored business, no matter how the choice was made, the US should have put tariffs on foreign products that compete. That way youve helped the business and collected revenue in the process and not put taxpayer money at risk. Putting taxpayer money at risk is not the job of the government. It is the job of the government to make the business environment stable and safe to do business. Obama has done the opposite. He screwed the bondholders on favor of the unions with GM and Crysler. He put money at risk and did nothing to help them be competitive while the chinese were dumping product on our shores. I may not like Romney much but he has to be better than Obama.
POSTED BY: CHRIS V | MAY 31, 2012, 2:31 PM 2:31 PM
All the obammunists with the fake numbers have left after a little fact checking. Oblama=FAIL FUN FACT! Romney had an 80% success rate at BAIN!!! Enjoy!
POSTED BY: ROLLO TOMASI | MAY 31, 2012, 2:33 PM 2:33 PM
I dont see how anybody can try and defend the fact that the current administration blew half a billion dollars on a company. Using the argument that not every business succeedsis all fine and dandy, but you are leaving out the simple fact that during the process of vetting the companies for the loan, they found out they Solyndra was a bad bet. They knew it wouldnt stay competitive because of advances in technology which made what Solyndra offered, obsolete BEFORE they had gotten the loan. But whatever, Mitt Romney is an evil capitalist who used his own intellect, charm, business savvy, what have you to become RICH and SUCCESSFUL and therefore EARNED his right to put how every many god damn elevators in his own garage. Just because you people are jealous that somebody is that good at what they do to make that much money, does not mean he is an inept candidate in any way. Your own personal failings should not reflect poorly on a presidential candidate because you feel he earns too muchor is an evil capitalistwhich ALL OF YOU would wish you were and would drop everything you were doing in life to live such a life-style in a heartbeat!
But hey, think about it this way.. better to have someone who has experience running companies and turning them around as your President during an economic down-turn as opposed toa community organizer with NO private sector experience?
POSTED BY: KEVIN | MAY 31, 2012, 2:34 PM 2:34 PM
Take a look at some of Obamas most disgusting frauds-including: > 22 personal servants for his wife! > Over $100,000 for a personal dog trainer! All coming out of taxpayer pockets!!! (I urge you to send this to your friends and spread the word: Oliar is going down!) Forged birth certificate issued by the White House Multiple Social Security numbers Sealed college records Surrendered license to practice law. Missing birth records in Hawaii Sealed selective service records Obama uses foreign passports. Association with known communists and subversives. Sworn testimonies proving Obama was not born in America. Americas top sheriff threatened if he continues investigating Obama frauds. Michelle Obamas disbarment. her license to practice law revoked. Obamas own mother said her son, Barry Soetoro (Barack Hussein Obama), received foreign aid to pay for college. He wants to rewrite our National Anthem to suit his needs.
POSTED BY: BURT | MAY 31, 2012, 2:36 PM 2:36 PM
The 2003 tax cuts were the LARGEST contributor to the current debt. They were extended ONLY because the Republicans refused to do anything else unless they were ALL extended- Obama did not want to extend the ones for those with taxable income over $250,000. He was basically raising his own taxes, but the Republicans did not want to pay more Grover Norquist says no!Unlike Bain, Solyndra was funded with Loans, not investors money. Yes, it was a risk to invest in a company trying to manufacture in the US when competitors get cheaper supplies form China. Bains investors made fortunes on their transactions even when the companies went bankrupt.
POSTED BY: PKSK531 | MAY 31, 2012, 2:36 PM 2:36 PM
Obama was just trying to do something good? Are you kidding me? Whats good about cherry picking campaign donors who have their hand out. Whats good about investing our money when there were investment analysts who flagged many of these companies. Anybody who thinks Obama was doing something good has got some serious mental problems. On the other hand, investors in Bain knew what they were getting into up front. They made the choice that the investment risks were reasonable considering Bains success record of starting business, fixing business and yes, investing in failed businesses that should have been disolved years earlier but were still invested in by Bain because they thought they could turn them around. Anybody who doesnt understand the difference is just not thinking or simply wont take the time to understand how investment capitol works. JIll take Romneys business acumen over Obamas cronyism right out of the Chicago playbook, anytime.
POSTED BY: BHECKEL169 | MAY 31, 2012, 2:37 PM 2:37 PM
Obama hired a former Bain executive. Maybe that guy needed a job like Jon Corzine did.
POSTED BY: AMPAD | MAY 31, 2012, 2:37 PM 2:37 PM
True venture capitalists (unlike Mitt at Bain) look at a startup business, decide if it has a chance to succeed then invest hoping to make a profit on their investment. Thats what the energy department did. If the company fails they lose their money, its as simple as that They dont go in strip assets, lay off workers then sell the company to the highest bidder just to line their pockets. The problem with Mitt is hes never grown up. Hes had everything handed to him because of the money he inherited. He thinks he can buy anything including this election.
Fine. Lets do an apples-to-applescomparison of Romney to Obama. How many total companies under Romney did Bain Capital invest in? How many total companies under Obama did the US taxpayer invest in? How many companies of each failed? How many succeeded? Lets compare the percentages. How many jobs created? How many lost. My man Mitt will stand up to the scrutiny. I dare you!
POSTED BY: TXM | MAY 31, 2012, 2:40 PM 2:40 PM
Either way you look at it Obama failed the public with Solyndra. Either he was playing crony capitalism and dolling out taxpayer money to his friends, or he was honestly trying to make a greener America and failed. Either way the tax payers got nothing out it but $535 million in debt. Thanks. NEXT!
POSTED BY: SPENDERH | MAY 31, 2012, 2:41 PM 2:41 PM
So many brain dead commentors here 1. Romney was incredibly successful. He took companies that were either start ups or those in serious trouble and turned them around. To the tune of around an 80% success rate. Solyndra is one of several companies where the President invested tax payer dollars only to see the ultimately fail. 2. Romneys point is pretty simple. Thats why its shocking to see so many people miss it. Lets say you wanted to open a new business a gas station as an example. Would you still be interested in purchasing a station if you knew that the station next to yours was funded my the government? That they would receive a loan guarantee, not available
to you, to spruce up their property, have tons of money to advertise, and offer subsidized gas prices. Of course you wouldnt. Its UNFAIR. The government stepping in to loan money to your competitor drops your incentive to compete. The Obama administration handed out guaranteed loans to his pals. It didnt go to EVERY solar company. Just ones that contributed to his campaign.
POSTED BY: BJ | MAY 31, 2012, 2:41 PM 2:41 PM
Real Hope and Change: You had better re-check your math about the other 26 companies doing just fine: Most of the so-called green energycompanies that Obama funneled money to were started by Obama donors/supporters, and most of them have failed. We WILL have green energy some day, but it will be done , if its feasible, the way all new industries are built. By private entrepreneurs who know what theyre doing. You can gloss over these stuped investments all you want, but the fact is that Obama was paying off supporters and he thought what they were doing would be a slam dunk. What does a Community Organizer know about starting a business? Hes never done it.
POSTED BY: JIM/NEW HAVEN | MAY 31, 2012, 2:41 PM 2:41 PM
I dont think there is any question at all: the U.S. Government should NOT be investing in individual companies. It is a disincentive to private investment, prone to corruption and cronyism, and the governmetn simply doesnt know how to run a business. (Theoretically they know how to run a government.) The federal government should be creating an environment of: 1. predictable taxes and regulations, (I didnt say none, i said predictable) 2. lowering barriers to capital and enterprise and 3. protecting property, intellectual and personal rights. (If a local government wants to lower taxes in an economic recovery zone, then that might be OK, but those rarely work out that well either.)
POSTED BY: EL CONQUISTADOR | MAY 31, 2012, 2:42 PM 2:42 PM
What is truly amazing is not that the company went broke, it happens. Its that it went broke in only a year after getting 500M. Thats unbelievable
POSTED BY: ALAN | MAY 31, 2012, 2:45 PM 2:45 PM
Odd that democrats attack Romney when he uses investors money to invest in failing companies to try to save them or structure it so that at least the theres extended time available for the people to have jobs. Obama takes the taxpayers money from them against their will and gives it away to failing businesses so that instead of just investors losing money, we can guarantee we all do. The government should be in the business of running businesses or putting its heavy handed control into running businesses. Its even worse when the nation is ruled by a Marxist.
POSTED BY: TEXBORK_2012 | MAY 31, 2012, 2:45 PM 2:45 PM
This shows Obama doesnt know how the economy works. You have to let the free markets decide the value of Solar Technology. This is because the free markets works on supply and demand. What has happened with Solyndra and other Solar companies is they have all of this supple but no demand. Its not just Solyndra. Its Ecotality, First Solar and more!!
POSTED BY: JAYBPOV | MAY 31, 2012, 2:45 PM 2:45 PM
CHRIS V | MAY 31, 2012, 2:31 Posted: Obama screwed the bondholders on favor of the unions with GM and Crysler. He put money at risk and did nothing to help them be competitive. Right. Thats why GM rebounded to become the leader in world sales this year. And, those millions saved jobs help prevent United States from looking like todays stagnant Euro-zone. Libertarians would be a hoot if their paymasters, the Koch Boys, were not so frighteningly out of touch with democracy. GOP supporters of Paul Ryans fantasy Ayn Rand budget whole heartedly believe in the Free Market dont put tax payer money at risk! Well, except maybe Big Oil and Big Corn subsidies. I may not like all of Obamas policies, but he has to be better than Romney.
POSTED BY: WILSON | MAY 31, 2012, 2:45 PM 2:45 PM
TMLOL one out of 26, Fiscar, Chevy Volt, battery company sold to Russia, solar companies to numerous to mention failed, but in your mind its doing just great. Just like Barney there is no problem with Fannie and Freddie, they are doing just fine and after a massive bailout they are asking for another 150 BILLION.
POSTED BY: LIZZIE | MAY 31, 2012, 2:49 PM 2:49 PM
how lame to vilify successful people. we should all strive to be successful for our children. without successful people the 48% who pay no tax might have to pay. feeloading is a sin.
POSTED BY: CATMAN | MAY 31, 2012, 2:49 PM 2:49 PM
Look at all of these ignorant liberals trying to defend the waste of this clown in the White House who didnt even hold a job before he was put in as Pres. ECON 101 explaining it to my son was pretty simpleHmmmmm. here is a product that costs you $10,00 to make and you are going to sell it for $5.00. how long will that last? My son.not very long. Obamas answer?. well make it up in VOLUME. ha ha ha ha.. has to be dumbest person on the planet!!!
POSTED BY: CURT IN CALIFORNIA | MAY 31, 2012, 2:49 PM 2:49 PM
Solyndra: Invest $500 million in a commodity that cost $6/Watt to produce, being sold for $3/Watt in a market getting $1/Watt. Yeah, this is the type of economic brains I want running America!
POSTED BY: BREWSTER | MAY 31, 2012, 2:50 PM 2:50 PM
True venture capitalists (unlike Mitt at Bain) look at a startup business, decide if it has a chance to succeed then invest hoping to make a profit on their investment. Thats what the energy department did. If the company fails they lose their money, its as simple as that They dont go in strip assets, lay off workers then sell the company to the highest bidder just to line their pockets. The problem with Mitt is hes never grown up. Hes had everything handed to him because of the money he inherited. He thinks he can buy anything including this election. tmferretti, so true. And is Solyndra still hiring? Let me know!
POSTED BY: HELIOS | MAY 31, 2012, 2:51 PM 2:51 PM
even msnbc came out today saying eco cars are not worth the money. its a fraud very much like solar, which never pays for itself.it cost more money and oil to produce a panel then it will generate.thats why solar companies are going broke. hows that algee plan working out?
POSTED BY: CATMAN | MAY 31, 2012, 2:52 PM 2:52 PM
Please inquire of our esteemed President Obama his administrations involvement with former Senator & New Jersey Governor Jon Corzines involvement with MF Global. This company was liquidated costing many ranchers and farmers a huge amount of $$$ which will never be re-paid. This matter should be looked into immediately!!! Do not believe Mitt had anything to do with major Faux Pax
POSTED BY: TBIRD_ | MAY 31, 2012, 2:54 PM 2:54 PM
Isnt that Mitts specialty? Buying companies bankrupt and put in on auction? Mitt should have Bain Capital pick up the deal on auction. Bain can make few hundred million from Solyndra that Romney can move to Cayman island account.
POSTED BY: TONYL | MAY 31, 2012, 2:56 PM 2:56 PM
Give money to your friends that contributed to your campaign. Thats crony capitalism. Governor Romney, youre being too polite. Thats money-laundering and larceny! Too bad Holder, the Fox, is watching the American taxpayer, the chicken coop.
POSTED BY: SIDNEY | MAY 31, 2012, 2:57 PM 2:57 PM
Emily Friedman, could you literally find no one to give a non-Romney point?
POSTED BY: ED | MAY 31, 2012, 2:58 PM 2:58 PM
Hope and Change. It should be JOKE. Just Obama Killing Economics
POSTED BY: LUTHER B. | MAY 31, 2012, 2:58 PM 2:58 PM
Wilson, number one only because Toyota and the other Japanese auto companies had trouble with supply, GM will be again looking for a handout, Chrysler could not make it even with a bailout but was sold to FIAT. You talk about saving millions of jobs how about in the same breath talk about all those hundred thousands that lost their job, the dealership that are closed, the Town of Pontiac /MI. going bankrupt, curtesy of this administration shutting down the Pontiac line. Germany is doing just fine its those nanny states that are in trouble, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, France, who are run by liberals.
POSTED BY: LIZZIE | MAY 31, 2012, 2:59 PM 2:59 PM
Now Romney needs to visit Ener1, Beacon Power, Amonix, Tesla Motors, A123 Systems, First Solar, Sunpower
POSTED BY: SAILHATIN | MAY 31, 2012, 3:00 PM 3:00 PM
HELIOS Ask the thousands of people who are working because of that Energy Department Program. Solyndra was one of 26 companies in that program, the only one that failed. Ill take those odds any day. None of the other 25 companies lost assets, workers, or were sold to the highest bidder. Mitt can make an issue out of Solyndra all day, democrats welcome it, but dont whine and moan when when your failures at Bain or the state of Massachusetts are exposed.
JHARNES, your statement, True venture capitalists (unlike Mitt at Bain) look at a startup business, decide if it has a chance to succeed then invest hoping to make a profit on their investment. does not make sense. Are you saying the Obama is a true venture capitalist? The only profit that Obama wants to make is kick-back donations from his friends no matter how stupid the business risk. Case in point: Solundra
POSTED BY: PHILDBASKET | MAY 31, 2012, 3:03 PM 3:03 PM
Please inquire of our esteemed President Obama his administrations involvement with former Senator & New Jersey Governor Jon Corzines involvement with MF Global. This company was liquidated costing many ranchers and farmers a huge amount of $$$ which will never be re-paid. This matter should be looked into immediately!!! Do not believe Mitt had anything to do with major Faux Pax Listen, Obama has Jon Corzine doing community service.
POSTED BY: CHI | MAY 31, 2012, 3:04 PM 3:04 PM
The role of the private sector is to make these decisions and fund them, and believe me there is plenty of capital looking for these, based on analysis, not wishful thinking and political connections. Obama admin has less business experience than any admin in history. In this case, the professionals where arguing against the investment. Would you invest your money in a project based on recommendation from a junior law professor?
POSTED BY: BB | MAY 31, 2012, 3:04 PM 3:04 PM
The best part about all of this was that the NUMI plant was vacant right down the street! HA HA HA. how dumb can this Bama fellow get? November cant come soon enough!
Good campaign move by Romney! The Obama administration is clueless and wasted $500 million in taxpayer money by investing in Solandra, which offered in inferior product. If the Obama administration had done its research prior to giving this freebee, it would have realized that Solandra was going to fail.
POSTED BY: KURT | MAY 31, 2012, 3:06 PM 3:06 PM
Yeah, great. GM cost taxpayers $53/share and is now selling for $22/share. Only the lefties would think a loss of over %50 is a good thingand great investment
You guys have no idea how much corruption was going on at Solyndramyself included. Before you jump to these crazy conclusions that Obama had good intentions in giving a company $500 million tax payer dollars why dont you look into the business transactions done by Solyndra; Specifically the transaction with a company in Canada that was set to buy an incredible amount of goods from Solyndra but they ended up defaulting on their loan for the goodsA loan that was federal insured by the tax payers. And to top it off, this Canada company was a subsidy of Solyndra themselvesGive me a break you guys. its all smoke and mirrorsWake up and do your own research and come to conclusions based on what you find for yourself, not the reporting of the Communist News Network. Did you ever sit back and say huhI wonder where the massive $500 million dollar tax payer backed loan went? Its not to late to take our country back from these treasonous tyrantsHave a good day all
POSTED BY: YOUREHEADEDTOWARDSACLIFF | MAY 31, 2012, 3:07 PM 3:07 PM
TMFERRETTI, Ener1, Beacon Power, Amonix, Tesla Motors, A123 Systems, First Solar, Sunpower?
POSTED BY: JUNEBUG | MAY 31, 2012, 3:08 PM 3:08 PM
If the investment in Solydra was so good, there would have been tons of investors looking to make money on this, see FACEBOOK, IPO. But it isnt the governments job to invest taxpayers money and pick and choose companies.
POSTED BY: BARRY1817 | MAY 31, 2012, 3:08 PM 3:08 PM
I voted for Obama in 2008 looking for a change that would put this great country back in the right direction. This election isnt about left/right or Dem/Rep. Its about fixing a broken economy and getting people back to work. Obama had 4 years (and my vote in 08) to do something and what has he shown usnothing! This country needs someone who understands the economy and clearly Mitt does. Go Mitt!
POSTED BY: TIGER2112 | MAY 31, 2012, 3:08 PM 3:08 PM
The problem with Mitt is hes never grown up. Hes had everything handed to him because of the money he inherited. He thinks he can buy anything including this election. Posted by: tmferretti | May 31, 2012, 2:39 pm 2:39 pm Both this post and your post about the other 26 companies doing fine.are lies. Romney gave his inheritance away. And to the person complaining about Romneys elevator, Obama flies his barber in from Chicago every 10 days to 2 weeks for a haircut. Are you screeching about this?
POSTED BY: WHERESMONEY | MAY 31, 2012, 3:11 PM 3:11 PM
Obama has the most corrupt administration in history. He has been such a failure that he cannot campaign on any of his so-called accomplishments.
POSTED BY: BRIAN ASTBY | MAY 31, 2012, 3:12 PM 3:12 PM
Romney succeeded 80% of the time with private money. Obama has failed to the tune of nearly 100 billion dollars of public tax payer money and failed every single time he tried to invest in a green scam. Never mind the fact that the owners of the businesses who were given money were all Obama donors and that money is gone and never coming back. Its called crony capitalism. Perhaps youve heard of it. All liberals care about are feelings and intentions. Who cares if he wasted 100 billion dollars. It was on something green and it shows he cares and thats all that matters. Liberals are truly the dumbest segment of humanity ever created.
POSTED BY: JOE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:15 PM 3:15 PM
Its amusing how so many people know everything there is about Bain Capital and funds that invest in distressed companies and markets. Its hard to argue with someone who thinks that all investment bankers want to do is ruin companies and destroy communities. The one thing that most of these venture capital naysayers dont see is that without Bain Capital, Blackstone, JP Morgan and all the others, 95% (not exact but a very large majority) of the companies that are created and successful in this country wouldnt exist. This country could not exist without people like Mitt Romney investing smart money in smart companies to produce a product that is profitable. Not only do these companies want to see their investments grow with a successful company, they depend on it or else the entire industry, hence the world, would collapse. The President believes that the American people (sometimes he is right) have no idea how these companies work and that we are too stupid to understand. Either that or the President is too stupid to understand them himself and I doubt that is the case.
POSTED BY: STEEL | MAY 31, 2012, 3:15 PM 3:15 PM
Stick it to them, Mitt! No holding back during this campaign. bama is the dirtiest, Chicago politician that has ever been in office. Go head on against this inept clown!!!
These dems really support Obamas donations for corporate welfare program. Funny how probably not one of these supporters put their own money at risk (and if they did and lost they would be crying for Govt Intervention). Less money in Goverments hands means less tax money WASTED, not sure why they have a problem with Romney investing his own money and reaping the gains or losses.
POSTED BY: MYZE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:19 PM 3:19 PM
The COMMUNITY ORGANIZER is a total failure. I guess if the libs cant figure this out theyre probably as dumb as this obama fellow. How I miss Bill Clinton!!! ha ha ha ha
Its not just Solyndra, its Beacon Power, Evergreen Solar, Abound Solar, and several others, all either bankrupt, going bankrupt, laying off hundreds of employees, and all recd 100+M in Federal loan guarantees. For example, youll soon hear more about Abound Solar. Abound Solar, the lucky winner of a $400 million federal loan guarantee from the Obama administration. Earlier this month, the thin-film cadmium telluride solar modulemaker announced layoffs of nearly 300 employees (70 percent of its workforce). In addition, the firm froze plans to build a new factory in Indiana. Abound says it will ride out bad market conditions and hopefullysurvive until the market recovers. Yeah right.
POSTED BY: TEDLINK | MAY 31, 2012, 3:20 PM 3:20 PM
Posted by: Steel | May 31, 2012, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm Didnt Obama hit up Blackstone for $?
POSTED BY: MF | MAY 31, 2012, 3:20 PM 3:20 PM
Fools and cleanenergythats the real joke. Does anyone realize one of these super windmills must generate over 100 years to create the energy required just to build, transport, and install one? Any idea how much energy is expended to create a solar panel? Any idea how low quality solar and wind energy is? Any idea how quality is defined when speaking in terms of energy? Yes, there actually is a grading scale. Look that up before toting the regimes water.
POSTED BY: NATE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:22 PM 3:22 PM
So Obama selects one clean energy company to favor, and the others are left to compete with govt. subsidies? Obama is clueless when it comes to the Free Enterprise System.
POSTED BY: KEVIN | MAY 31, 2012, 3:22 PM 3:22 PM
Solyndra is nothing compared to the $1.4BILLION Bailout Obama gave to Robert F Kennedys losing green investmentin BrightSource. Why no press on that one?
POSTED BY: WOODY | MAY 31, 2012, 3:22 PM 3:22 PM
Wilson, number one only because Toyota and the other Japanese auto companies had trouble with supply, GM will be again looking for a handout, Chrysler could not make it even with a bailout but was sold to FIAT. You talk about saving millions of jobs how about in the same breath talk about all those hundred thousands that lost their job, the dealership that are closed, the Town of Pontiac /MI. going bankrupt, curtesy of this administration shutting down the Pontiac line. Germany is doing just fine its those nanny states that are in trouble, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, France, who are run by liberals. Posted by: Lizzie | May 31, 2012, 2:59 pm 2:59 pm . Germans has socialized medicine. They pay part there is a mandate. They average 14 weeks maternity leave and youre not legally allowed to fire somebody during this time. Germany pays a child allowance to these families that have these babies. Germans are taxed at a higher rate than you are. German auto workers make more than American auto workers. I could go on and on, but my point? Theyre just as nanny as the entire rest of Europe and you know not what you speak of. What they must have been good at was REGULATION and they failed to get choked to death in this banking scandal.
POSTED BY: SECONDLOOK | MAY 31, 2012, 3:23 PM 3:23 PM
Its funny to see the Left so riled up about this. Some have tried to state this was only 1 company and the rest are fine. You might do some actual research. There are more companies than just this one that went belly up with our tax money. Others try to use Bain as the rich Romney took these poor defenseless companies and took their money only to let them die off. You guys dont have a clue as to what Bain was or what it did. If you did, you would understand the risks involved. There are always winners and losers and then there are just the stupid that remains on the left.
POSTED BY: LIBSRNUTS | MAY 31, 2012, 3:23 PM 3:23 PM
The government has no business in the venture capital (high risk) business using tax money. Especially when its so obviously connected to political paybacks. Its NOT the same as infrastucture funding through the Army Corps of Engineers. These are free market enterprises. When did this kind of thing start? And dont give me the Bush tax cuts BS canned response.
POSTED BY: NEWCOUNTRYMAN | MAY 31, 2012, 3:26 PM 3:26 PM
This is so unfair. President Obama entered into this with the best intentions-and tried to help a company that was trying to save the planet from the hell of Global Warming. It needed more capital-but the Republicans threw up a roadblock so the President couldnt do the simple things necessary to help this company grow.Mitt Romney would never have taken a chance here- he would have simply said this cant workand would have closed down the company, sending its assets into his pockets and other businesses that are profitable. To o bad the workers would be out of a job. Instead, Mr Obama gave those Solyndra workers good jobs.-something Mitt romney has never done.
POSTED BY: GOBAMA | MAY 31, 2012, 3:26 PM 3:26 PM
Solyndra is nothing compared to the $1.4BILLION Bailout Obama gave to Robert F Kennedys losing green investmentin BrightSource. Why no press on that one? There will be an investigation beginning in February of 2013.
POSTED BY: REALLY | MAY 31, 2012, 3:26 PM 3:26 PM
You liberals are so funny. All you have to know about this is what if George Bush took billions of taxpayer dollars and gave it to companies owned by his campaign fundraisers like Obama did? You know what the libs would say then? CRONY CAPITALISM!! They would be saying the exact same thing the GOP are now.. Dont ever let a liberal convince you that they arent making excuses for Obamas failures because if a Republican wasted billions in taxpayer dollars then you would not see the end of the stories in the liberal press. Definite hypocrisy on the left.
POSTED BY: JACK IN GA | MAY 31, 2012, 3:27 PM 3:27 PM
If Bush did this kind of thing the Democrats would be screaming to high heaven, but since its Obama, its all for the greater good. How biased can they get? They are a bunch of robots.
Unbelievable the Obama moonbats on here.. Mitt created 90,000 jobs when he created Staples via Bain Capital. Obama took boat loads of cash from Bain Capital then attacks Mitt for working there?!?!?!? Huh, is Obama really that stupid, ANS. YES HE IS!
POSTED BY: THEJACKAL | MAY 31, 2012, 3:31 PM 3:31 PM
I like his simple description of Crony Capitalism. Romney said. Give money to your friends that contributed to your campaign. Thats crony capitalism. I would like him to hit Obama on his stimulus and call it what it is: A slush fund. Same outcome
POSTED BY: COMMON SENSE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:32 PM 3:32 PM
I voted for Obama in the last election, but it was mainly because I was tired of Bush. What a mistake. Obamas far more corrupt than Bush ever was.
POSTED BY: JEFF | MAY 31, 2012, 3:33 PM 3:33 PM
It could be Obama is deliberately trying to break the U.S. Either that or hes the dumbest most easily influenced
political puppet to ever occupy the White House. Someone sure seems like they pull his strings. Im still trying to decide.
Mitt, what a great idea. Focus on the loss, destruction, and chaos that has been created by Obama. Many of his uneducated minions dont even know about this. Keep it up! This is what makes us happy!!!
POSTED BY: JULLOU | MAY 31, 2012, 3:37 PM 3:37 PM
I think a lot of posters on here lost sight of something Romney said. When you start up a copmpnay you dont through more than half at a building far to big for your needs. That money should have been used to support the company till it fully running. You build the Taj mahal as they call it and cant afford your product what good are you, oh yea, you are just another compnay to fill its pockets and got titts up.
POSTED BY: JAMES | MAY 31, 2012, 3:37 PM 3:37 PM
If you want cleanenergy to work, as Mitt pointed out, private investors will not invest in this marketplace when they know the government with infinite amounts of money will investin the competition. This is a very basic free market concept here people. Im honestly shocked at the level of ignorance by those who are trying to defend such stupidity.
POSTED BY: JASON | MAY 31, 2012, 3:38 PM 3:38 PM
Obama has blamed it all on Bush. However, when it comes to Solyndra, he has no one to blame but himself. In fact, the Bush people had determined that Solyndra was a bad risk and did not recommend the loan. When Obamas people took over, they approved it anyway. When you get right down to it, that $5B or so the Obama Administration has added to our national debt was likely just as avoidable as was Solyndra. He started his crazy presidency by increasing the federal budget by 25% for some agancies and he has never had an approved budget. That allowed him to spend with abandon. I hope history reflects the facts and not the propaganda. The peanut farmer was bad but this guy has been a DISASTER!
POSTED BY: LOONEYTOONSINDVILLE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:39 PM 3:39 PM
When James Carney was asked about Obamas throwing away hundreds of billions on failing business due to his incompetence he put it the best way Ive ever heard it explain. On explaining Obamas total economic failures, he said, Look, there, there, there is the, the difference in that your overall view of what, uh, your responsibilities are as president, and what your view of the economic future is. And, and the president believes, as hes made clear, that a presidents responsibility is not just to, uh, those who win, but those who, in for an example, in a company where, uh, there have been layoffs or a company that has gone bankrupt, that that, you know, we have to, uh, make sure that, uh, those folks have, uh, the means to find other employment, that they have, uh, the ability to train for, uh, other kinds of, uh, work, and thats part of the overall responsibility the president has. Wow. Awesome! Cut, print it! Put on a teleprompter and use it in the campaign Obama. It makes as much sense as any of the BS youve managed to get your disciples to swallow.
POSTED BY: TEXBORK_2012 | MAY 31, 2012, 3:40 PM 3:40 PM
GOBAMA: Mr Obama gave those Solyndra workers good jobs.-something Mitt romney has never done. Why not just give them each $500,000 (500M/1000 workers laid off) and avoid the whole mess? Im sure those workers would choose $500K over working for a few months and then getting dumped.
BTW, those of you lunes on the left that want to demonize Bain, might want to consider some of the companies that were saved by Bain. You ever hear of Brookstone, Burger King, Burlington Coat Factory, Dominos Pizza, Dunkin Donuts, Sealy, The Sports Authority, Staples, Toys R Us, Warner Music Group and The Weather Channel just to name some of the bigger named companies they rescured? I suppose you lefties will now demonize those companies for using Bain.
POSTED BY: LIBSRNUTS | MAY 31, 2012, 3:40 PM 3:40 PM
Romney is a slippery, slimy, no good liar. Do you actually believe one word that passes his evil lips? Dont be naive, hell say and do anything to BUY the presidency. Jerk.
POSTED BY: LSANN | MAY 31, 2012, 3:43 PM 3:43 PM
Lets see. The US Taxpayer lost billions. The Obama campaign got millions The Obama bundlers (Solyndra ownership) got millions. It sounds like a great tradeoff to me. What Romney needs to highlight is that there are dozens more companies just like Solyndra. Obama makes Lyndon Johnson and Spiro Agnew look like pikers.
POSTED BY: NEW JERSEY PATRIOT | MAY 31, 2012, 3:44 PM 3:44 PM
This is so unfair. President Obama entered into this with the best intentions-and tried to help a company that was trying to save the planet from the hell of Global Warming. It needed more capital-but the Republicans threw up a roadblock so the President couldnt do the simple things necessary to help this company grow.Mitt Romney would never have taken a chance here- he would have simply said this cant workand would have closed down the company, sending its assets into his pockets and other businesses that are profitable. To o bad the workers would
be out of a job. Instead, Mr Obama gave those Solyndra workers good jobs.-something Mitt romney has never done. Posted by: Gobama | May 31, 2012, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm Oh, Good Grief. He RUSHED it through the DOE, even when e-mails were voicing concern about this company. The Republicans couldnt block a darn thing in 2009. When the company went bankrupt, the private investors were the first to get their assets back in their own pocket. The taxpayers get nothing. Those good jobsyou talk about were only temporary jobs that cost the taxpayer billions.
POSTED BY: WHERESMYMONEY | MAY 31, 2012, 3:46 PM 3:46 PM
1100 jobs into 500 million works out to $455,000 per job. If you add in the assets of the company you are easily over a million dollars per job. That is insane! Nobody runs a business on a million dollars in capital per job.
POSTED BY: JBYRNE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:46 PM 3:46 PM
@DAVEM wrote: thats what the R / Bush2 tax cuts for the rich were intended to do , i.e. buy votes . xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Sorry Dave but just as many rich people vote Dem as they do Repub. Besides, Solyndra was a specific giveaway for a specific person who was a huge fundraiser for Obama.
POSTED BY: COMBATOVERRIDE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:47 PM 3:47 PM
I see the Obamabots are still spinning this. TMFERRETTIs claims that only one company has failed is laughable!!!! Ener1 is another failure. This Obozobot blows off 500M of wasted taxpayer money like it is nothing. You are scum TMFERRETTI!!!!!
POSTED BY: JENKINS | MAY 31, 2012, 3:49 PM 3:49 PM
@johnny b good wrote: Obama tried to invest in something good, grow a company, actually build something that made our country competitive. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Johnny, it is not the role of the President (or the federal govt) to dish out hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to individual risky start-up companies. If something is good, then it needs to do what every other business must do: make a product that people want to buy at a price they are willing to pay.
JByrne (3:46 PM); Nobody runs a business on a million dollars in capital per job.The government does. Theyre great at that sort of thing.
Go Mitt. Take OSLEEZO down, and send MOOOOCHELLE and the brood back to Chicago!@
POSTED BY: BILL T | MAY 31, 2012, 3:53 PM 3:53 PM
POSTED BY: NATE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:22 PM Fools and cleanenergythats the real joke. Be prepared to see continued attacks against alternative energy. The Koch Boys goal is to protect subsidies for their oil companies by vilifying green energy options. They could care less about our nations energy future. According to Bloomberg, Koch industries sold millions of dollars in petrochemical equipment to Iran you know, the free market. In their Ayn Rand utopia, our tax money should go to big oil, not to education, roads, high-speed rail, or to stop hunger in America or provide healthcare for children or veterans. And now the Koch boys are spending more millions to support Mitt Romneys run for the White House.
POSTED BY: WILSON | MAY 31, 2012, 3:53 PM 3:53 PM
Obama has no clue about business. All he knows how to do is throw money at problems and hope they go away. It doesnt work like that and obama doesnt work as our president. I dont care how many union bosses post on here and say what a great job hes doing. Obama makes GW look like a genius.
POSTED BY: JERRY | MAY 31, 2012, 3:54 PM 3:54 PM
I drive by Solyndra every day. They overbuilt. They were in a perfectly good building and decided to spend their money on building a new building that is a spectacleand then immediately had to shut the doors. What a waste. There is nothing there anymore, just a vacant building along a frontage road of a highway. No cars parked, no securityjust a vacant brand new building. It must have been an awkward place to have a news conference.
@Johnny B Good: Solyndra was a terrible investment! People say its like us subsidizing oil companies and things of that nature. But a green economy is not profitable. Look at Spain whos unemployment record is at close to 20% because of the reuglations that companies have. Does it really make sense on investing in things that do not produce anything back to the Country?
POSTED BY: CONSERVATIVE | MAY 31, 2012, 3:55 PM 3:55 PM
@wheresmymoney All business are not capitalized the same way. There is no magic formula correlating jobsto start-up capital. It depends entirely on what the company is doing. In a largely automated manufacturing operation, your numbers may be quite low.
POSTED BY: MATT | MAY 31, 2012, 3:58 PM 3:58 PM
You go Mitt, now we find out the President has given $118 billion of our tax dollars to foreign companies 2/3rds of the GM bailout went to save jobs in other countries.
POSTED BY: FREEDOM | MAY 31, 2012, 3:59 PM 3:59 PM
If Californians are smart they will be voting for Romney. He is the only hope for getting the economy moving again. Red tape, regulations, and Departments have to be cut and then the economy might start to work again. Romney 2012. 1/20/2013 a day to look forward to.
POSTED BY: DAN LEF | MAY 31, 2012, 4:01 PM 4:01 PM
Axelrod and Obama can try to spin Solyndra all they want, but this one just doesnt pas the smell test. $535 million of taxpayer guaranteed money to a failing company, yet Obamas administration didnt have the foresight to protect the taxpayers interests? When the government starts investing in select (i.e., friends of the party) private business, the least they could so is ensure the taxpayer contribution is protected. Instead, Obama put one of his campaign bundlersinterests ahead of the taxpayers. The company goes bankrupt and private investors recover before the taxpayer? What a shameful story. This reeks of the very corruption we all HopedObama would Change.
POSTED BY: NOBAMA2012 | MAY 31, 2012, 4:09 PM 4:09 PM
This is aimed at Republicans and Democrats There are probably 100 instance of Crony Capitalism for every Solyndra that we hear about. Capitalism works when government is not involved (save to keep them legal and punish when not). It doesnt matter how much the Company donates to a candidate No governemt funds (oops I mean taxpayer paid taxes!) to any Company for any reason. Why is this so hard? This country has been practicing Capitalism for centuries
POSTED BY: CORNYWEBB | MAY 31, 2012, 4:10 PM 4:10 PM
Reports have surfaced that President Barack Obama is very loyal to his barber. The President is a man of the common people, the report tells its listeners. He hangs out with regular folks, like his barber for example. The President has been using the same Chicago based barber, who goes by the name Zariff, for the past 17 years. According to German Public Radio, the President flies Zariff from Chicago to DC for a trim every two weeks. President Obama obviously also does not care much about the massive carbon footprint his haircuts are leaving on our planet which, we are told, is tipping precariously. The German NDR reporter says: The barber never says a word about what they discuss. Perhaps thats also a reason why Obama feels comfortable being around him. Otherwise he would not fly his barber in from Chicago to Washington every ten to 14 days
POSTED BY: ELLIE LIGHTT | MAY 31, 2012, 4:10 PM 4:10 PM
BRILLIANT MOVE ROMNEY!!!!!
POSTED BY: SCOTT | MAY 31, 2012, 4:11 PM 4:11 PM
And now comes a Wall Street Journal article about another series of poor investment decisions the Obama Administration has made in electric car battery factories. These factories, heavily subsidised by our tax dollars, have an enormous amount of excess capacity and are just burning thru cash because they cant sell any of their electric car batteries to anyone. Most will enter bankruptcy as soon as the federal cash train is shut off. It should have been obvious. The Nisson Leaf is a dog car, the Karma tends to catch fire and the lofty sales expectations for electric vehicles has run into the stark unforgiving truth that almost no one wants these cars. Obama tried to create a market where no demand for the product existed. Exceptionally poor policy from a rank amateur. OMG-Obama Must Go!!
POSTED BY: BUBBLERDAD | MAY 31, 2012, 4:13 PM 4:13 PM
Our country didnt become the worlds leading economy through government manipulation, it became so through a strong private sector that could plan and invest confidently government actions leave the private sector afraid to invest in anything, so we are stuck in the doldrums. Romney understands this and will change it.
POSTED BY: JIM IN FRANKFORT | MAY 31, 2012, 4:14 PM 4:14 PM
The difference is that Obama used my money while Romney used his investors money. Big difference here.
POSTED BY: JACK | MAY 31, 2012, 4:17 PM 4:17 PM
Comments here are so ridiculous. Brainwashed liberals call Solyndra an investment.What a joke. This was a financially stupid company and the blatant waste of tax dollars handed out to Obama supporters is unconscionable. Everything about this company was a red flag to anyone who had the brains to read financial statements. Their Taj Mahal factory was built on overpriced Palo Alto land and stands as a monument to DC liberal stupidity and waste.
POSTED BY: JAZBOND007 | MAY 31, 2012, 4:18 PM 4:18 PM
SO-LYN-DRA, SO-LYN-DRA, SO-LYN-DRAthats right you Marxist pig Obama, wheres our money?
POSTED BY: CAM | MAY 31, 2012, 4:19 PM 4:19 PM
I flew into a conferance the other day to Las Vegas. Im from Connecticut and I thought Id like to see how many people in sunny Las Vegas have solar panels. As I landed at Las Vegas airport, i looked out my window, and I would say 99% of the roofs had NO solar panels. Can someone explain why, in such a sunny location, how come the place is not plastered with solar panels?
Ruh-Roh Shaggy! Looks like that whole private-equity narrative is gonna turn into a ghost when people find out about what the Presidents been doing with the taxpayers public-equity! In case you didnt notice there is distinct difference between private-equity and public equity. Private-Equity: If Mitt Romney made a bad investments only he and his investors lost money. Public-Equity: If Obama lost money anyone who paid taxes lost money, without having a say in how their tax dollars were used. Mystery Machine > Choom Wagon
POSTED BY: SCOOBY DOO | MAY 31, 2012, 4:21 PM 4:21 PM
I love this! Mitt calls out Obama for a $500,000,000 tax payers waste of money and all you libs go nuts! And, I see that all of you have been onto MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN to get your talking points which are Voters do not know anything about this, so why are you wasting our time talking about it, yeah, thats right, I have read this very statement on this site and from the talking heads of those stations. Man, talk about you sorry ass sheep following one another over a cliff.
POSTED BY: PATTIEB | MAY 31, 2012, 4:25 PM 4:25 PM
We know that Solyndra failed and cost taxpayers $500 billion. But have ANY other of Obamas other pipe dream clean energy investmentssucceeded? Can someone name one for me?
POSTED BY: MOOK | MAY 31, 2012, 4:27 PM 4:27 PM
Looks like the Obama campaign trolls are hot on this column todaymore blame George Bush, Romney would have done worse, etc. The fact is, the govt. has no business picking technology winners and losers, and it just so happens that the Presidents friends have benefited most. Imagine that. A Manager at Wal Mart has more business experience than this President, and his record says it all.
POSTED BY: J HOUSE | MAY 31, 2012, 4:28 PM 4:28 PM
I cant believe all you people who just cavalierly write off 1 half billion like its chump change. If a relative or friend borrowed $5000.00 from you personally and said they couldnt pay you back, I bet youd ask questions about what they did with the money. In the case of Solyndra, one of Obamas campaign supporters was paid off and the US government was left in a lurch. Aintthat just ducky!!!??
POSTED BY: DAVEB | MAY 31, 2012, 4:30 PM 4:30 PM
Way to go, Romney! Obama has wasted taxpayer dollars and keeps wasting money on his cronies and technology that is NOT yet viable. Its way past time Obama stops trying to force this failed green technology on us. If it were viable it would have a product that could compete in the market instead of forcing taxpayers to pay more for Obamas failure.
POSTED BY: POLAR BEAR | MAY 31, 2012, 4:30 PM 4:30 PM
JBYRNE, have you ever heard of the Hoover Dam? The cost per kwh for solar is still more that the hydro power coming off the dam. You people just dont get it.
POSTED BY: J HOUSE | MAY 31, 2012, 4:30 PM 4:30 PM
23 of 27 businesses approved for these federal loans had connections to campaign donors or OBAMA ADMINISTRATION officials!!! This is MORE than croney-capitalism. Romney is being kindTHIS IS CORRUPTION, FOLKS!!! A few examples. ABOUND SOLAR received a $400 million loan guaranteesThe name Pat Strykerappeared in the White House West Wing visitor logs in 2009Pat Stryker, an Abound Solar investor, donated and bundled $177,000 to Obama since 2009, and another $145,000 in 2010 to Americas Families First Action Fund (AFFAF spent almost $6 million on Democrats in the cycle). - EXELON and its employees contributed at least $71,850 to Obama during his Senate career, the seventh-largest source!! Exelon board member John Rogers Jr. was a top Obama bundler for at least $500,000. Rahm Emanuel worked on the $8.2 billion merger that created Exelon in 2000 - AMONIX investors include top fundraisers John Doerr, Daniel Weiss, and Steve Westly, who have raised a combined $700,000. - FIRST SOLAR board member Jose Villarreal is also a board member of the Center for American Progress (CAP)a left-wing think tank closely tied to the administration who argued strenuously for green energy loans. - Stephen Spinner, a green energy investor and Obama bundler, worked at the Department of Energy as a strategic adviserto the loan program!! WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!!
POSTED BY: THELOYALOPPOSITION | MAY 31, 2012, 4:30 PM 4:30 PM
Hard to believe Obama would want to open the discussion regarding Business with his Record.
Obama is so out of it when it comes to Business.. But he has a large part of the Media doing his dirty work. Yesterday on NPR.Atlanta they were pushing Obama comparing Romney to Hover and Bush. NOT Obama.ha Hello. A child could have done a better job than Obama.. He has wasted the Stimulus money with no improvement. NONE..
POSTED BY: HILLY | MAY 31, 2012, 4:31 PM 4:31 PM
Great move by the Romney People. Solyndra is a symbol for what this administration is about. This is not about supporting Solar energy, this is about gambling with taxpayer dollars; worst the recipient was a major Obama fundraiser. The scandal is that the public accounting firm rendered a going concern opinion. That means this company aint worth anything, and anyone stupid enough to put money into it is going to lose it; guess what.that is exactly what happened! Look solar technology in theory is nice, the problem is that it isnt efficient. I drive past the old Bell Labs plant every day in New Providence, they have an acre of Solar Cellsthey did this because of the tax credits they got. The land, itself is probably worth a fortune, but if uncle sam is going to subsidize it why not. Reagan had one of the great linesif it moves tax it, if it still moves regulate it, and if it stop moving subsidize it. Sadly, Solyndra is worse than thatits not that Obama subsidized Solyndra, he flat out gave them other peoples moneyI doubt the voters of America thought when they put Obama in the White House that he would be gambling I mean investingin companies that were a going concerns whose major stakeholders were campaign bundlers!
POSTED BY: LARRYW | MAY 31, 2012, 4:32 PM 4:32 PM
Ask the thousands of people who are working because of that Energy Department Program. Solyndra was one of 26 companies in that program, the only one that failed. Ill take those odds any day. None of the other 25 companies lost assets, workers, or were sold to the highest bidder Hers one of the success storys A123 Systems Develops and manufactures advanced lithium batteries and battery systems for the transportation, electric grid and commercial markets. The company has about 2,500 employees globally and is headquartered in Massachusetts The company received US$249 million in grant from the Department of Energy for building battery production facility. .
Solyndra and all the other greenboondoggles were just vehicles for fraud a way to pay off supporters. Look at the list of people who got all these loans and you will see the names of Obama supporters. THAT is the issue. Green technology is good, giving taxpayer money to your friends is not.
POSTED BY: CHOOMBAMA | MAY 31, 2012, 4:33 PM 4:33 PM
The reason Romney is going after Solyndra is because Obama is going after Bain. Since Obama doesnt have his own company and was a community organizer, what else is Romney going to talk about when it comes to who can run a company better? Obama says that Romney cost people jobs, Romney shows an instance where Obama lost people their jobs too. The premises behind each company, Solyndra and that one that Bain failed to save, is the same (both tried to help a company).
POSTED BY: JOHN12345431 | MAY 31, 2012, 4:34 PM 4:34 PM
Wow, I cant believe how stupid the people who watch heavily censored, heavily biased ABC news are.!!! I dont expect this will be printed. Which is why we must correct the situation by any means necessary.
POSTED BY: MIKE BLYSKAL | MAY 31, 2012, 4:35 PM 4:35 PM
Mittro, do you mean the same Solyndra that was listed under the program that was signed into to law by the administration that makes your head spin whenever we say the name Bush? You mean the one that had real, and I do mean real bipartisan support in which the loan was eventually guaranteed and awarded by the Obama Administration through stimulus funds? Oh, okay. That one, it failed. Now, how about touting the 77% success rate at Bain? Why dont you wanna discuss Bains success other than Staples and Dominos. What percentage of saved companies outsourced their labor to China and other countries?? What percentage of them provide sales rep jobs to Americans only to push those products made in China on Americans?? What are trying to say, Mittro, Americans want too much pay? Americans are worth the investment? Come on Mittro, lets have an honest discussion about whats going on with corporations in America. We know Solyndra failed, but why did it fail, and who also had a vested interest in it???
POSTED BY: YOUGOTTATHINK | MAY 31, 2012, 4:40 PM 4:40 PM
OMG! I cant believe all the republican hate I am reading here. What a bunch of ignorant tea party bigots! Look Obamas job is to look out for the little guy and also ween us from OPEC oil. He is employing an all-of-the-above strategy to make us energy efficient. This was a part of that. However, what has Willard The RatMitt Romney done? Rape and pillage companies with Bain and deprive thousands of their jobs. That is not fair! That is not America! I am ashamed to be called an American!
POSTED BY: GERRI | MAY 31, 2012, 4:41 PM 4:41 PM
Can you even BEGIN to imagine the media frenzie if a GOP President had a closet full of these skeletons.. SOLYNDRAFAST & FURIOUS US CREDIT DOWNGRADEGDP DROPPING TO 1.9$16 TRILLION DEBT UNEMPLOYMENT 8.3%.. Just ONE of these would cause the press to foam at the mouth!!!
Lets set the record straight. I have noticed a lot of loose talk on this posting that has little truth behind them. 1) Bain Capital has a 73% success rate at building companies. In private equity that unheard of. 2) The Solyndra loan that got all the press 500m, was its 3rd loan and the government was extending the third loan so Solindra could make the Min. payment on the first two loans. This was illegal for the Federal Government to do. All loans must be performing Period! 3)Two major financial contributors are the major stock holders of Solyndra. 4) The energy Department broke the law by extending new loan to Solyndra with prior loans non performing. Those are the fact of the case, PERIOD
POSTED BY: RUSS WATSON | MAY 31, 2012, 4:44 PM 4:44 PM
Someone did answer my question about las vegas. When the individual pays the bills they see that power from the Hoover Dam is cheaper and they dont blow money on solar panels. If the goverment owns the purse strings then we spend $500 million on a technology that is not cost effective. Brilliant!
The knuckle-head responses from Liberals on this is both hilarious and scary. Obama uses OUR money (those of us who actually paid taxes) to give it to his political cronies after his own people told him it was a very bad risk. Say what you want about Venture Capitalists and Romney, they NEVER would have taken other peoples money and thrown it away as a favor to cronies. And most of the risks that Romney took paid off handsomely for EVERYONE. A few did not. So far Obamas record is 100% FAILURE. Romneys is nearly 100% SUCCESS. Choke on THAT liberal idiots.
POSTED BY: JIMCT | MAY 31, 2012, 4:44 PM 4:44 PM
Just one more example of the morons within the gop. Taking something that the govt. tried and turn it into lies. To hell with all republicans scum of this earth.
POSTED BY: JOE BOB | MAY 31, 2012, 4:45 PM 4:45 PM
A123: Right, they have laid off 125 employees yet still have found the cash to give big raises to the CFO and several VPs. Nice! At least the DOE has cut them off from the additional $500M they were expecting.
@ NOT UR AVERAGE JOE or anyone supporting the Fed Govt investingin companies. The problem lies that it was public money used for the investment, not private. That is not a given function of any level of govt. If the Obama Admin wanted to help do something he should have eased conditions for businesses to prosper. And dont give any excuses about It only benefits the 1%.or the OWS anti rich rhetoric or mic check scream sessions. Businesses are in business to MAKE MONEY! If you or anyone is so anti-business/capitalist society give away all your ipods, cars, electronic devices, perks and suchyou are only supporting a fat cat somewhere by buying that iPod, right? I love how all the OWS clowns were protesting Wall Street while half were on their laptops watching movies. If you dont have a problem with the Federal Overlords taking risks with money that should not be used as market (fake market mind you) risks, let us figure out how much of every persons taxes was used, let the govt return that money back to those who dont want to be a part of that investment, and send you the bill for our portion.
POSTED BY: WOLFPACK POWER | MAY 31, 2012, 4:49 PM 4:49 PM
Solyndra was one company out of 26 that failed. The rest are doing fine. Unlike Mitt the venture capital that went into Solyndra was there to make a viable company, not to strip assets and lay off workers. It failed; they priced their product too low. Any true venture capitalist will tell you sometimes you win sometimes you lose. A 96 percent success rate is excellent, something Bain cant come close to. Posted by: tmferretti ________________ Would you care to give us a few names tmferretti? Since 26 companies Obama invested in with taxpayer dollars are so successful, it would be nice to know the name of one of them. As far as Ive heard, there hasnt been a single greeninvestment that every paid off. GM is losing business on the electric car. Nobody seems to want to buy them. Why? Well, not because people are unpatriotic or even deniersof global warming. They cant buy it because the vehicle is too d___ expensive. Obama has never been much of a businessman and does not know that prices have to be reasonable in order for people to buy a product. Solar Trust of America didnt exactly set the world on fire either. It is now filing for Chapter 11. ____________
POSTED BY: SPIKE | MAY 31, 2012, 4:51 PM 4:51 PM
Hey you Obama lovers Do not forget all the GM and Chrysler dealers nationwide who were fired by Obama. Most of them were also Republican supporters. They did not pay Obama tribute in 2008 and they paid the ultimate price. Chicago Way, anyone? Obama is and always has been a petty street agitator. Lets work together to vote this banana republic travesty out!
POSTED BY: IZZY A. SCHEISSKOPF | MAY 31, 2012, 4:51 PM 4:51 PM
I believe that Solyndra and similar boondoggles should be looked into by the media. If we can get the politics out of reporting, and have a government that is both cost effective and responsible, we all benefit. Too often the media tends to focus on the other guysprograms and not their guys programs.
POSTED BY: COGSYS | MAY 31, 2012, 4:52 PM 4:52 PM
Even people who voted for Obama in 2008 are beginning to wake up to the disaster he has been for our country.
POSTED BY: JOHN | MAY 31, 2012, 4:53 PM 4:53 PM
Just one more example of the morons within the gop. Taking something that the govt. tried and turn it into lies. To hell with all republicans scum of this earth. +++++++++ You tell em! Only Republicans would hire former Wall Streeters or Bain employees!
POSTED BY: MF | MAY 31, 2012, 4:54 PM 4:54 PM
Posted by: Gerri | May 31, 2012, 4:41 pm 4:41 pm OMG! Obamas job is to look out for the little guy and also ween us from OPEC oil. Gerri, what did you do, go to the smokers lounge in high school when they taught civics and U.S. government? Unbelievable. Vote early and often on November 7. Oh, and by the way, little guyand OPEC, last time I checked, were not in the job description of the president. Upholding and defending the constitution? Well, yes, that is in there. The fraud will be lucky if he avoids jail time. Watch. Last thing, after we obliterate him and the dems in November, we are going to set the country on a course that is fracking-centric and will become the worlds leading OIL producer within 15 years.
POSTED BY: GARY | MAY 31, 2012, 4:55 PM 4:55 PM
Our President is investing in green energy and some will fail like Internet companies. Four more years! Keep investing in green energy.
POSTED BY: GETALIFE | MAY 31, 2012, 4:58 PM 4:58 PM
I hear some talk about solyndra and put the prez down for trying to work with companies and help them build in this country there business and 1 did not make it so they say the prez fail i dont think so you dont buy a car unless you test drive this company tried and they came up short and some want to blame the prez for that cool what about tarp that went to the banks what about enron what about goldman sach but they want to hang there hat on solyndra and lets not forget bain and the state that romney was gov of 47th out 50 states in job creation and he has the nerve to talk about the prez and job creation facts are facts mccain was better suited than romney at least he had something to run on and not just say what people wanted to hear while we are on the subject about jobs did or did not the repub ran on that to win the congress back i dont think job creating is passing bills about a stamp for ducks birth control trying to stop plan parenthood its things that can be done but when you only know 1 word no this is what you get all i say is that the people elected them and when you vote off of feeling or party then you get what you get so if we want things to change you must vote the present congress out and some of the senate the conversation is still jobs jobs jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
POSTED BY: BARRY | MAY 31, 2012, 4:58 PM 4:58 PM
Man, look at all the Obama apologists and hacks come out of the woodwork. They were hoping this Solyndra story would not get much coverage. Too late friends, this .5 bit of corruption is but the tip of an iceberg of Obama cronyism and incompetence.
POSTED BY: DAVID | MAY 31, 2012, 5:05 PM 5:05 PM
Gerri | May 31, 2012, 4:41 pm If you want the TRUTH. read my post at 4:30 PM.. Bain had an 80% success rate in SAVING companies (at least most of them) that would have FAILED without outside capital invetments!! Read a little!!!! On the SAME DAY that Obama launched the Bain attacks, Obama was attending a high profile fundraiser hosted byyou guessed ita private equity firm!!! - Obama held a $35,800 per head fundraiser at Hamilton JamesManhattan homehe is the President of the nations largest private equity firm called Blackstone Capital!!! You just cant make up stuff like thisObama is a hypocrit!!!
SOLYNDRAFAST & FURIOUSUS CREDIT DOWNGRADEGDP DROPPING TO 1.9$16 TRILLION DEBT UNEMPLOYMENT 8.3%.. Obama is TOAST in November!!!!!
This article actually made me a bigger supporter of Obama. Good for him, trying to keep this country relevant and competitive. Keep up the fight, Obama. Your opponent is nothing more than a fatcat opportunist whod just assume steer America towards irrelevancy.
POSTED BY: RAY | MAY 31, 2012, 5:14 PM 5:14 PM
The government has no business loaning or supporting any private enterprise, period. And by the way, if Romney bankrupted all the companies he bought, he would not be able to receive financing. Those who believe that he is a thief dont understand how private equity works. He becamse rich because most of the companies he bought became more successful after he bought them. In short, he bought, improved the company, and sold for a profit. Kind of like he knows what he is doing to improve an organization. Does it really make sense to ANYONE for our government to be investingin anything when we are broke? That investmentincludes food stamps, welfare, military, regulations, etc.
POSTED BY: BOB | MAY 31, 2012, 5:15 PM 5:15 PM
Remember what private business does..I donot care.what the government does with our Tax dollars we care. Go Mitt..be our saviour,
POSTED BY: TERRY MOORE | MAY 31, 2012, 5:16 PM 5:16 PM
Go ahead people, stick to party lines while both sides peck at the dead body of free enterprise like the vultures they are. NAFTA/CAFTA and all manner of legislation passes every year which restricts small businesses from starting up under the weight of federal regulations and massive amounts of paperwork, and you think it is just one party that is at fault here? Its been DECADES of each side using laws to supress the other, then when the next guys take power, they just ADD TO IT? Wake up and stop being played the fool for your vote along party lines. This is why people like Ron Paul get snubbed out of wins by the establishment GOP, while the Democrats marginalize and destroy the TEA Party movement which is made up of all kinds of people. Government is not here to help us.
POSTED BY: JAMES | MAY 31, 2012, 5:17 PM 5:17 PM
Personally, I think this is brilliant.
Our President is investing in green energy and some will fail like Internet companies. Four more years! Keep investing in green energy. Posted by: getalife | May 31, 2012, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm Just goes to show you. You cannot teach an Obot new tricks.
POSTED BY: BILLY BOB | MAY 31, 2012, 5:24 PM 5:24 PM
The entire obama administration should be investigated for high crimes. This is about as low as it gets; the obama adminstration gives OUR taxpayer dollars to his loser friends that want to start up a solar company. LET THE CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS BEGIN! It must SUCK to be a democrat knowing that youre entire Party is on the wrong side of history.
POSTED BY: NO1UKNOW | MAY 31, 2012, 5:26 PM 5:26 PM
Give it to him, Mitt!! I want my money BACK!
POSTED BY: POLLYO | MAY 31, 2012, 5:26 PM 5:26 PM
Dont worry folks, Barry will have a jub with one of these sleezy outfits when we throw his coolo out in November.
POSTED BY: JEWFROMHELL | MAY 31, 2012, 5:28 PM 5:28 PM
@Johnny Be Good Obama did not try to invest in something goodhere with Solyndra. This was at best a break even for the government. IF Solyndra did well, the government would get their money back, if they did poorly as expected (which is why the loan was not going to be approved until the Obama Administration pushed it through), the government lost OUR money and the Presidents friends walked away with their money back. Does that sound like doing something good?
POSTED BY: HARLON KATZ | MAY 31, 2012, 5:29 PM 5:29 PM
Everybody that is for solyndara, think its jsut so great. Would you give me money to start solyndrra now? becuase that is what bascially happend your money going down the drain. But that money is only money that was taken from some other part of the goverment spending, i.e. Military, Nasa, but these things work and no one else compares to us. Any control can go green but not money countries can go to space. So Again liberals out there, if I were to ask you to give me your money to start up anothjer green company that will likely have 50% chance of making it would you give me your money. Im willing to bet you wouldnt. But its amazeing that you will give it to the goverment who cant RUN, RUN RUN anything correclty. Do you really trust the gov, any goverment. If you do then move to France, china, they are doing exaclty what you want our goverment to do.. But your only about 15% out of 300,000,000 million people that what the goverment to be ran like this. You liberals have lost, Im happy
POSTED BY: BUDDY DALLAS | MAY 31, 2012, 5:32 PM 5:32 PM
The idiot, bama makes Jimmah Carter look BRILLIANT. Incompetenceposittible incontinence is causing all of this. Having a brain-dead presidentTHIS is what happens. bama is going to get his hiny whipped in November. Itll be better than when President Regan gave Carter the thrashing of his life!!! Go MITT!!!!!!!!
My dear Mitt, wouldnt it be helpful if you would mention the record number of filibusters the Congress had in the past three years that prevented them from creating jobs?
POSTED BY: ALFREDSONNY | MAY 31, 2012, 5:34 PM 5:34 PM
Funny how Solyndra failed because China invested more in their companies that we did in ours..
POSTED BY: TODPED | MAY 31, 2012, 5:36 PM 5:36 PM
The Scandinavian countries are building solar cells. sure the cost of importing raw materials is expensive and its dark there for half the year. but they figure that its a growth market with lots of jobs in the future. They dont mind taking a loss up front. And, with the US pulling back on R&D, they recognize the enormous economic opportunity in getting handle on the market. Flat Earth Republicans, on the other hand, are just going to keep the US trapped in the 19th Century. Well end up buying solar cells from China, just like we buy everything else. But when you look at the GOPs trade policies and their record on outsourcing. you kind of wonder if they want it that way. If Romney had half a brain, hed be pushing for a green energy equivalent of the space race. supercharge US energy technology with large infusions of cash. Even if a company does not have a sustainable short term outlook, you want US researchers securing patents. You want US engineers and scientists picking up the expertise and experience. You need to create an economic attraction for foreign tech workers to migrate to the US and consolidate in high tech industries. I have many, many friends who went from CalTech and into computers through government investment. Investments made in the 1950s and 1960s bore fruit for decades. We need this for America. We dont need know-nothing vulture sucking profits out of what little we have left. we need to shift the nations wealth into high tech industries.
POSTED BY: TORK | MAY 31, 2012, 5:37 PM 5:37 PM
Wow, a lotta libs out here todaystinks like an old diaper!
POSTED BY: NONION | MAY 31, 2012, 5:38 PM 5:38 PM
The problem is that Obama doesnt believe in freedom or the free market economy but rather Government control which is why his policies have done great damage to this countrys economy, domestic and national security. Obama with his anti-American beliefs doesnt belong in a leadership position in this constitutionally/freedom based country. There might be an appropriate opening for someone like Obama in Venezuela soon, however
POSTED BY: CONSTANT VIGIL | MAY 31, 2012, 5:39 PM 5:39 PM
I wonder which other recently bankrupt companies Mr. Romney is visiting Maybe he should visit Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in his home state of Massachusetts, A company Bain Capital drove into the ground and then unloaded with its 3.7 BILLION debt. Check it out this is a FACT!
POSTED BY: HOMER STEEL | MAY 31, 2012, 5:41 PM 5:41 PM
@tork then move to Scandinavian. if its so GREAT then move, or put up money and start your own green compnay, If its so great then use your own money, WHY, WHY does the goverment have to get involved. 500,000,000 went into Solyndra. with that kind of money shouldnt it work out? So when are you going to write that check to start a new compnay, do you have solar panels, do you have a hybrid, do you tuen UP your AC to 80, 82 Im so sick of this green crap, its a farce. Dreaming is good, but it has to be realistic and cost effective for a company. Its jsut not realistic right now.. Im sorry.
POSTED BY: BUDDY DALLAS | MAY 31, 2012, 5:45 PM 5:45 PM
dhimmicrats cannot stand the truth. they have to continue to blame the previous president while we have the MOST CORRUPT commandante-in-chief and administration in the history of America. Eric Holder suing states for enforcing immigration laws, owebomba supporting the muslim brotherhood, multiple business failures costing the taxpayers billions. The liberal, progressive, mindset is a mental illness.
POSTED BY: TDOG | MAY 31, 2012, 5:49 PM 5:49 PM
Anyone in the Dem party griping over the jobs lost at Solyndra? NO? Why not? You complain that Romney lostjobs through Bains activities. But he saved or createdmore than he lost. His company got a 78% win ratethat means people at those companies are working today who wouldnt have been otherwise. And he did it with HIS money, not yours.
POSTED BY: BIG JACK | MAY 31, 2012, 5:50 PM 5:50 PM
fully 71 percent of the Obama Energy Departments grants and loans went to individuals who were bundlers, members of Obamas National Finance Committee, or large donors to the Democratic Party. Forget Bain, Obamas public equity record is a crime
POSTED BY: HIS MAJESTY O'KEEFE | MAY 31, 2012, 5:52 PM 5:52 PM
Most of the posts on this topic just prove the old saying.If you are under 30 and dont vote for a liberal you dont have a heartIf you are over 30 and dont vote for a conservative you dont have a BRAIN.
POSTED BY: ST1100Y2K | MAY 31, 2012, 5:53 PM 5:53 PM
Obama accuses Romney of taking over a company, burdening it insurmountable debt, padding his pockets and leaving everyone jobless. Obama invests the taxpayers money in phoney companies owned by friends, family and campaign contributors, bankrupts the country while he and his cronies walk away leaving millions jobless and our grand kids in debt for tens of thousands of dollars. For some reason only the blind and those who put political ideals over their familys well being can see this. Six years ago Obama could not afford a plane ticket to the DNC convention. Now he is worth over $10,000,000. If you want to get rich, just short every company Obama investsour money in, you will become a wealthy person beyond your wildest dreams. It has worked for Obama.
POSTED BY: ITSYORGRANDKIDSMONEY | MAY 31, 2012, 5:55 PM 5:55 PM
Heres the bottom line for you fools who just dont get it. Mitt Romney had a 80% success rate as a venture capitalist. He was responsible for investing money from investors who clearly knew what they were getting involved in for a return on their investments. Obama showed a total disregard for taxpayer money, he loses it on a bad investment, and has the gall to blame Mitt for his experience at Bain Capital for investing private investor money, and by the percentages being pretty dam successful at it. Obama is a joke.
POSTED BY: ALJONES | MAY 31, 2012, 5:56 PM 5:56 PM
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May 31, 2012 1:27pm

By Emily Friedman @EmilyABC

Mitt Romney Visits Solyndra Amid Attack on Obama Jobs Record

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POSTED BY: DEANBOB | MAY 31, 2012, 2:02 PM 2:02 PM

POSTED BY: PKSK531 | MAY 31, 2012, 2:02 PM 2:02 PM

Obama belongs in jail with the rest of his administration.

POSTED BY: GREG C | MAY 31, 2012, 2:06 PM 2:06 PM

POSTED BY: YANKEEI | MAY 31, 2012, 2:11 PM 2:11 PM

Lay into him, Mitt!

POSTED BY: DAVE | MAY 31, 2012, 2:12 PM 2:12 PM

POSTED BY: MR. REALITY | MAY 31, 2012, 2:14 PM 2:14 PM

Mitt Romney Visits Solyndra, Highlights Obama's Failure

Mitt Romney Visits Solyndra, Highlights Obama's Failure