Too Green to Fail: Crony Capitalism in America

You would have to live in a cave to not know about Solyndra by now. Either that or get your news from MSNBC, were the network has failed to mention the story at all, obviously too busy questioning the sexuality of Michele Bachmann's husband and whether or not the outspoken candidate submits to him. If only MSNBC would submit to facts and cast some sunlight on the Enron-esque collapse of the president's pet energy project.

SolarGate, as some are calling it, revolves around a solar company (no pun intended) that received $535 million from President Obama's Department of Energy as part of the stimulus bill. In this case, the loans were guaranteed, meaning the government has promised to make good on them even if the company can't.

Guess what? The company can't.

Not only that, but Solyndra's loan was fast-tracked for approval by the administration despite red flags about its potential to pay the money back... kind of like those subprime mortgages the government used to guarantee way back in 2007 before the housing sector collapsed and caused the Great Recession. Nevertheless, Solyndra lobbied hard and eventually secured funding for their questionable business plan. According to records, company executives visited the White House at least 20 times before the loan was approved, and newly discovered emails show staffers pleading for the Department of Energy to move quickly so the vice-president could use Solyndra for an upcoming photo-op (NOTE: this could make Biden a potential fall guy for Democrats wishing to revitalize the 2012 ticket).

Since then, the company has been nothing less than a disaster, first canceling its IPO, then closing its factory doors, laying off its employees, and declaring bankruptcy before being raided by the FBI. This, just months after President Obama toured the factory, hailing it as "the true engine of economic growth."

But in case you think this was just another bad decision by an administration famous for bad economic decisions, be aware that Solyndra's private sector investors were offered the loan at a fraction of the interest rate that other companies received from the DOE program. And one of the chief benefactors of this favorable loan was none other than George Kaiser, an Obama donor who raised $50,000 for the president's campaign in 2008. Even worse, the terms of the agreement put the taxpayer on the hook, allowing the Tulsa billionaire's foundation to recoup any of his investment before the government.

All of this would be bad enough if Solyndra was as an isolated incident. It's not. In fact, Solyndra is just the tip of the iceberg, not only an example of failed policy and a waste of a half billion dollars when government debt is discouraging job creation, but part of a bigger pattern of crony capitalism that is emerging with green energy. Incidents of the president's donors receiving loans and grants from the Department of Energy over the past two years are almost too numerous to count. And with the Obama campaign's stated goal of raising $1 billion for 2012, it's no wonder the president is paying back his friends so they can enrich his campaign coffers.

The truth is very little stimulus actually went to help the middle class or small businesses. That's why one trillion dollars later unemployment is still the worst it's been in 20 years. A large chunk of Obama's spending spree is redistributed not among the needy, but among the wealthy and influential, somehow seeming to trickle its way up to the biggest financial backers of the Democrat Party every time.

For the next few weeks, this blog will examine the seedy relationship between the Department of Energy and Obama's biggest donors. Make no mistake. It is a culture of corruption.

Obama Makes JW's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" List

No surprise here. The president has brought the Chicago Way to Washington, with less transparency and more closed door meetings and secret deals than ever before. It's been a long, sad year of passing bad legislation by buying senators' and representatives' votes. On top of that, you have the Fauxbama attacking and demonizing private companies and investors, not to mention the watchdog media and conservative critics, while working to line the pockets of his Democratic firends and allies. The One has spent us into oblivion, growing corrupt government agencies while the private sector and small businesses suffer. He finished the year by vacationing in an expensive Hawaiian villa while 1 in 6 Americans is out of work.

Here's what Judicial Watch had to say about President Obama's "change":

President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requests and is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires. The Obama administration turned the National Endowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda. According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation. President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power. Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president. And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions). Under the President’s bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control -- through fiat and threats -- large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write: “The administration's central activity -- the political allocation of wealth and opportunity -- is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption.”

Nine of the ten spots were occupied by Democrats, including Senate Banking Chair Chris Dodd (D-Conn). But if you think Judical Watch is a partisan attack machine, think again. Last year 4 Republicans made the list.

Lost hope yet?