The Obama administration’s Solyndra scandal goes beyond pressuring career federal employees to approve a $535 million loan guarantee to a company largely held by an Obama crony. When the government restructured the loan in February, officials appear to have broken the law by allowing the company’s private investors to recoup their funds before U.S. taxpayers get their money back.
Much of the media and political backlash has focused on the Obama administration’s lobbying for the loan’s swift approval in 2009. George Kaiser bundled between $50,000-$100,000 in campaign contributions for Obama in 2008, and the George Kaiser Family Foundation controls 35.7 percent of Solyndra Inc. Despite analysts’ significant misgivings about the company’s viability, the well-connected company received approval on the administration’s expedited schedule.
When Solyndra appeared ready to falter early this year, in need of $75 million in new investments, the Obama administration seems to have gone beyond the constraints of the law.
On February 23, the government restructured Solyndra’s loan. To lure private entrepreneurs to the troubled company, the Department of Energy (DOE) included a proviso that, in the event Solyndra declared bankruptcy, those who invested the $75 million would be paid back before U.S. taxpayers. Under the scheme only $150 million of government funds would be considered senior debt, a category of IOUs that must be paid back before other stakeholders are reimbursed.
That means those who provided the $75 million will recover their funds before taxpayers recoup $385 million.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 clearly states that all government loan guarantees “shall be subject to the condition that the obligation is not subordinate to other financing.”
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce questioned the agreement’s legality in a memorandum released on Wednesday. “While DOE counsel, in a legal opinion rendered this year, somehow found that the government’s subordination to the investors’ was permissible under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, documents reviewed by the Committee question the basis for this decision, and a plain reading of the statute suggests otherwise,” it stated. The committee reported the subordination agreement “appears to be in direct violation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.”
At hearings held on Thursday, Republicans battered Jonathan Silver, the executive director of DOE’s Loans Program Office. In his opening statement, Chairman Fred Upton, R-MI, asked, “Why did DOE and OMB allow the government to be subordinated to the private investors, in apparent violation of the law?” Rep. Joe Barton, R-TX, went further, calling the action “a direct violation of federal law.”
An irate Steve Scalise, the Republican representative from the first district in Louisiana, asked Silver, “Who made the decision to put the taxpayers in the back of the line and subordinate [them], in violation of federal law?” Silver replied weakly, “I don’t know that it was in violation of federal law.”
Reportedly, Silver agreed to furnish the committee with the names of those responsible for the decision.
The DOE also appears to have misled or lied to Congress about the terms of the restructuring agreement itself. Again, the Energy and Commerce Committee noted, “DOE Loan Programs Office staff represented to Committee staff at a briefing that the restructuring deal would allow ‘maximum recovery’ for the taxpayer, even though the Solyndra restructuring agreement allowed Solyndra’s investors to have priority over the government with respect to the first $75 million recovered in the event of a bankruptcy.”
The burgeoning scandal already has the Left justifiably concerned that impeachment is around the corner.
The far-Left DailyKos website assessed the magnitude of damage caused by Solyndra-gate:
House Republicans are already licking their chops over the opportunity to A) hold this up as an example of wasteful government spending, B) a failure of the stimulus package, C) crony capitalism by the Obama White House (remember, these people have no shame), D) express sorrow and regret that they have to look out for the taxpayer while corrupt tax and spend Democrats line their pockets, and E) demonstrate the need to take back the White House in 2012 to save the country from further follies like this.
And who knows? If they can push hard enough, turn up more questionable details, they just might start the impeachment machine up again.
The horrified left-wing diarist provides a series of suggested talking points for Democrats, encouraging them, “Never give up, never surrender.”
But the American public is in no mood for spin. In the midst of a massive economic downturn, widespread unemployment, and catastrophic deficits, Americans are outraged the Obama administration put their money in the hands of a prominent Democratic contributor with the full knowledge Solyndra was structurally unsound. Knowing the president or one of his subordinates also broke the law to benefit well-heeled investors who financed the government’s preferred companies will only add fuel to the flame.
Congress must act swiftly to ascertain all the circumstances of the restructuring negotiations and the 2009 loan approval, and bring any guilty party — including the president himself — to certain justice.
Click here to learn more about the Impeach Obama Campaign. Click here to sign the Impeach Obama petition.
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Wow! Finally, something that Eric Holder isn't involved in… maybe. Looks like it's Steven Chu up to bat.
IF YOU THINK HOLDER WASN'T INVOLVED YOUR SMOKING CRACK THEY WAS ALL INVOLVED IF THE PEOPLE WOULD TAKE THEIR HEADS OUT OF THE SAND THEY WOULD REALIZE HE IS PURPOSELY TRYING TO BANKRUPT THIS COUNTRY, IF HE WAS GUESSING THE LAW OF AVERAGES SAYS ONE HALF OF HIS POLICIES WOULD BE IN OUR FAVOR BUT WHEN THEY ALL CAUSE FURTHER DESTRUCTION THAT WOULD TELL ANYONE WITH HALF SENSE AND ONE EYE WHAT HE IS DOING IS WITH A PURPOSE, TO TAKE THE COUNTRY DOWN. WAKE UP AMERICA BEFORE IT IS TOO DAMN LATE
This illegal regime should have been thrown in jail 2 years ago……….Obuma, Bite Me, Holder, Pelostie, Reed, the list goes on…….It is so obvious Obuma's agenda is to destroy America as we true Americans know it. Please, congress, do your job and start protecting this countries interest and get this Kenyan Soros puppet out of my sight!!!!!!!! It's beginning to look like your all a bunch of idiots!
Wouldn't surprise me if Tony Rezko's name pops up on some of those loan documents.
They are actually a bunch of girly-men. Why…. they can't be considered "Racists" Damn Sissys. Thats how they shut the Girly-Men up. Just cry 'Racists"
Patriot Bob, What you suggest is really too good for this group of morons. As far as I'm concerned, they are all patting each other's backs. You can also thank some of the RINOS in our government for what is happening in our country. They are only concerned with their own agendas & I think they seldom think of their constituents until they come up for re-election. One of the biggest things I am personally concerned with is getting this Marxist Kenyan out of OUR White House. As far as the rest of these Marxists they will eventually bury themseleves b/c of all the lies & dishonest deeds that they have done to America. Other countries are laughing at us now. I can take that. I'm mainly concerned about all this PC to countries who have nukes & we will not be around to talk about what happened to us when it is all over with. I could never see why we helped other countries out when we knew they couldn't stand us. Now with Obama, he's "the big man" & is playing the role of the old man in "Little Orphan Annie." That show was also too good for this Marxist Kenyan.
This Solyndra scandal should certainly be an impeachable offense if Obama ws even eligible to be POTUS. But since he is not, he should be arrested, tried and thrown in jail!
The list is long: but foremost this president is acting like a ruler not a leader of the American people. He has imposed laws that circumvent congress making them irrelevant and unlawfully against the constitution, that he was elected to uphold and defend, not alter or reject. Now this man is accusing the GOP of not wanting people to have jobs because they reject his increasing taxes on the job creators. His complete waste of taxpayers money is becoming an abomination (pun intended) and the fact the Dems in the senate don't do anything about it shows their faction.
Impeachable offense? Everything that obama does is impeachable! Sorry, I forgot, one has to be an American to be impeached! Let's just erase everything that evil man has done and send him home to Kenya, labeled a threat to the USA!
impeachable? Hell, this is just another issue to our government, if Obama had NOT already been impeach for Fast and Furious, or the seemingly, confusion as to where he was born, nor anything else he has been involved in, so what makes you think anything will get him impeach?
I agree. He has gotten away w/everything else! Thats why he keeps breaking laws all over the place. Also He must have been one spoiled rotten kid! got away w/everything and was always told nothing was ever his fault. Now as a man (well, so called) he still thinks he can. The guy NEVER grew up.
THIS JACKASS, PUNN INTENDED, SHOULD HAVE BEEN GONE LONG TIME AGO!!
SOLYNDRA, along with so much that Obama has done is IMPEACHABLE, but I doubt it will ever happen, if it hasn't happened by now. Don't hold your breath.
IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T HERD THE STOLEN SS# HE USES HAS BEEN RUN THROUGH E-VERIFY BY FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND ALL FIVE TIMES CAME UP FRAUD THAT'S A FELONY BUT IT HAS NOT EVEN PHASED THIS SPINELESS CONGRESS OR ANY OF OUR JUDGES WHO HAVE TAKEN OATHS TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION
Go to the Republican site – they have a 15 page down-loadable report on Solyndra dating back to 2009, with newspaper and magazine articles from the NY Times, Washington Post, etc. Pretty damning, and it will be hard for certain people to deny they knew anything…..Maybe this will be the "gotcha!" that will finally tip the scales for cleaning up the mess in DC?
This scandal is, at least on the surface, impeachable; however, we have a Congress that is loathe to do its duty. Sad!
How Many Impeachable Acts Must The Imposter Muslim Pres Obama Do? Yikeess, Forged Social Security Number, Forged Birth Certificate, Forged School Records, Lies, Lies, Lies And 25 Socialist Czars Plus No-One Vetted Including Barack Obama, Yikeess, God Bless America And The Tea Party Patriots With Sarah Palin.
You can forget Congress doing anything about this. They don't do anything against Obama. Nobody does anything about him. Why do you think he hold his head up in the sky laughing at us?
Impeachment is NOT a legal process. It is a political process. An impeachable offense is whatever Congress at any given time deems an impeachable offense to be. Founders never fully defined an impeachable offense. They pretty much left it up to the politicians in the House. That said, even if the House impeaches, the Senate must convict to remove the Prez, and, of course, that requires a 2/3 vote. That's just not going to happen with the Reid Progressives in charge. So, while impeachment is doable, the exercise will not achieve its logical goal, that being removal of the Prez.
Solyndra? Isn't that a synonym for crony-capitalism?
As in the gun deal that went on in the WH this deal means that some heads should roll. I don'y mean change jobs but out . I the gun deal is not over yet and I hope that the republicans keep on the butts of holder and obama tell something is done right.
Everything Obozo has had his grimy hands in have been impeachable offenses, this is only the icing on the cake. If its criminal activity and a felony, its ground for impeachment. Better start to investigate him and his outrageously over-spending wife.
obama seems to be handing out money to his cronies and it should be an impeachable offense.
There is every possibility charges of fraud, complicity and collusion may come from the Solyndra transaction but there is also a charge of perjury now pending for the interference of a AF Generals testimony by asking him to change his testimony to favor another contributor to the Mysery Man's campaign and allow the contract for a GPS system to go to that supporter……talk about Song of the South and the Uncle Remus tar baby….Mmmmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmm.
Congress needs to stop playing around with the American people and immediately bring Impeachment charges against Obama, Holder, and all of Obama's cabinet fopr the gross violations against the American people and our Constitution. Obama broke the law and he needs to be held accountable for it. After Obama and Holder get Impeached they both need to be prosecuted and sent to prison for many years to pay for their crimes just like anybody else would be.
Solyndra is only another of over one hundred impeachable offenses this numbskull Obscumbo and his unconstitutional Cartel have committed. The people of the United States have the right to rise up and demand this pathetic excuse for a human being to cough up the evidence for all of them Solyndra, his birth place and forged birth documents and his intentional and deliberate fiscal irresponsibility that is heaping destruction upon our nations economy — The man Obscumbo is worthless I cant express how terrible this creep and his supporters are! Hang the Obscumbo cartel then give them a fair trial!