Solyndra

[nathanm]

The green jobs scam goes well beyond $500 mil and you know that.  You are also aware that the Obama Administration continues the tradition of no-bid contracts to Halliburton aren't you?

Isn't the whole program around $3 billion? That's a lot of leveraging of private money with a relatively small amount of seed money. Seems like the sort of thing Republicans would be for. And far less than even just the cash that was misplaced (and never found) in Iraq. Perhaps we could send someone out to look for it and pay for the Solyndra losses.

[Gaspar]

Another bundler goes to prison today.

[guido911]

Isn't the whole program around $3 billion? That's a lot of leveraging of private money with a relatively small amount of seed money. Seems like the sort of thing Republicans would be for. And far less than even just the cash that was misplaced (and never found) in Iraq. Perhaps we could send someone out to look for it and pay for the Solyndra losses.

[guido911]

Read today that the ex-Solyndra employees will get $13K each from the government, er, taxpayers. That's $14.3M.

[Gaspar]

Read today that the ex-Solyndra employees will get $13K each from the government, er, taxpayers. That's $14.3M.

It's ok.  They're not bankers!

[heironymouspasparagus]

It's ok.  They're not bankers!

Good thing.  It would have cost us $1.2 trillion if they were!

[nathanm]

Read today that the ex-Solyndra employees will get $13K each from the government, er, taxpayers. That's $14.3M.

What, compensation owed employees shouldn't be first priority in a bankruptcy?

[Red Arrow]

What, compensation owed employees shouldn't be first priority in a bankruptcy?

OUCH!!!!  I agree.

[heironymouspasparagus]

What, compensation owed employees shouldn't be first priority in a bankruptcy?

Not according to the guid-ster.  It's all about the top 1%.  And working people aren't included in that rarified atmosphere.

[JCnOwasso]

I am not going to comment on Solyndra or the roles of the Energy department since I like my job.  I will say this; as a person who works in the "purchasing" side of the Government, we are held to an extremely high ethical and moral standard when it comes to the interaction between us and our contractors/prospective contractors.  99.7% of my fellows contract administrators will never attempt to risk our livelyhood for possible advancement.  Unfortunately, you always here the stories like this.  Some person who holds a high ranking position attempts to influence(s) a decision, it back fires and now a whole agency is in question.  The Government has always had the "punish the many for the acts of a few" approach, and the media has always had the "persecute the whole for the acts of one".  We are thorougly trained on how to handle a situation and how to move forward.  You only have issues when a person who doesn't know the rules or knows the rules but thinks they are above them, tries to intervene.

[Hoss]

What, compensation owed employees shouldn't be first priority in a bankruptcy?

Depends.  I haven't read the article nor do I know specifics.  Is this severance or back-pay.  If it's back-pay, then sure they are owed it.  If it's severance, that's a slippery slope right there.

[nathanm]

Unfortunately, you always here the stories like this.  Some person who holds a high ranking position attempts to influence(s) a decision, it back fires and now a whole agency is in question.

I don't believe that it's ever been proven that any improper influence was attempted. (all that I've seen proven so far is that Solyndra would have liked to see some influence deployed) So far, it's all smoke and no fire. I have a sneaking suspicion some Republicans are hiding incense in their pockets and blaming the resultant smoke on the Administration, but maybe not. After all the never substantiated smile thrown at Clinton during his time in office, I'm more than a little skeptical of Congressional Republicans' accusations.

[nathanm]

Depends.  I haven't read the article nor do I know specifics.  Is this severance or back-pay.  If it's back-pay, then sure they are owed it.  If it's severance, that's a slippery slope right there.

Turns out it doesn't matter. Employee compensation, including severance, goes first unless one of a few specific exceptions related to executive severance is triggered (never thought I'd look back at something the Republicans passed and say that parts of it make sense):

Severance payments are permissible to insiders of the employer in bankruptcy only if the payment is part of a program that is generally applicable to all full-time employees, and the amount of the payment is not greater than 10 times the amount of the mean severance pay given to non-management employees during the calendar year in which the payment is made.

[Gaspar]

Wow!  The Obama legacy may be that all of these failed Donor deals, and shady investments abort the birth of the green energy market all together. Sad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45409951/ns/business-oil_and_energy/t/google-pulls-plug-renewable-energy-plan/#.Ts0pqGPNlGU

Born out of private sector investment and innovation, renewable energy and "green" energy programs are the future of all energy.  We know it, we just argue on how to, and how fast we can get there, but now we have a backlash caused by the injection of Chicago politics into what should be a natural push for innovation.  Shame.

Investors now see these private endeavors thought the filter of failure, corruption, and waste.  They will continue to be a hard sell.

[nathanm]

Yes, Obama made 'em do it. He called up Larry Page and said "hey, just so you know, there's no money in solar." Maybe it has more to do with the fact that Google is an advertising and search company, not a solar manufacturer.

In other news, I'm annoyed that they're getting rid of Timeline.