Typical congress-critter

Here’s an idea: Solyndra is Bush’s fault

That idea was floated briefly by Representative Henry Waxman (D. Ca.) during yesterday’s hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  Mr. Waxman is a member of said committee.  And, what follows if a piece of his “questioning” of  Jonathan Silver, head of the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program.

“My understanding is that Solyndra applied for this loan in 2006 when Bush was President,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA).

“That’s right,” said Jonathan Silver of the Energy Department, who spent a long day at the witness table, arguing that the groundwork for the Solyndra loan was vetted before President Obama took office.

“All this took place during the Bush Administration,” said Waxman.

However,  Mr. Waxman neglects to mention that in January, 2009 the Bush administration declined to grant the loan to Solyndra, and sent it back for further review.

What Mr. Waxman also neglects to mention is that the loan guarantee was not granted by the Department of Energy until September, 2009, and was only done so then because an announcement of the loan guarantee had been scheduled by Vice President Biden and Energy Secretary Chu for September 4, 2009.  According to an e-mail from the Office of Management and Budget to the Vice President’s domestic advisor,

We have ended up with a situation of having to do rushed approvals on a couple of occasions (and we are worried about Solyndra at the end of the week).  We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due dilligence reviews and have the approval set the date for the announcement rather than the other way around.

I can only assume that in Mr. Waxman’s mind, blaming anything on President Bush is far more preferable than actually finding out what happened.

 

30 replies
  1. winnie
    winnie says:

    The timeline isn’t important in the blame game…Henry Nostril-itis Waxman is apparently very adept at revisionism.? Just because he says it does not make it so…and this Solyndra thing isn’t going to go away just because he wants it to.? Kinda like fast & furious isn’t going to go away, either.? Just more distraction techniques.?? It’s all they’ve got.

  2. NH-Jim
    NH-Jim says:

    Would this mean that the Obamacare bill should then be renamed Bushcare thus blaming that whole boondoggle also on W?
    ?
    That bill was after all hidden in Waxman’s desk drawer during Bush’s term.

    • GdavidH
      GdavidH says:

      Do you think that might make it more attractive for the Dems to assist?repeal that awful, anti-American?piece of Bush administration legislation? I’m all in for that senario!!!!

  3. ricbee
    ricbee says:

    Even the best ideas-Solyndra not being one,are soon corrupted once government money & regulations are involved. Then it becomes how much can we get from the government instead of building a viable product.

  4. Anybody but Obama
    Anybody but Obama says:

    Waxman must be a graduate of the Debbie(Debbie Downer) Wasserman Schultz school of stupid statements

  5. crystal4
    crystal4 says:

    The Bush team tried to conditionally approve the Solyndra loan just before President Obama took office.
    The company?s backers included private investors who had diverse political interests.
    The loan comprises just 1.3% of DOE?s overall loan portfolio. To date, Solyndra is the only loan that?s known to be troubled.

    • Dimsdale
      Dimsdale says:

      The operating word being “tried”.
      ?
      Show us all the green loans that are working out, i.e. what “green” company has passed the break even point on production vs. cost.? Without subsidies.

  6. SeeingRed
    SeeingRed says:

    When an obvious statesman like Henry W. goes down the garden path of blame game politics (heretofore referred to as The Bush Path) are any Democrats listening?? Who is he talking to?

  7. Anybody but Obama
    Anybody but Obama says:

    Think Progress where have I heard that term before?? This isn’t the same Think Progress funded by Little Georgie Soros is it?

    • crystal4
      crystal4 says:

      Correct!
      He funded it to respond to the Koch brothers (oil billionaires) funding? The Cato institute (the number 1 opponents of environmental reform) and The Heritage Foundation.
      Good job ABO!

  8. Anybody but Obama
    Anybody but Obama says:

    Crystal,
    ?1st; Solyndra’s loan isn’t troubled they filed for bankruptcy
    2nd; 4 other green companies?who received stimulus money filed for bankruptcy
    ??? 1) Evergreen Solar Inc.
    ??? 2) Spectra Watt
    ??? 3) Mountain Plaza Inc.
    ????4) Olsen Mills
    ???

  9. JBS
    JBS says:

    Who owns the actual business of making the loan to Solyndra? The BO Regime.
    Who failed to perform due diligence before making the loan to Solyndra? The BO Regime.
    Who got a kick-back “contribution” once the loan was made? The BO Regime.
    Who set the loan announcement date ahead oft the approval? The BO Regime.
    Who knew that Solyndra was in trouble (see previous Solyndra blogs) Before the loan was made? The BO Regime.
    What stinks here? The BO Regime.When the DemocRATS are cornered by their own malfeasance, who does the BO Regime blame? Bush of course!
    The BO’s Regime is acting like spoiled children do, blame, dissemble, and point fingers. The DemocRATS may fall for this nonsense, but the vast majority of Americans are aware that the BO Regime is lying about the Solyndra fiasco, the Fast and Furious gun debacle and many other policies gone bad that emanated from the BO Regime.
    The American people will turn this sorry excuse for a president out in 2012.? Hopefully!
    ?
    ?

    • NH-Jim
      NH-Jim says:

      Gee, ABO, aren’t you going to research and quote a far leftist site with writers like Stephen Lacey and Richard Caperton?
      Caperton’s response to the question, “What is the DOE’s Loan Guarantee program?
      These technologies need support because they need to bridge the so-called valley of death; that is they?re not start-up companies that get venture capital and they?re not very mature technology that gets debt financing from traditional Wall Street banks. Now it?s important to know that with a loan guarantee the government is not issuing direct loans. In a direct-loan transaction the Department of Energy would actually give cash to these clean tech companies that would then repay the direct loan over time. A loan guarantee is different. In that transaction the clean technology company gets a loan from a private bank or another type of private investor. Then if they don?t pay back that loan the government pays it back for them. That helps engage private capital and it also makes sure that these companies…

  10. crystal4
    crystal4 says:

    Bottom line:
    “What critics fail to mention is that the Solyndra deal is more than three years old, started under the Bush Administration, which tried to conditionally approve the loan right before Obama took office. Rather than ?pushing funds out the door too quickly,? the Obama Administration restructured the original loan when it came into office to further protect the taxpayers? investment.”
    \AND…why did Bush try to fast track it?
    “one of the earliest and largest investors, Madrone Capital Partners, is funded by the family that started Wal-Mart, the Waltons. The Waltons have donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates over the years.”

    • Dimsdale
      Dimsdale says:

      You keep saying how “Bush tried” this and that.? To quote Yoda, “Do or do not; there is no try.”? ?bama did, Bush didn’t.
      ?
      Bottom line: if ?bama is sooo intelligent (compared to Bush), why did he approve ANY loan to this company, not to mention publicly extolling all of its “virtues”??? If, as you state, big Republican supporters were so far into this company, why did ?bama send it anything?

      • crystal4
        crystal4 says:

        Wow, you cannot get the concept that he was thinking clean renewable energy rather than partisan ,vindictive politics. Like, this is good for the country but since the Bush wanted to push this through..I will squash it.
        Are you a member of the House, Dimsdale..you are blowing your cover. (“Make sure Obama does not create 1 new job, screw the country, we must make sure he does not succeed.”)

      • Dimsdale
        Dimsdale says:

        I am confused by your statement, crystal.? Who is the “he” in your first sentence?? It could apply to either Bush or ?bama by your reckoning.? YOU keep saying what Bush tried in terms of Solyndra as though it were a bad thing, which a money pit like Solyndra turned out to be.??
        ?
        How many jobs does a bankrupt company create?? And who pays the bill for the lousy loan?? Nothing ?bama has done convinces me he cares a whit about jobs in this country, in this case, he is just humping his green energy boondoggles for political reasons, clearly not economic ones.? He doesn’t need any help “not creating jobs” apparently.
        ?
        I repeat: if ?bama is so smart, how come he bought into the very thing you say Bush was “stupid” enough to support?
        ?
        Can’t have it both ways.? Pick one.

    • NH-Jim
      NH-Jim says:

      Oh, but let’s ignore George Kaiser and his Kaiser Family Foundation that returned campaign funds back to Obama and donations to Michelle Obama’s Urban Health Initiative.
      ?
      Pay to Play

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