Free Republic

Solyndra’s CEO labeled President Barack Obama’s administration “The Bank of Washington.” Chris Gronet offered the description in an internal email one year before the company collapsed in 2010, costing taxpayers roughly $500 million. “The Bank of Washington continues to help us!” he wrote in the October 2009 e-mail, which described several government programs and incentives. The email bolsters GOP claims that Obama’s support of green-tech companies amounted to “crony capitalism.” Several White House officials had close ties to green-tech companies, and many green-tech executives have donated to Obama’s political campaigns.

Federal funds can’t buy success under the sunAs much of the nation broils under the merciless July sun, the Obama administration can’t resist the urge to burn cash on “green” energy projects. Each time one of these solar-energy firms flames out, American taxpayers get singed. Even a sundial would indicate it’s quitting time. The latest to fail is Abound Solar, a Colorado solar-panel manufacturer. The firm filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation on July 2, two years after being awarded a $400 million stimulus loan guarantee. President Obama personally touted the loan during a 2010 radio address called “A Solar...

Under pressure to reveal where he is and what his “ailments” may be, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s doctors released a statement Wednesday night saying he is being treated for a “mood disorder.” But the statement is unlikely to dampen the speculation about the Illinois Democrat’s mystery medical ordeal, considering the statement gave few details. The release, sent out by the lawmaker’s spokesman, did not identify his doctor’s name nor the facility at which he is being treated. The statement read: “Information regarding the Congressman’s treatment is protected by federal law under the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and...

The mystery surrounding Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., deepened on Tuesday as speculation swirled around the Illinois Democrat’s health and political future. Democratic sources say Jackson — who has not been on Capitol Hill since June 10 — may not return to the House until after the August congressional recess. Jackson’s office said in a June 26 statement that the lawmaker was suffering from exhaustion and would take a “medical leave of absence” to receive treatment for the condition. No date has been given for Jackson’s return, and Democratic lawmakers and aides now believe it could last weeks or even...

CHICAGO—U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who defeated a primary challenge this year despite being the target of a House ethics investigation, has been on a medical leave for two weeks and is being treated for exhaustion, his office announced Monday. In a three-sentence news release, Jackson's office disclosed that the Democrat went on leave June 10 but did not provide further details, including how long he would be away. In the release, he asked that his family's privacy be respected.

A drug cartel lieutenant has been arrested over a series of firebomb attacks on Mexican potato-chip company Sabritas, a subsidiary of U.S. food giant PepsiCo. The gang-related bombings are believed to be the first time a multinational company has been targeted in Mexico's 5½-year-long drug war. Experts suggested that the attack may be linked to the company's apparent refusal to hand over protection money to the gangs which have terrorised local residents and businesses.

The three top U.S. tycoons on Forbes’s “Green” billionaires list have received billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for their clean technology companies, after they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for political campaigns and lobbying. Two of the moguls, Elon Musk and Vinod Khosla (in photo), are technology pioneers based in California with net worths of $2 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. The third, Christy Walton, is the widow of the late John Walton who was an heir to the Walmart fortune. Forbes says she is “the world’s richest woman” is worth $24.8 billion. Significant percentages of Musk’s...

Gambling figures prominently in this story, but this isn’t a story about gambling. It’s a story about an administration misusing its power to benefit its friends. It’s a story about the corrupt purchase of our government. For half a century, Democratic and Republican administrations have interpreted the Wire Act, passed in 1961, as prohibiting the sale of lottery tickets by phone or wire, and in more recent years over the Internet. That changed on Christmas 2011, when the Obama/Holder Department of Justice reinterpreted the Wire Act. The DOJ ruled that the Wire Act allows lotteries to sell tickets online....

Why are taxpayers forced to underwrite a loan for the producer of a $107,000 toy vehicle for the wealthy, the majority of which is assembled at a European auto plant? Two weeks ago Republican Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota askedEnergy Secretary Steven Chu those and some other pointed questions about his department’s decisions, in granting a $529 million taxpayer loan guarantee to Fisker Automotive, a luxury electric car manufacturer. The politically connected automaker has stumbled a number of times in delivering its six-figure Karma to market, with two recalls related to battery defects,...

First Solar , the beneficiary of at least $3 billion in Department of Energy loan guarantees, paid its former CEO $32 million over two years as he stewarded its stock price from $143 to below $100. Today it sells for less than $21-per-share, hitting a 52-week low last week, and yesterday the company announced it would slash global payroll by 2,000 workers in Malaysia, Europe and the U.S. The Arizona Republic reported Thursday that Rob Gillette, who was terminated as CEO in October, received $16.55 million during the first three months of employment in 2009 (October to December), and...

White House Opens Door to Big Donors, and Lobbyists Slip In MIKE McINTIRE and MICHAEL LUO April 14, 2012 Last May, as a battle was heating up between Internet companies and Hollywood over how to stop online piracy, a top entertainment industry lobbyist landed a meeting at the White House with one of President Obama’s technology advisers. Dwight and Antoinette C. Bush in 2010. Ms. Bush visits the White House frequently. The lobbyist did not get there by himself. He was accompanied by Antoinette C. Bush, a well-connected Washington lawyer who has represented companies like Viacom, Sony and News Corporation...

The “serious concerns” of U.S. Treasury officials involving a risky $535 million infusion for a fly by night solar panel firm were ignored as the deal was fast-tracked by the Obama Administration, according to a federal audit released this week. Bankrolled by Obama fundraiser George Kaiser, the now-defunct northern California company (Solyndra) got more than half a billion dollars from the U.S. government to promote green energy. Instead, it abruptly folded last fall, stiffing American taxpayers and laying off more than 1,000 workers. From the start, it was a controversial deal that was suspiciously rushed through for a politically-connected...

<p>A promise not to hire lobbyists didn't even last 2 months. A promise for sweeping ethics reforms has been all hat no cattle.</p> <p>Big donors considering whether to work the phones raising money for President Obama's reelection campaign might consider the fate of his 2008 bundlers. Many of them, it turns out, won plum jobs in his administration.</p>

A Department of Energy-funded solar company that laid off 280 workers last week quietly imposed a mandatory, temporary cessation of its operations during the holidays, and warned employees to “not let the rumor mill create false purposes for this shut down.” And in another sign of potential financial troubles, a company document that is supposed to guide “the next great solar company” advises leadership to “stretch payables” to help attain its goals. The forced time off was discovered in an internal memorandum obtained by The Complete Colorado, a news digest Web site, which also revealed the planning document. Employees...

The taxpayer-funded ($279 million) battery supplier that gave big raises and parachutes to its executives shortly after it cut “Green jobs” at its Michigan factories, reported last week it would suffer big losses again for 2011. A123 Systems , whose fortunes were entwined with those of electric vehicle startup manufacturer Fisker Automotive, also announced it would look to China and India in order to survive. A123 also received grants and tax credits from Michigan that could total more than $135 million. The company said it would realize a loss of $257.7 million for last year, compared to the $152.6...

Yet another solar company that received loan guarantees from the Department of Energy has dismissed factory workers, lopping off 70 percent of its U.S. employees. Loveland, Colo.-based Abound Solar announced Tuesday it would lay off 280 workers at its production plant near Longmont, leaving 120 still employed. The start-up (2009) company attributed the cutbacks to the need for upgrades at the plant to manufacture more efficient solar panels, with plans to restore production levels and rehire most employees within six to nine months. “Hopefully at the end of that time period we will bring people back,” said Steve Abely,...

n his New York Times bestselling book, Throw Them All Out, Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer revealed how members of Congress enrich themselves and their relatives using earmarks and insider information. Now, the Washington Post, following in Schweizer’s footsteps, has conducted a study that found 16 members of Congress have used their power of the purse to benefit companies, colleges, and community groups tied to their relatives. *snip* Among those cited in the Washington Post report were the following (below):

It is mostly unanimous that Clint Eastwood's Super Bowl ad appearance was a stirring and emotional tribute to America and Detroit. The ad was heartfelt, despite the fact that bailed out Italian-owned auto company, Chrysler, paid for it. Unless NBC offered some significant discounts to their ad rates, the ad cost Chrysler about $14 million. Considering the political nature of the ad and the fact that Chrysler vehicles were not touted in the ad, I must ask the cynical question; what's in it for Italian-owned Chrysler? Chrysler CEO, Sergio Marchionne, is a pretty smart guy. I don't think he...

Blame Game: News reports about a December 2008 White House stimulus memo claim it proves the stimulus was too small. What it really does is expose how Obama has misled the country about his economic policies. The memo, written by Larry Summers — President Obama's top economic adviser at the time — shortly after the election, outlined the thinking of his economic team about the best size and make-up of a stimulus package. News reports about the memo, which came to light this week, have focused on Summers' warnings that the government could spend only so much money in any...

Friends of the president are given billions in government largessePresident Obama said in his State of the Union address that one of the American values that must be reclaimed is “an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.” For three years, he and his political allies have been undermining this vision. They see government as a means of rewarding their friends and punishing their enemies. For the Obama circle, rules apply only to other people. Obamacare is a growing burden to American businesses, but not...