Posted on 04/01/2013 10:43:33 AM PDT by jazusamo
President Obama ’s alternative energy “stimulus,” administered through hisDepartment of Energy by previous SecretarySteven Chu, had already become a joke because of the failures and foibles of so many recipients of Recovery Act funds. But now – as though officially commemorating the absurdity of this historically bad U.S. government program – one of its bankrupt beneficiaries has changed its name from one of simplicity to one of mockery.
Electric vehicle battery maker A123 Systems has changed its name to B456 Systems. Incorporated.
Reporting the development, headline writers across the nation rubbed their eyes, double-checked the wire information, and then – especially realizing how close they were to April Fool’s Day – had to add extra assurance to the breaking news.
For the Boston Herald, where A123 was headquartered near MIT, it was this:
“ A123 Systems changes name to B456 (seriously) ”
The Milwaukee Business Journal reported it this way:
“No joke: A123 Systems now B456 Systems”
And a Wall Street Journal reporter Tom Gara built up the suspense with:
“ And The Award For History’s Least Creative Rebranding Goes To… ”
According to the reports, A123 – now under ownership by Chinese-owned Wanxiang America – was required to change its name as a part of a bankruptcy agreement. The company released a statement Friday explaining that the name A123 will still exist, “operating successfully under Wanxiang's ownership,” as a limited liability corporation. B456 represents the parts of the company “still in the bankruptcy process.” I guess they don’t understand the entire enterprise was a failure.
And in an additional element of stooge-ery, as Kai Petainen of Forbes noticed, a B456 is a fire extinguisher – as in dousing the flames from your lithium ion battery. Autoblog observes that Amerex model “happens to be good for ‘energized electrical equipment.’”
The double meaning fits, as A123’s (former) top customer is Fisker Automotive, which appears to be near bankruptcy itself. The manufacturer of the $102,000 Karma suffered two recalls – one in December 2011 and another in mid-2012 – because of A123 battery defects that could cause fires. Fisker did suffer fires inTexas and California last year, and Hurricane Sandy’s flooding ignited several of them in New Jersey – and while none were attributed to their batteries (Texas remains unsolved), an A123 battery didcause an explosion at aGeneral Motors alternative energy research facility in Warren, Mich. last April.
Funny, isn’t it? Not “ha-ha” funny, but ridiculous funny – unbelievably stupid funny. Funny in an “I can’t believe our tax money is paying for these comically bad businesses and technologies” way. And it applies to President Obama’s abject failure to invigorate the economy by creating “green jobs” in the alternative energy and electric transportation sectors, which have been around for over a century and the free market still hasn’t made economical or viable. The examples were plentiful:
With a visit by the president , the administration had just boasted how many thousands of green jobs were created by Solyndra, and how environmentally friendly its technology was, thanks to the Energy Department’s $535 million loan guarantee. But months later, with plenty of forewarning to the White House, Solyndra went bankrupt, and left behind a big toxic mess when it shut down . What a rib-tickler!
Fellow stimulus loan recipient Abound Solar, not to be outdone, also went bankrupt and had accumulated a hazardous waste site of its own as it liquidated. But it was later discovered that the company sold defective or underperforming products, and even caught fire. Evidence showed Abound officials knew it, before they received taxpayer dollars. Yet as the Colorado company crashed, the Department of Energy still praised the company’s work as “innovative” and cost competitive – a gut buster!
Employees of battery maker LG Chem, recipient of $151 million from a DOE Recovery Act grant, were discovered on the clock playing games, reading magazines, watching movies or helping charities like Habitat for Humanity – that is, when they weren’t ‘off-duty’ on their cyclical furloughs. Why? They had no real work to do, and as of late October had “yet to ship out a single battery,” according to a local news report. Stop it – you’re killing me!!
And there are so many more jokes where those came from: The Tesla Model S that waspanned by theNew York Times after it had to be towed away; the Fisker Karma that broke down forConsumer Reports, which then called it the “worst luxury sedan;” A123 executives expecting their bonuses while going through the bankruptcy process; a Nissan Leaf trip that took six hours because of recharging needs, when it should have taken only three hours; Leaf batteries thatcan’t tolerate extremely hot climates;First Solar panels that couldn’t tolerate desert heat…etc….
Meanwhile the Obama administration repeatedly touted: how clean the energy was; how the future for the American economy was in “green jobs” and the alternative energy sector; how necessary it was to keep up with China in wind and solar (until it became a disaster for the Communists too); and what a great economic investment it was (tell that to the attendees at the “ ECO:nomics—Creating Environmental Capital ” conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal not too long ago, who are losing their shirts).
And to this day DOE refuses to update its Loan Program Office Web site with new information about any of its projects. Anyone who isn’t aware of the bankruptcies and other project failures that visits the LPO pages would still think Solyndra and Abound are still in business and still created their projected jobs, and that Fisker is still a smashing success, that a $5.9 billion loan guarantee to Ford Motor Company really did convert 33,000 employees to “green jobs,” etc.
There’s enough material to keep Jay Leno’s monologues stoked for a month. Unfortunately those are not tears of laughter streaming down taxpayers’ faces.
Paul Chesser is an associate fellow for the National Legal and Policy Center and publishes CarolinaPlottHound.com , an aggregator of North Carolina news.
Reminding me that Professor Langley’s government backed efforts to create an airplane literally crashed while the two owners of a bicycle shop in Ohio made one on their own dime. It doesn’t stop there. The Wrights were unable to get federal funding for his planes and had to go to France, where the French went nuts over airplanes.
I’ll send a cigar to the first one here who clicked on ALL the links in that article...
Go for it, I don’t smoke. :-)
Yes these Green job investments are a joke, but the jokes are on us.POTUS is the ramrod here.He set up the Green fund and personally made it available so he could get his hands on it to do what? Finance businesses that he chose. Remember that Barrak Obama was a Community Organiser, even teaching classes on how to do & be one,before he went into politics as a senator. A Community Organizer does one thing.Lives off tax free money given to him by Congressmen that alot the payouts of taxpayer money to special interest groups.1st the group is given a name, then it’s presented to commitees that okay the money,then to Congress to sign.Thus the money goes to that Group....Obama has friends that want to start a business.But not really, in reality it’s all a front (bogus)and he’s a partner and the business is meant to fail.So the false company gets the loan from us(GOVMT)and runs it thru so many channels and it comes back to them,they pocket it,..it can’t be traced and they split the money as agreed. The Business goes belly up (bankrupt)which is what it was meant to do. Then they do this again and again and again..w/GREEN Money Funding,..etc.And the’ve got a load of money in their pockets.There are Congressmen in on this and who knows who they are. Obama is the Flim Flam Man and that’s the way he’s made a living all his life off of other people’s money chiefly...the taxpayer. That’d be you and I,..it’s free money to them, just for the taking.Now don’t that make you feel good and fuzzy all over? He’ll be the richest President to ever hold and leave office and you’ll never know how much he has stolen. The greatest Flim Flam man ever.
And by the way....Obama doesn’t care one iota how much people make fun and laugh at him.Because he’s laughing harder and laughs last...and we are the fools that have been fooled and we will continue to be fools. Tell me Congressmen do not know this. Yeah...right.
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