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SCOTTS VALLEY - Dozens of people turned out Friday to say goodbye to Lintelle Engineering founder Bill Turner, who hosted a picnic for current and former staff in the company parking lot on El Pueblo Road. Lintelle, founded in 1989, was forced to close after its largest customer, Solyndra, filed for bankruptcy owing $1.9 million for equipment built by Lintelle employees. The bankruptcy filing came despite Solyndra receiving a $535 million federal loan guarantee. "It's hard to see this happen," asked Teri Stacher, 47, of Santa Cruz, who worked for Lintelle for 12 years. "We figured with the federal government...

GOP's Solyndra probe threatens to ensnare Energy Secretary ChuBy Andrew Restuccia - 09/29/11 05:00 AM ET The controversy over a $535 million loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt California solar firm Solyndra is threatening to dim the star of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a physicist and Nobel Prize winner who has rarely been thrust into the political spotlight. Republican lawmakers have set their sites on Chu, who for three years has managed to avoid being dragged into a litany of political battles waged by Republicans and the White House on energy and environmental issues. The GOP has for weeks lobbed a...

It's a prank favoured by kids and college students but today President Obama was an unwitting culprit. He committed the ultimate photographic faux pas while posing for pictures with other leaders during the Open Government Partnership event at the United Nations, accidentally blocking the face of the man to his right while waving. The act of hijacking somebody's photograph is known as 'photobombing' and the most common example is for a person who is not supposed to be in the picture to pull a silly face behind the people posing.

The law firms representing two prominent Solyndra executives are major Democratic Party donors, The Daily Caller has learned. Reuters first reported that the bankrupt company’s CEO, Brian Harrison, and CFO, W.G. Stover, plan to refuse to talk openly to congressional investigators about how their company squandered $535 million in taxpayer money. They will invoke their Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate themselves at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Friday. The law firms representing the executives are Orrick, Harrington and Sutcliffe, and Keker and Van Nest. Both are major contributors to Democrats and both have handsomely helped President...

Canadian Commentator: The Press Gave America 'An Untried, Unknown,' 'Incompetent Figure As President' By Noel Sheppard Created 09/18/2011 - 9:09pm Maybe what America's press really need is a Canadian television commentator to explain how atrocious their coverage of Barack Obama has been since the moment he tossed his named into the presidential ring in February 2007. Although they may not be familiar with CBC's Rex Murphy, they should certainly heed the marvelous piece he wrote for the National Post Saturday entitled "The Media’s Love Affair With a Disastrous President": As the bad economic news continues to emanate from the United...

Speaker Boehner to Host Private-Sector Job Creators in House Gallery for President Obama’s Address Speaker’s Guests Include More than a Dozen Job Creators Who Have Run Into Government Barriers in Their Efforts to Create New American Jobs WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 8) House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today announced he will host more than a dozen private-sector job creators in the House gallery during President Obama’s address to a Joint Session of Congress tonight. Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-IL) recruited these job creators as part of Republicans’ effort to reach out to American employers being hampered by excessive regulations from...

JAY CARNEY, WH Press Secretary: "They don't give a lick about the day and time: ED HENRY, FOX News: "Why doesn't he give a speech from the oval office tonight saying here's my plan?" CARNEY: "He wants to speak before Congress because he recognizes that while there are things he can do without Congress, and he will do them, there are actions that need to be taken with Congress that require legislation to grow the economy and create jobs. And he wants to go to Congress, speak directly to members of Congress, and layout his proposals."

"The interesting question is: What is it about this president that has stripped away the veneer of respect that normally accompanies the Office of the President? Why do Republicans think this president is unpresidential and should dare to request this kind of thing? It strikes me that it could be the economic times, it could be that he won so big in 2008 or it could be, let's face it, the color of his skin. This is an extraordinary reaction to a normal sequence of events," MSNBC contributor Richard Wolffe said on "The Last Word."

Vice President Joe Biden is rallying a defense of his boss, fighting slurs that President Obama is in over his head and lashing out at "Tea Party Republicans." In Oklahoma this week where Obama isn't high in the polls, the veep said the president isn't just smart, he's got strength and character. "People knew Barack was really bright, they knew Barack was straight, they knew Barack was a different kind of politician. What they didn't know was just how strong he was. Republicans spent a lot of time trying to tag him as a follower, not a leader. Well, he's...

President Obama has again acknowledged the necessity of doing something many Democrats fiercely oppose -- reforming entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Social Security. On a Midwest bus tour stop in Minnesota, Obama spoke in favor of changes to entitlement programs being eyed by the 12-member congressional committee charged with finding budget savings that will get past partisan gridlock, stave off future credit downgrades and increase the federal debt. "There have been times when our side, when Democrats aren’t always as flexible as we need to be," Obama said. "Sometimes I do get frustrated when I hear folks say, 'You...