Bankrupt Solyndra Dishes Bonuses While Dems Serve Taxpayers Stimulus Failure

Democrats Deny Responsibility for Failed Stimulus and for Squandering $535 Million in Taxpayer Funds, All While Bankrupt Solyndra Prepares to Pay Hefty Bonuses

• Democrats continue to be in denial about both the failure of their stimulus to live up to its promises and the failure of their bankrupt stimulus poster child Solyndra.
• Amazingly, Solyndra is planning to pay out additional bonuses even as Democrats appear to have no plan to recover the $535 million they bet and lost on the company.
• New revelations continue to show that the Obama administration ignored red flags about Solyndra and chose to instead place bets with taxpayer money that just so happened to favor their political donors and allies. A newly released White House memo suggests that the Obama administration considered announcing a loan for Solyndra before the Department of Energy had even met to consider the loan—just the latest proof that for Democrats, politics takes precedence over protecting taxpayers.

Democrats continue to be in denial about both the failure of their stimulus to live up to its promises and the failure of their bankrupt stimulus poster child Solyndra:

DNC CHAIR DENIES OBAMA OR DEMOCRATS HAVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAILED SOLYNDRA INVESTMENT: CHRIS WALLACE: “I am asking you about the President – has no responsibility for Solyndra?”

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: “The President has responsibility for the green jobs programs where he made investments.”

WALLACE: “How about company Solyndra that went bankrupt?”

REP. WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: “But the decisions that were made at Solyndra that ultimately led to their bankruptcy were those of the people who worked for Solyndra.” (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” 1/8/2012)

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ ALSO DENIES—FALSELY—THAT DEMOCRATS PROMISED UNEMPLOYMENT WOULD NOT CROSS 8 PERCENT: SHEPARD SMITH: “He did promise that unemployment would never get to where it is now if we spent all that money and of course here it is. Well, no, he did”

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “Oh come on, promised? No no no no no.”

SMITH: “He did. What would you call it?”

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “To me a promise, you know,  is we say we’re guaranteeing.” (Remarks from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Fox News, 1/10/2012)

FACT-CHECK: DEMOCRATS SAID STIMULUS WOULD KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT BELOW 8%: “…[T]wo of [Obama’s] chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Last month, the jobless rate in the U.S. hit 9.5%, the highest level it has reached since 1983.” (Stephen Gandel, “Obama’s Stimulus: Failing by its Own Measure,” Time, 7/14/2009)

AND WHITE HOUSE PREDICTED UNEMPLOYMENT WOULD BE ABOUT 6 PERCENT AT END OF 2011 IF $800 BILLION STIMULUS PASSED: (James Pethokoukis, “What the Plunging Unemployment Rate Really Means for Obama’s Re-election,” The American, 1/6/2012)

Amazingly, Solyndra is planning to pay out additional bonuses even as Democrats appear to have no plan to recover the $535 million they bet and lost on the company:

“Now seems an unlikely time for handing out bonuses at bankrupt Solyndra LLC, but that’s the plan of company attorneys intending to dole out up to a half-million dollars to persuade key employees to stay put.

“Nearly two dozen Solyndra employees could receive bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 each under a proposal filed by Solyndra’s attorneys in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.” (Jim McElhatton, “Bankrupt Solyndra seeking to pay bonuses,” The Washington Times, 1/11/12)

New revelations continue to show that the Obama administration ignored red flags about Solyndra and chose to instead place bets with taxpayer money that just so happened to favor their political donors and allies. A newly released White House memo suggests that the Obama administration considered announcing a loan for Solyndra before the Department of Energy had even met to consider the loan—just the latest proof that for Democrats, politics takes precedence over protecting taxpayers:

WHITE HOUSE GOT HEADS UP THAT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MOVED SOLYNDRA LAYOFF ANNOUNCEMENT BEYOND ELECTION 2010: “The White House also got advance notice that the company had agreed to postpone delivering the politically damaging news, according to the e-mails provided Friday by a government source. Energy Department officials persuaded the company to delay the announcement until after Election Day.” (Carol Leonnig and Joe Stephens, “White House Got Heads Up on Solyndra’s Pending Layoff Announcements,” The Washington Post, 1/14/2012)

OBAMA AIDES FRETTED THAT LAYOFF ANNOUNCEMENT “NO ES BUENO”—NO KIDDING: “Senior White House officials fretted just days before the November 2010 election about the bad press coverage they’d face if news leaked of Solyndra layoffs, according to new internal emails released Friday.

“ ‘Here’s the deal — Solyndra is going to announce that they are laying off 200 of their 1,200 workers,’ White House deputy energy adviser Heather Zichal wrote Oct. 27, 2010, to her boss, Carol Browner and two other deputies. ‘No es bueno. Sounds like they will now make this announcement next week but press is sniffing around so it could come out sooner.’” (Darren Samuelsohn, “Solyndra 2010 Layoffs ‘No Es Bueno,’ According to White House Aide,” Politico, 1/13/2012)

WHITE HOUSE WAS AWARE OF “CONCERNS” WITH SOLYNDRA AS EARLY AS MARCH ’09: “Same WH memo noted ‘concerns w/the project’ in March ’09 noted by credit rating agency but suggests loan guarantee terms were being improved.”(Tweet from Ed Henry, CNN, 1/13/2012)

WAS REVIEW PROCESS JUST A FORMALITY? OBAMA ADMIN FLOATED ANNOUNCING SOLYNDRA LOAN BEFORE ENERGY DEPARTMENT HAD MET TO REVIEW LOAN: “WH memo suggests admin mulled having President announce #Solyndra loan earlier — March ’09 — even tho Energy credit panel hadn’t met yet”(Tweet from Ed Henry, CNN, 1/13/2012)