Obama Faces Controversy Over Rushed $535 Million Backing of Failed Solar Power Firm Solyndra

DemocracyNow.org – The Obama administration is facing scrutiny following the failure of a solar energy company that received half-a-billion dollars in government aid and then when bankrupt, laying off about a thousand workers. Newly disclosed internal White House emails show just 60 days after Obama took office, his administration rushed to approve a 5 million loan guarantee to the solar panel manufacturing company Solyndra, despite warnings from the Office of Management and Budget that the loan had not been properly vetted. The White House had advocated Solyndra receive the loan as part of Obama’s stimulus package in order to create green jobs and assist American solar panel manufacturers competing with heavily-subsidized Chinese counterparts. Republican opponents of green jobs initiatives could attempt to highlight the firm’s collapse during the upcoming elections. “There are people critical of green jobs overall and think they do not really work, especially at this time during a recession,” says Joe Stephens, an investigative reporter at the Washington Post who helped break the story. “Solyndra may become a household name during the presidential campaign.” For the complete transcript, to download the podcast, or for information about Democracy Now!, visit www.democracynow.org FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: @democracynow Subscribe on YouTube: www.youtube.com Daily Email News Digest: www.democracynow.org Please consider supporting …
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