Monday 2 April 2012

Collapse of solar power giant an embarrassment for Obama administration

The company Solyndra was lauded by President Barack Obama but later left the US government liable for $528 million (£334m) of taxpayer money. Republicans in the House of Representatives are investigating whether the guarantee was rushed through so that an event featuring Vice President Joe Biden could be held.

Solyndra was a major presence in Washington and spent millions of dollars on lobbying. Its executives raised thousands of dollars for Mr Obama and Democrats in Congress. The fallout from the collapse of the California-based company is an embarrassment to the White House at a time when Mr Obama is promoting his new jobs plan.

The congressional panel examining the loan released emails that appeared to show that senior staff at the Office of Management and Budget were reluctant to conduct "rushed approvals" of loan guarantees.

"We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews and have the approval set the date for the announcement rather than the other way around," said unnamed aide in an email to Mr Biden's office.

Mr Obama cited Solyndra as an example of how the economic stimulus bill would create jobs. When it filed for bankruptcy, saying it couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers of solar panels, 1,100 employees were laid off.

Source - Telegraph

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