Bruce Krasting follows the money and raises some very interesting and potentially disturbing questions about what has been going on at the now-bankrupt company that received a half billion in loans from the federal government:
I’m going to take this to a different level. The following questions are directed to my usual readers. They are also directed to the actors in the Solyndra story. The DOE, OMB, company execs (past and current), the equity owners, the lawyers and the MSM could chime in with an explanation. This blogger/taxpayer is seeking some clarity on the following.
There are questions of who did what to whom and when. There is an aspect to this that has not yet (to my knowledge) been discussed in the media.
Where is the company’s cash? Where is its retained inventory? Read the whole thing.
Excellent questions. Since the company is in Bankruptcy Court now, I would presume that the United States Trustee will be looking into these issues. In fact, those FBI raids we read about last week may be related to a US Trustee investigation — although it would be unusual for them to utilize search warrants this early in the Bankruptcy.
In fact, those FBI raids we read about last week may be related to a US Trustee investigation — although it would be unusual for them to utilize search warrants this early in the Bankruptcy.
I’m assuming the FBI investigation is to give various members of the company an excuse to claim up in front of Congress.
Where the f*ck are the jobs.
Every liberal spews the same nonsense when it comes to green energy: it will create jobs.
That is magical thinking once again.
Lets consider the issue with a simple model.
There are two sources of energy, one cheap and not green, the othe expensive and green. To make the green fuel viable you need a subsidy, but you have to pay for that subsidy either with taxes today or even more taxes in the future. Those taxes will come with a deadweight loss which, in the end will reduce jobs (ceterius paribus). Also, for this fuel to be viable people will have to use it. That means less demand for the non-green fuel. That will reduce employment in the non-green fuel sector. So for there to be a net gain in jobs you need the following:
gain in jobs in the green fuel sector > jobs lost due to deadweight loss + jobs lost in the non-green fuel sector.
Could that happen? Yeah maybe, but it is at best a dubious proposition.
Maybe there are other factors to consider that make such a subsidy worth while (i.e. negative external effects associated with the non-green fuel like GHG emissions, other pollution emissions, or even links to terrorism), but those are all different arguments than the jobs argument.
That’s an example of the fine-tuning I questioned the other day. IMO there’s an excessive confidence in the ability to fine-tune.
I agree that the latter stages of the company deserve the most inquiry from a fraud/crime angle. The economic/policy questions are on the front end.
Krasting has identified a suspicious transaction that occurred during the 90-day preference period before bankruptcy, which courts will generally set aside absent exceptional circumstances. It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but this part seems to be something that will be transparent. Though I can’t tell whether the agreement constitutes all of the assets and inventory that seems to have dispersed.
Agree w/ Doug, FBI raid would not be usual for bankruptcy.
An example of Steve V’s point is reflected in a plan to get Illinois electric customers to raise their rates to encourage the construction of a “clean coal” power plant by Tenaska.
On the plus side: “this project will create 2,000 construction jobs for four years with an additional 400 jobs in the coal mines, transport and at the energy center.”
On the negative side: “According to [Dr. Mathew] Morey’s economic analysis, which is on file with the ICC, adding $8.6 billion in above-market electricity prices will harm the economy leading to the loss of 15,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next several decades.”
Its like getting one new job for the price of ten!!!
http://www.sj-r.com/opinions_columnists/x1587957511/Mark-Denzler-State-needs-jobs-but-not-at-any-cost
PD,
Exactly my point. Nice find there.
“Could that happen? Yeah maybe, but it is at best a dubious proposition.”
Yeah, and perhaps tonight Angelina Jolie and her 3 horniest friends will break into the house and make me their sex slave………but I’m not holding my breath.
The greenies need to get real.