Testify: In 2009, Solyndra CEO Said Obama and Steven Chu Were Personally "Instrumental" In Securing Half-Billion In Loans for SCOAMF Boondoggle

Thanks to conspirator JohnE., via Enemy of the People Adam S. Baldwin, Soyndra's own CEO praised Obama specifically and personally for pushing through a half-billion deadweight loss.

From Solyndra's own website, which I hereby report to AttackWatch for spreading lies.

SOLYNDRA OFFERED $535 MILLION LOAN GUARANTEE BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Fremont, CA, March 20, 2009 – Solyndra, Inc. announced today that it is the first company to receive an offer for a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Solyndra, a Fremont, California-based manufacturer of innovative cylindrical photovoltaic systems, will use the proceeds of a $535 million loan from the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank to expand its solar panel manufacturing capacity in California.

“The leadership and actions of President Barack Obama, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and the U.S. Congress were instrumental in concluding this offer for a loan guarantee,” said Solyndra CEO and founder, Dr. Chris Gronet. “The DOE Loan Guarantee Program funding will enable Solyndra to achieve the economies of scale needed to deliver solar electricity at prices that are competitive with utility rates. This expansion is really about creating new jobs while meaningfully impacting global warming.”

New theory of combating the deadly scourge of global warming: If we just destroy wealth, it will necessarily help reduce man-made global warming, because less economic activity means less carbon dioxide -- less travel, less production, less manufacture, less food, less everything. Probably fewer people, too.

Win-win-win.

So... hooray, I guess?

Solydra Did Produce a Lot of Economic Activity, On the Part of Lobbyists, PR Firms, and Spin Doctors: What was it producing? Chiefly spin.

Now if we could just attach magnets to that spin and place that spin inside a magnetized pipe....

Now, Politico reports the lede, but they do not highlight it. Let me do that for you.

Solyndra officials kept obsessive watch over their press coverage while still sending glowing progress reports to the Obama administration — even as the solar manufacturer edged closer to going belly-up.

The media-massaging — revealed in emails released Wednesday — was especially frenzied before and after President Barack Obama’s May 23, 2010, trip to Solyndra’s California headquarters as the company sought to tamp down questions about its troubled finances, the U.S. solar industry's ability to compete with China, and unionized workers who had to take a day off without pay during the visit.

Solyndra spokesman David Miller also did his share of glad-handing with the White House aides handling Obama's trip.

"If you tire of the White House life and ever decide you want to move out with your best friends in [California] let me know,” Miller emailed to White House special assistant Johanna Maska the day after the visit. He added that “we could find you a great corporate gig very quickly."

Maska, promoted this April to director of White House press advance, didn't take Miller up on the offer.

But wink wink on that, huh? You're such a trooper... if you just keep helping us, we can help you, savvy?

Via Hot Air.

Update: I gave that Politico story short-shrift. While I've excerpted the beginning, and highlighted that job offer bit, do yourselves a favor and read the whole thing.

Which is about "intercepting" stories from getting into the NYT, and "mitigating" them if they do... and Solyndra and White House officials are discussing this together.

It's all about media messaging -- which 90% worked, until the bankruptcy.

So, apologies for the suggestion that Politico was napping on the job. Good article, read the whole thing.

Yet Another Update: JohnE., who has been reported to AttackWatch, tells me I stopped reading Solyndra's press release (the first link) too quickly, and missed the end:

Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Solyndra in connection with this loan guarantee application.

Wow. So many Administration cronies, deep-pocket donors, gettin' PAID, son!

Everyone got to dip their beaks.

Except you. You don't count. You exist in order to provide labor for your lords.

posted by Ace at 02:34 PM

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