Green Corruption: 80% of $16 Billion in Department of Energy "Junk Loans" Went to Obama Bundlers and Donors

http://capoliticalnews.com/2012/05/04/lkatos-green-corruption...

Green Corruption: Department of Energy “Junk Loans” and Cronyism, Part One

By Christine Lakatos, Intellectual Conservative, 4/29/12

The most outrageous part of the House Oversight’s investigation:
Obama energy officials funded solar firms despite ‘junk bond’ ratings
from S&P; and Fitch.

While the media was “tripping out” over Energy Secretary Chu giving
himself “an A grade on controlling the cost of gasoline at the pump” during his testimony before a House panel last month, they missed the real scandal!

As insulting as that seems (especially since gas prices have significantly increased under Chu’s watch), Gene Koprowski of The Daily Caller
unleashed the most outrageous part of the House Oversight’s
investigation –– “Obama energy officials funded solar firms despite
‘junk bond’ ratings from S&P; and Fitch.” Koprowski detailed the
Department of Energy’s (DOE) lack of caution in backing hundreds of
millions of dollars in loans for “tainted solar power projects.” Also
documented are “other dramatic abuses at the green energy firms,” the
most egregious being those firms which, received DOE funding, went
bankrupt, “but not before paying their executives bonuses.”

In fact, the report
released last month by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
(led by CA Representative, Darrell Issa) “painted a startling picture
of mismanagement at the Department of Energy.” The most damaging is that
of the 27 loan guarantees under the 1705 program, of which the DOE
doled out in excess of $16 billion, “23 of the loans were rated “Junk
grade” due to their poor credit quality, while the other four were rated
BBB, which is at the lowest end of the ‘investment’ grade of
categories.” According to Issa’s Team, the DOE’s 1705 loan portfolio
overall average was BB-.” Now, I’m no financial guru, but I wouldn’t
want that grade on my report card.

So why did the DOE back so many high-risk investments, particularly at a time when we are drowning in tsunami of debt?

In a gripping line of questioning,
Ohio Representative Jim Jordan confronted this issue head on during
that same hearing where he pressed Secretary Chu on nine of the firms
that received loans, revealing their political connections. Chu
countered that the loans were based on merit. Yet Jordan was perplexed,
“so if you weren’t helping your buddies, and you were basing your
decisions on the merits of the loan, how do you explain the fact that 23
of 27 recipients of the loan guarantees were rated as junk status
investments?” Jordan concluded, “If it wasn’t your political buddies, it
had to be incompetence.”

Finally, the probe into the DOE and how they “pick winners and
losers” for “green ventures” has gone in the right direction, however,
Congressman Jordan overlooked the fact that it’s not just nine –– it’s the majority of the 27 projects recorded by Issa’s Team.

Political buddies indeed –– 21 energy firms are behind the 27
projects found in the House Oversight investigation, and 18 of them are
politically connected to President Obama (15 alone) and the Democratic
Party, that’s over 85%! 13 were bundlers, donors, and supporters for Obama’s 2008 campaign, and two are members of the president’s Job Council, while three are allied to Senator Harry Reid –– all with ample other Democrat links in the mix.

Nevertheless, before Congress caught on, Peter Schweizer’s New York Times bestseller, Throw Them All Out –– released last November and featured on 60 Minutes, exposing the “permanent political class” and the insidious practice of “Congressional insider trading” perpetrated from both sides of the political isle –– devotes an entire chapter to alternative-energy,
“Spreading the Wealth… to Billionaires!” [But these are Obama's Billionaires!]Whereas, others players in
this clean-energy scheme are uncovered by Schweizer, this chapter digs
into a few of the major DOE programs operating under the stimulus,
including the tens of billions of dollars that was dished out through
the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program.

That’s right –– millionaires and billionaires got their fare share
of green funds! Interesting enough, Schweizer’s book divulged over half
of the energy firms listed in the Houses Oversight’s investigation, and
what’s astounding is that once again, the majority, 80%
of the DOE loans, grants and special tax credits, reviewed by
Schweizer, “went to companies with Obama-campaign connections or large
donors to the Democratic Party,” and that was as of September 2011!

As the president doubles down on clean energy –– all the way from his 2012 State of the Union address, to his2013 budget, and off to “algae pushing” –– many of the “green lottery winners” are bundling and campaigning for Obama again, including Secretary Chu, albeit with Hatch Act restrictions. And you can bet your bottom dollar that these large donors are banking on President Obama’s 2012 reelection victory, counting on more government subsidies.

Within the pages
of the House Oversight report, are disturbing charges –– backed up with
corroboration –– that range from poor to disastrous management, to bias
and favoritism, as well as wasteful spending, in some cases a series of
DOE violations, and how the DOE touted “misleading job creation
statistics.”

Even so, the DOE has come under fire by other federal watchdog
agencies, especially since their loan programs have significantly
expanded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which
was meant to stimulate the economy and create jobs. But now it has
become clear that it’s stimulating the pockets and securing jobs for those that have significant ties to the Democratic Party and the White House –– “green cronies.”

Political buddies indeed –– 21 energy firms are behind the 27
projects found in the House Oversight investigation, and 18 of them are
politically connected to President Obama (15 alone) and the Democratic
Party, that’s over 85%! 13 were bundlers, donors, and supporters for Obama’s 2008 campaign, and two are members of the president’s Job Council, while three are allied to Senator Harry Reid –– all with ample other Democrat links in the mix.

Nevertheless, before Congress caught on, Peter Schweizer’s New York Times bestseller, Throw Them All Out –– released last November and featured on 60 Minutes, exposing the “permanent political class” and the insidious practice of “Congressional insider trading” perpetrated from both sides of the political isle –– devotes an entire chapter to alternative-energy,
“Spreading the Wealth… to Billionaires!” Whereas, others players in
this clean-energy scheme are uncovered by Schweizer, this chapter digs
into a few of the major DOE programs operating under the stimulus,
including the tens of billions of dollars that was dished out through
the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program.

That’s right –– millionaires and billionaires got their fare share
of green funds! Interesting enough, Schweizer’s book divulged over half
of the energy firms listed in the Houses Oversight’s investigation, and
what’s astounding is that once again, the majority, 80%
of the DOE loans, grants and special tax credits, reviewed by
Schweizer, “went to companies with Obama-campaign connections or large
donors to the Democratic Party,” and that was as of September 2011!