Fremont-Based Solyndra Goes Bankrupt; 1,100 Workers Laid Off

I don't believe anybody even cares that Solyndra left toxic junk all around and then went under. After all, does anybody care that GM's bankruptcy left hundred and hundreds of manufacturing plant acreage to be dealt with via Fed super funds? ... all the while, GM exec's fly in to Congress in private jets to beg them for money. Solyndra's damage is like a snow flake on the tip of the ice berg in comparison. As for the pittance of money lost by Solyndra ... again ... a snowflake on the tip of the ice berg. Or has everyone already forgotten about AIG ... the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history - some $61.7 billion. We already forgot about Mr. Cassano? In the aftermath, AIG not only allowed Cassano to keep $34 million in bonuses, it kept him on as a consultant for $1 million a month. In fact, Cassano remained on the payroll and kept collecting his monthly million through the end of September 2008, even after taxpayers had been forced to hand AIG $85 billion to patch up his f___-ups. I'm sorry - but giving Solyndra even an ounce of thought after letting the big fish swim away is akin to swallowing elephants, while you strain out the flies.

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They did have cool tech but the numbers weren't adding up due to the fast drop in conventional panel prices.

I'm just glad I got to take a tour of the Solyndra factory with other Electric Auto Assoc. members a week before they suddenly shut down.

 

It sure is in my city. I can buy panels + inverter for under $2/watt, but installation is $6/watt !

I have no idea how much the solyndra product might have shaved off installation costs. Was it based on less panel area to install ?

 

That is insane. Total cost should be no more than $6 / watt installed these days. Good crews can do it for $4.50-$5.00 / watt, so $6/watt just for installation is 2 times more expensive than it should be.

Solyndra panels don't need to be secured to the roof - just a bit of ballast is enough to keep them from blowing away in high winds. Installing racking is a big part of getting a PV system installed depending on the roof.

 

The installation companies can figure out the credits and subsidies as well as I can.

 

Excusing one misdeed because of another that preceded it just makes it easier to accept it happening again until the whole house of cards implodes.

 

+1

If you ask, the people upset about solyndra most likely were also upset by the gm bailout and/or the financial bailout. Solyndra looks like it always was a bad business plan propped up by environmental politics. This is made sadder by reports of the pollution.

GM did its bad before the bailout. It was in the case of too big to fail. At least the bailout kept jobs, you know bin laden is dead & gm is still alive. But the deal also stinks of crony capitalism with charges against both favors for the management and the unions. The deal was structured so the the government spent more money on gm. It looks like those employed people will pay taxes, which means its likely that net the government may have lost less money in the bailout, than in unemployment and other costs related to a failure.

Financial bailout really was too big to fail. The government policies seemed in place to create this public risk and private profit. This took the most money, but failure would have been highest for the economy. No one seems to be punished in government or the financial sector, and reforms have not been made. It seems likely these banks will be bailed out again. The occupy movement came from this problem, and it still gets people the most upset about our dysfunctional government.

Three screwups in government, just because solyndra was the least expensive doesn't mean it should be excused. It is yet another symbol that the government needs to be reformed. This came from the congress and the DOE.

 

Agreed (crony capitalism along with senseless spending are killing us), but I'm not so sure the good will ultimately outweigh the bad in the GM bailout. Still waiting to see the photos of Bin Laden's corpse, for the record. I've come to disbelieve most everything the govt. says over the course of the last decade.

 

The short term economic good outweighs the bad on the gm bailout. The economy would be worse off right now without it. I was against it, and still think the moral hazard of propping up failing companies with big ties to government may make worse things happen in the future.

I can't help you with bin laden

 

Obama didn't do any due dilligence on solyndra because this loan had already been promoted by the bush administration....just a thimble-full of sh*t in the mountain of sh*t that bush left behind.

Exclusive Timeline: Bush Administration Advanced Solyndra Loan Guarantee for Two Years, Media Blow the Story | ThinkProgress

 

Yeah, Think Progress like every other partisan blog distorts facts. The loan program was created under bush. Solyndra was pushed through without diligence by the Obama administration. They further politicized it with multiple press conferences telling what a success it would be. I don't think it would have been as big of a deal, but this was put forth as the way to create jobs, and it created unemployment. That article claims it was put forward because of donations to republicans, but we all know solyndra gave to both parties. That's what is typically considered crony capitalism. Millitary contracters also give to both parties Its not just a problem with this administration, its a problem with the way the government gives away taxpayer money. This was not an investment in green energy, it was payback for campaign contributions. Once the bad news was coming out, the government tried to prop up solyndra and gave it more money that we will never see back. How do we know it wasn't the bush administration that made the loan? The records show that the DOE under Bush voted against it, and many still there at the start of the Obama administration were against the loan. ThinkProgress, is more like lie about the past on this issue.

Say that the government had instead used the money to buy Chinese solar panels and give them away to Americans that put them up. That would have actually created the same number of temporary construction jobs, gotten rid of the layoffs, and built some usefull green energy. Hell they could have bought american solar panels for all I care, but why use a loan as risky venture capital to a company with an awful business plan if it wasn't for campaign contributions.

 

Nice post. I especially liked the line "Its not just a problem with this administration, its a problem with the way the government gives away taxpayer money."

 

Meanwhile the oil industry receives $6 billion to $12 billion every year in government subsidies. Where is the right-wing outrage about that example of waste and corruption, market distortion and social engineering?

 

It's showing up in the tea party movement. It's hard to believe, but many (former) republicans want to have no part of big corrupt government.

 

lol @ thinkprogress as some kind of truth sage.

Speaking of distortion, what is their tax burden? Then, we can get a more well-rounded idea of their expenditures.

HUFBAUER: Debunking the big-oil subsidy myth - Washington Times

The simple solution is to cut out all these loopholes, not showing favoritism toward any single industry or individual/family, but the law of unintended consequences will raise its ugly head.

 

Ha ha. That whole article is distortion.

Why would they need a manufacturing deduction to keep jobs in the USA when US law means they have to process US petroleum in the USA?

What people are actually trying to do is to stop oil companies from claiming royalties as taxes paid.