Obama defends Solyndra loan as emails reveal early concerns

President Obama meets with Arnold Schwarzenegger, then governor of California, at Solyndra's construction site in Fremont, Calif., in May 2010.

/ Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

President Obama said Monday he doesn't regret touting the energy company Solyndra as a model for jobs and clean energy - even as new evidence suggests that White House officials were worried about the company before Mr. Obama visited it in May 2010.

The president, addressing Solyndra's failure in a Monday interview with ABC News, said his administration knew that "not every single business is going to succeed in clean energy," but argued that "if we want to compete with other countries that are heavily subsidizing the industry's future, we've got to make sure that our guys here in the United States of America at least have a shot."

"Hindsight is always 20-20, it went through the regular review process, and people felt like this was a good bet," Mr. Obama told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. He argued that "if you look at the overall portfolio of loan guarantees that have been provided, overall it's doing well."

An investigation into the August bankruptcy of Solyndra Inc., an energy company that produced solar panels, has raised questions about whether or not the White House adequately vetted the half-billion-dollar loan.

Reports have indicated that the Obama administration may have rushed a decision on the matter in order to be able to announce it officially at a press event, and critics have noted that at least one investor was a prominent fundraiser for the president.

On Monday, a memo released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee revealed that White House officials had expressed concerns about the future of the company well before the $535 million loan was made. Some had also argued that its failure could lead to an "embarrassing" situation.

"I am increasingly worried that this visit could prove embarrassing to the administration in the not too distant future," an official at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wrote in an email.

In the memo, which was prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and obtained by CBS News, OMB officials expressed concerns about Solyndra's ability to survive independently, and raised questions about the Department of Energy's loan monitoring process.

One OMB official specifically argued in an email that the DOE's loan monitoring system was "quite problematic."

"D.O.E.'s 'system' for monitoring loans is quite problematic (barely any review of materials submitted, no synthesis for program management, inherent conflicts in origination team members monitoring the deals they structured, etc) and does not seem to be a program priority," the Management and Budget official wrote in spring of 2010.

Indeed, after the independent company PriceWaterhouseCoopers audited Solyndra in March 2010, OMB analysts exchanged emails referring to the DOE loan monitors as "completely oblivious" to apparent issues regarding the company.

"DOE... has one loan to monitor and they seem completely oblivious to this issue -- and to make it worse it was the key thing I said they needed to watch," one analyst wrote.

The memo also reveals a private Solyndra investor questioning the government's investment in the company in a note to former chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers.

"One of our solar companies with revenues of less than $100 million (and not yet profitable) received a government loan of $580 million," the investor, Brad Jones, wrote in December 2009. "While that is good for us, I can't imagine it's a good way for the government to use taxpayer money."

"The allocation of spending to clean energy is haphazard; the government is just not well equipped to decide which companies should get the money and how much," he continued.

The emails suggest that in April of 2010 - a month before the president's visit to the company - some people within the White House knew that "bad days" were on the way.

"What's terrifying is that after looking at some of the ones that came next, this one started to look better," reads one email sent in April 2010, which refers to the Solyndra loan and others that followed. "Bad days are coming."

After it was resolved that Mr. Obama would pay a visit to Solyndra, one OMB official wrote, of the company, "Hope doesn't default before then."

Steve Westly, the managing partner of the Westly Group, raised concerns about the visit in a note to White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

"A number of us are concerned that the president is visiting Solyndra. ... [T]here is an increasing concern about the company because their auditors, Coopers and Lybrand, have issued a 'going concern' letter. ... Many of us believe the company's cost structure will make it difficult for them to survive long term," he wrote.

Westly added: "Could you perhaps check with DOE to make sure they're comfortable with the company? I just want to help protect the president from anything that could result in negative or unfair press. If it's too late to change/postpone the meeting, the president should be careful about unrealistic/optimistic forecasts that could haunt him in the next 18 months if Solyndra hits the wall, files for bankruptcy, etc."

Jarrett apparently responded to Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, who said he would look into the issue.

Nevertheless, Mr. Obama argued Monday that "some failures" were inevitable on the path to innovation.

"There are going to be some failures... and Solyndra's an example," he told ABC.

He added later: "The fact of the matter is, if we don't get behind clean energy, if we don't get behind advanced battery manufacturing, if we're not the ones who are creating the cars of the future, then we're not going to be able to make stuff here in the United States of America. And one of the most important things that I want to do over the next several years is restore a sense that America can manufacture, that we don't just purchase stuff from someplace else, that we're also exporting to other countries."

[NobamaNOW2012]

As the fourth quarter begins the market dive continues.......

One can only conclude that a majority of companies and consumers are on strike.

Got money in the bank?. Save it. Got equity in your home? Keep it Got an operations budget? re-examine it and contain costs...

Guess what America, that's what is happening. Consumers, Banks, and Corporations are not going to bail the Obummer administration out. Encouraging class warfare and crushing the individual entrepreneurial spirit won't work. Suing the banks and sending the NLRB out as your Trumpka in-your-pocket attack dog won't work either.

So we are just going to vent our rage online, vent in the lame scream media, vent to our friends on Facebook and YouTube, and most importantly we are going to WAIT while we vent.....................

As we wait we will save. Save money, save on expenses, save on reduced costs, save on postponed purchases, save with store brands, save with Amazon, save with Ebay, save with Craigslist, save with the local flea market, save with the sale of our "garage clutter", save with roommates, save with a downsize in autos purchased, save with the brown bag lunch, save by cutting cable tv, save by tele-commuting, and finally save with a downsize from the McMansion if it can even be sold.

Someday soon someone will come to the forefront to run against our current Clown in Chief.

When this person arises from the ashes of the current "felony stupid" administration (kudos to Rep. Issa) we will focus laser like on electing this person to undo this nightmare........ Money will pour into this challenger's Pay Pal connected coffers and the internet media will take center stage getting the word out. Internet enabled persons will continue to be at the forefront of the "new media" with their Smartphones, I-Phones, and other yet to be named on-scene live streaming capabilities. The new internet news reporters will surpass the traditional media in their raw unfiltered "truth of the moment" audio and video moments. This new norm is also a warning to all to be careful since NOTHING is off the record in these unscripted moments. YouTube is a blessing and a curse depending on which side of the screen you are on.

The punditry tells us we are scared, we don't like uncertainty, and we lack leadership.
Bulls**t...........we are enraged, we are certain, we are going to get real leadership in 2012 and it will not be coming from the Democrats.

November 2010 was a trickle, November 2012 will be a tectonic shift.

[spike54321]

You are right. His own DOE strongly advised against it, stating the compnay will be bankrupt in 2011. Despite knowing this, they go ahead anyway. That's not stupidity. that's finding a way to grease your donors palms. this man has no morals, be damned the half a bil. of OUR money he blew.
Now we find out that his 2 daughters were listed as senior staff on Michelles trip to Africa, all so the Obamas could let their kids travel on our dime, not theirs. These people care nothing about the American taxpayer. They cannot leave office soon enough.

[tsigili]

This is a man who NEVER accepts responsibility for anything. Even when it is OBVIOUS, that he is directly responsible.

[stn_sage]

With a HALF A BILLION DOLLARS of the taxpayer's money wasted,
this president should have something a little more substantive, explanatory, AND apologetic to say, '...than hindsight is 20/20...'!
What a tremendous waste of money!
Think of all the good things that money might have been applied to
but never will be?!
This is sad...very sad.

[tsigili]

Solyndra was corruption........pure and simple. It rests right on Obama's doorstep.

[longtree-2009]

obama's excuse, the 20-20 vision remark, applies to all including republicans and any past potus. in fact, it's a common excuse among all the people. obama should have owned up to the solyndra stupidity by saying he messed up or he made a bad decision. his remark is just empty rhetoric but the nation is used to it and sadly still swallows obama's bull pucky.

[wfw3536]

Sure it is easy for Obama to not regret giving them the money, it isn't his money. This just goes to show you how this president could care less about regular folks and how they are struggling to make ends meet and he throws away 500 million dollars and doesn't care. This company was in financial trouble long before the government gave this 500 million. It just goes to show you the incompetence of this administration .

[myIife2live]

Got news for you, Obama. You were warned not to lend. That warning was not hindsight. You lie, Mr. President, you lie.

[hairynews]

@newnameagain,

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian (founded 1821), is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format. Currently edited by Alan Rusbridger, it has grown from a nineteenth century local paper to a national paper associated with a complex organisational structure and international multimedia presence with sister papers The Observer (British Sunday paper) and The Guardian Weekly, as well as a large web presence.

The Guardian in paper form had a certified average daily circulation of 248,775 in July 2011, behind The Daily Telegraph and The Times, but ahead of The Independent.[2] According to its editor, The Guardian has the second largest online readership of any English-language newspaper in the world, after the New York Times.[3]

Founded in 1821, the paper identifies with centre-left liberalism and its readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion. The paper is also influential in design and publishing arena, sponsoring many awards in these areas.

The Guardian has changed format and design over the years moving from broadsheet to Berliner, and has become an international media organisation with affiliations to other national papers with similar aims. The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, contains articles from The Guardian and its sister Sunday paper The Observer, as well as reports, features and book reviews from The Washington Post and articles translated from Le Monde. Other projects include GuardianFilm, the current editorial director of which is Maggie O'Kane.

According to Quarkbase, The Guardian was the most cited British newspaper on Wikipedia as of August 2009[update] with 106,424 citations. The Times was second with 52,457.[4]

[newnameagain]

Wikipedia word for word and it's still a rag

[newnameagain]

Yeah why would obozo care it was not his money let him put his money where his mouth is how much of his is invested in solar

[retm-w]

Then lets cut out all business loans including small business loans, lets cut all R&D and Grants to private companies,let's cut all subsidies to companies. Let's see how many on the right agree with that.

[seenoland]

OK, let's cut the grants, make R&D a simple tax deduction so the companies have skin in their work. Then let's cut R&D to universities, the amount of worthless studies with tax payer money could fill a football stadium and oly serves to line the pockets of "professors" who couldn't make a dime in the real world with their credentials.