Is Daley's Sudden Departure Linked To Solyndra Probe?

The Hill

Excerpt:

The House Republican leading the investigation into the Obama administration’s $535 million Solyndra loan guarantee alleged Tuesday that White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley resigned in part because of the GOP probe into the failed solar company.

“I understand his desire to leave the White House given the seriousness of this and other investigations marring the integrity and credibility of this Administration,” Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative panel, said in a statement.

Stearns, who is heading up a months-long Republican investigation into the Solyndra loan guarantee, said Daley “has lead the Administration’s obstruction” of the probe.

Continue reading...

---

In a related story:

Obama to visit EPA to thank employees

Note: Remember that Brad Abelow (Jon Corzine's right hand man) is the Chair of the EPA finance committee and prior to joining MF, Abelow was a founding partner of NewWorld Capital Group, a private equity firm investing in businesses active in environmental opportunities (alternative energy, energy efficiency, waste and water treatment, and environmental services).

Comments

[DailyBail]

Thanks john for your work on this story. Here's a link to Daley's original hiring.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47151.html

[DailyBail]

Philly Fed revision shows why not to overreact

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philly-fed-revision-shows-why-not-to-overreact-2012-01-12?link=MW_home_latest_news

[DailyBail]

Credit card charge-offs declining: Equifax

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/credit-card-charge-offs-declining-equifax-2012-01-12?link=MW_home_latest_news

[DailyBail]

U.S. sells 10-year debt at lowest-ever yield

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-sells-10-year-debt-at-lowest-ever-yield-2012-01-11?Link=obinsite

[DailyBail]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-beige-book-is-more-upbeat-about-economy-2012-01-11?Link=obinsite

Fed's Beige Book is more upbeat about economy

[DailyBail]

Home Depot to hire 70,000 seasonal workers

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-depot-to-hire-70000-seasonal-workers-2012-01-12

[George Forfa]

Pretty strong words in that article. Through decades of debate about trickle down economics vs. wealth redistribution, there has been one constant. Something trickles somewhere, and wealth does get redistributed. People get tired of watching politically well connected people stealing from each other, and the public.

http://georgesblogforum.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/the-daily-climb-2/

[DailyBail]

Bankrupt Solyndra seeking to pay bonuses

http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/11/bankrupt-solyndra-seeking-to-pay-bonuses/

It's not a lot, as you will read, but the principle of the matter...

[Cheyenne]

Similar to AIG's post-meltdown bonuses, which weren't that big either, Naturally Geithner defended paying execs of the biggest loser in corporate history. Geithner, whose education ended with a bachelors in Asian Studies, volunteered his bankrupt legal opninion that the bonus contracts had to be honored.

This country's leadership is worse than any natural disaster.

[john]

House Republicans extend Solyndra probe to Defense Department

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/207197-house-gop-extends-solyndra-probe-to-defense-department

Note: This situation extends to other areas of renewable energy and includes those of both parties and various State Government agencies. Stay Tuned.

[John]

Chu: Expect more loan guarantee failures

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/210081-chu-expect-more-loan-guarantee-failures

[snip]

Energy Secretary Steven Chu again warned Friday that more recipients of Energy Department green technology loan guarantees will likely collapse even as he touted the strength of the program overall.

The warning comes as many Republicans continue to assail the green-energy loan program as a risky use of taxpayer dollars.

[John]

Wind Power Panic: AWEA’s Last Stand (death spiral looms for taxpayer-dependent industry)

http://www.masterresource.org/2012/02/wind-panic-awea-ptc/

[snip]

If you haven’t heard from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), you probably will.

Ominous, scary ads are running nationwide warning of the crushing blow to American jobs if Congress fails to extend the Production Tax Credit (‘PTC’), the 20-year ‘temporary’ subsidy most credited for market growth in the wind sector. The PTC is due to expire at the end of this year.

Most of the ads target particular House members who, so far, have resisted the industry’s demands for their PTC earmark. The pressure is particularly heated right now as Congress negotiates the payroll tax holiday bill, which is viewed by many as the last best chance to attach an extension of the PTC before November’s presidential election.

[john]

Key Solyndra scandal figure dodges cameras at DNC

http://news.yahoo.com/key-solyndra-scandal-figure-dodges-cameras-dnc-172016430.html

[snip]

Steven J. Spinner, a former Department of Energy official at the center of the Solyndra scandal that cost taxpayers $535 million, ran for the exits when he saw ABC News cameras at the Democratic National Convention.

[john]

Report: Solyndra backers could get more tax breaks

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/248269-report-solyndra-backers-could-get-more-tax-breaks

[snip]

Bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra said Friday it could get $23 million in additional tax breaks, a development that angered Republicans who have said the firm got a federal loan guarantee as a political favor.

Reuters reported that a bankruptcy judge said on Friday that Solyndra’s creditors could vote on the bankruptcy plan with the additional tax breaks. A final decision would come Oct. 17 -- just weeks before the Nov. 6 election.

Solyndra already had disclosed it could be eligible for $341 million-worth of tax breaks.

The revelation that more tax breaks could be in the offing bought charges from Republicans that the loan guarantee to Solyndra, whose venture capital backer had ties to the Obama administration, was spoils for support.

“One year after Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, we continue to learn the ugly truth of Solyndra’s sweetheart restructuring deal,” House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said in a Friday statement to The Hill.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to dispute the bankruptcy plan, Reuters noted.

The Energy Department (DOE), which is in charge of the loan guarantee program, referred The Hill to the Justice Department (DOJ) on the matter. DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The news comes as the House is set to vote on the “No More Solyndras Act” next week. The bill would sunset the clean energy program that awarded the California company a $535 million loan guarantee in 2009.