Will Bustos Learn from the Democrats Solyndra Stimulus Disaster?

Illinois Democrat’s Washington Allies Remain Desperately Committed to their Fatally Flawed National Energy Policy

WASHINGTON --- Cheri Bustos' Washington Democrat allies promised jobs and energy independence when they passed their massive $800 billion stimulus, but it became increasingly clear that gambling with taxpayer dollars was going to cause more harm than good. Despite the obvious lessons learned from the unprecedented spending spree, would Bustos also cling to these failed stimulus spending policies like her prospective Democrat leaders after they gave Americans the Solyndra bankruptcy scandal and record-high energy prices?

“Cheri Bustos can now see exactly how her Washington Democrat leaders’ stimulus spending spree led to failures like the Solyndra bankruptcy instead of economic recovery and energy independence,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “With this in mind, will Bustos join her Democrat allies’ efforts to continue the same energy policies that gave Americans the $535 million Solyndra bankruptcy, record-high energy prices and broken promises?”

A former FBI agent hired to investigate the Solyndra bankruptcy concluded the Obama Administration was well aware of the risk when they decided to gamble with millions in taxpayer-funded stimulus loans:

“The Department of Energy was fully aware of the risks in backing Solyndra Inc., a start-up company that pocketed a half-billion dollar DOE loan but never turned a penny in profit before shutting its doors, concludes a former FBI agent hired to examine the company’s books…

“In fact, records show, the Energy Department supported the Solyndra financing in the early days of the Obama administration in the face of criticism from officials within several wings of government — the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Treasury and DOE. ‘This deal is NOT ready for prime time,’ one OMB employee wrote March 10, 2009, government emails show. Ten days later, energy officials announced Solyndra was in line to be the first company to secure a green energy loan guarantee.” (Ronnie Greene, “Department of Energy knew of Solyndra risks, former FBI agent finds,” iWatch News, 3/29/12)

And Democrats remained committed to their stimulus energy flops after they managed to achieve little except burning through taxpayer money:

“Week after week, Romer would march in with an estimate of the jobs all the investments in clean energy would produce; week after week, Obama would send her back to check the numbers. ‘I don't get it,’ he'd say. ‘We make these large-scale investments in infrastructure. What do you mean there are no jobs?’ But the numbers rarely budged.” (Jordan Weissmann, “There Are Way Fewer Green Jobs Than You Think,” The Atlantic, 3/26/12)