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Solyndra - The Obama connection
I wrote about the solar panel manufacturer Solyndra last week; "Government Investment Disaster in the Works" I highlighted all of the negatives that the company was facing.
It was pretty clear to me that that company was facing trouble. But I had no idea that they would file Chapter 11 the very next day. (Sometimes you just get lucky)
I also made note of some scuttlebutt that George Kaiser (Oklahoma oil billionaire) was involved with Solyndra. I have been looking for a confirmation of this. Kaiser is an important link in this story. He is also a very big fund-raiser for Obama. He is often referred to as a “Bundler”. In this case that means he encouraged/pushed others to put up money for the big O’s campaign.
The Tulsa World filed a story Re the Kaiser connection earlier today. (What better place to get the news than a home town paper). Quotes from the TW article:
The bankruptcy filing indicates that Argonaut Ventures, an investment arm of the Tulsa-based foundation, holds almost 39 percent of Solyndra's parent, 360 Solar Degree Holdings Inc.
Okay, so who is behind Argonaut Ventures?
In an emailed statement to the Tulsa World, a representative of the George Kaiser Family Foundation said the organization made the investment through Argonaut.
So the family foundation was the source of the money that got Solyndra going. But George Kaiser tried to distance himself from this very ugly story. A quote from a Kaiser “spokesperson”:
"George Kaiser is not an investor in Solyndra and did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. government regarding the loan".
Interesting that Kaiser is doing his level best to distance himself from the stink. But it does not work for me:
George Kaiser is chairman of BOK Financial Corp. and owner of Kaiser-Francis Oil Co. Argonaut is headed by Steve Mitchell, who also served on Solyndra's board of directors.
So Kaiser wants us to believe that the Family Foundation he runs invested some $300mm of the families “excess cash” and he did not really know about it. The guy who is running the family’s investments (Steve Mitchell) is also sitting on the board at Solyndra. And we are supposed to believe that George Kaiser was just a passive investor? Not a chance.
We have Mr. Kaiser on the record on this. Again, his words:
“George Kaiser did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. government regarding the loan".
He never spoke to Obama about this? Not even once? Not even when Obama went (twice) to the company’s manufacturing offices in Pa and CA? I don’t believe that denial.
There is one very slippery fact that I am wondering about. It has to do with subordination. This a legal issue on who gets paid first in a bankruptcy. In all cases the equity is last on the list. But that is not the situation with Solyndra/Kaiser. From Bloomberg:
In February, Solyndra and its lenders reorganized the company’s debts, putting the U.S. loan behind $69.3 million owed to other lenders, including an affiliate of Solyndra’s biggest shareholder, Argonaut Ventures.
This kind of stuff is not supposed to happen. The equity interest of the Kaiser family got a preference as to the right of repayment from Solyndra. Kaiser got in front of the line. He got in front of the US Government’s $528mm IOU from Solyndra. Kaiser got in front of the interests of the American taxpayer. There had to be some very serious arm-twisting going on in the background to achieve this feat.
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I’ve looked at the BK filings. The company is going to sell its assets in an effort to pay of all creditors. The question is who gets paid first and what are the liquidation proceeds.
Solyndra had lousy technology. There are tons of flat panel manufactures left standing. Whatever Solyndra has for sale is not going to be worth much. I’m guessing around 20 cents on the dollar from book. The company has listed $859mm of assets. By my calculation the cash value will be under $200mm.
There are employee claims that come first. Next in line come trade creditors. Then comes the senior unsecured debt owed to Argonaut. The lawyers (There are a ton of big shots already involved) will get their pound of flesh. That leaves next to nothing for Uncle Sam. The taxpayers are going to take it in the ear for $400-500 million.
This story will hound Obama. His campaign got big bucks from a guy who ended up costing the Feds a very big penny. This is a story that could drag Obama down. He either has to step up and explain how this could have happened or he can say nothing. He has to provide some clarity on the George Kaiser connection. If he chooses to keep mum on this mess he will have to face Congressional hearings for the next 18 months. There will be a story in the paper every week or so. The Republicans will see to it. This is a story that could turn an election.
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So, there's Walton money in the mix too, I see.
Good Catch
Solyndra stories are already being pulled from some sites.
Example: http://www.knssradio.com/print_page.php?contentId=8848787&contentType=4
Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:oHXLnfmnj-cJ:www.knssradio.com/print_page.php%3FcontentId%3D8848787%26contentType%3D4+%22george+kaiser%22+Fremont+%22May+26,+2010%22&cd=60&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
and soon everyone will forget about it ...
Speaking of forgetting about stuff, anyone remember climategate, you know, where all the climate change data was shown to have been forged? Yeah, that is not news either anymore.
Thanks for picking up the covers on how the elite play - with our money! I so hope this story gains traction. It would not much surprise me if Obama knows very little about this - but I'd bet Emmanuel does. He knows who is buttering his bread. Congrats on the scoop Bruce. Good work.
Crony Capitalism bitchezzzzz
Obama's a genius, no president has ever lost a half billion on one startup before.
Nor an AAA rating. Will go down in history, he will. And not for all that stuff he did* which won him a Nobel Peace Prize.
* The details escape me just currently for some reason.
The Messiah won the Nobel Peace Prize for what he might do. Maybe the NFL should just award the Lombardi Trophy at the beginning of the season to a favorite team for what they might do during the season.
Well, Zero hasn't attacked Iran....yet...which has discomfited the Israelites. Absolutely and for sure he deserve(d)s the Dynamite Prize.
unions (including public unions) vs. non union citizens.............looks like the makings of a messy civil war
In other words, Us vs. Us. Funny how the fight is never against the real them, but their assembled herds.
Makes me wonder if the unions will come out to play at tea party events. Now that'll garner some MSM coverage, although the slant might be from a strange angle.
Easy, reorganize Solyndra, install their solar panels on the Chevy Volt, and two screw ups are fixed for the price of one.
I mean, EVERYBODY wants a gas powered electric car designed by the government with solar panels sticking out everywhere,...right?
Man, if they just thougt of it in time, the Yugo would have been a hit.
I bought a Yugo 45 once. I forgot where I parked her and thought, Oh fuck it and then bought a Golf GTi.
Ah yes the yugos. You overlooked the Geos.
Now those wee Golfs... Brakes like a stone wall and a engine that does not know the upper limit. One of the better cars to do commute battle against the BMW's and Audis of the time.
If this is coming out so easily, it is part of a a plan to heave Obama over the side. If the story blows up quickly, it will just mean a primary run by Hillary. Notice how she has stayed conveniently out of the economic mix these 3 years. She is the savior who will come riding in with a primary run. Watch for it.
TPTB don't like upheavals, surprises, etc. They'll help bury the story or explain it away. Imagine if Obama was as reviled as Nixon and had to step aside...the results are a bit unpredictable. Wouldn't Hillary be painted with the same brush as part of his admin? What if people rushed to back a "reformer" like Russ Feingold, Jerry Brown, or who knows who else? And that's what the TPTB fear. An Obama crash landing throws too many unknowns into the mix. Big banks, big oil, and even big media want the show to go on more or less as it always has. Otherwise, the WSJ would have broken this story. Or FOX News. For now, they'll continue to sweep it under the rug. It could turn out as you say, but I think it's unlikely.
I don't believe they'll heave him yet (too much invested with potential for high returns). To me, it's all about the quality of P/TOTUS sophistry. As long as neither of them fuck up massively, Obummer's backers will continue to play their hand as dealt. Start screwing up (like the Bernank directly answering RP's "Is gold money?" question), and then we will finally hear the name Larry Sinclair on the MSM.
There's no doubt though that Hillary is waiting for a chance to take him out. Allegedly, there is a sizable segment of her minions who are salivating for payback in regards to the previous primaries.
And just in time, here's one of the Hillary minions I mentioned, showing up at HuffPo, of all places.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-ostroy/why-hillary-clinton-must-_b_95...
OMG, imagine the theatrics if da ObamaNation has to fend off the Wicked Witch for the nomination.
hmmmm........wonder if Rush would re-engage Operation what's-it's-name? to help the WW again? Could be quite a show folks.
Lord, please make it happen. Get some popcorn and settle in for a wild ride.
But TOTUS primary driver has gone on to his greater reward. Gonna' b rich! So TOTUS will be on the fifth string driver. We'll see tomorrow night before the Big Event. - Ned
Leo? Where are you?
Just look for Paul Krugman, Obummer or Ben Bernanke savagely ramming it home, and Leo will be the one bent over in front of them, with a smile from ear to ear, and moaning "Lord Keynes lives! I believe! I BELIEVE!"
Them there's Barry Bars!
Not cell bars, wb7, but golf clubs. Cell bars are the last thing that someone in his position wants to consider.
Now THAT's funny, right there.
+1
hey william how do you insert images into your post?
You have to have contributor permission.
ok. I thoght so. tried html code and many other tricks. nothing worked. :)
i must apologize, this is all the fault of janus (as usual)
i once posted an HD pic of cheney's face -- i mean, it was a glimpse into corpuscular HELL.
anyway, long story short, ZH lost 1/3 of their readers to a bizzare psychological abberation akin to your garden variety catatonic shock, and at first, no one thought anything of it...but then it kept getting worse; WAY worse! -- none have yet recovered; but, they'll be announcing the name for the new syndrome in this quarter's edition of the new england journal of med.
i think the leading candidate is "blinkered de la banzai" -- and i like the alliterative flow of the thing; but you know doctors and their fetish for latin. it'll probably end up being called, "ecce diablo" or something similar.
ego vobis valedico,
janus
...good story Bruce. However, Obungler will be president til 2016. ...disclaimer: I am not a US citizen nor resident...
I have to agree with the plaudits to you on this one. I'm certainly not your biggest fan, and the incessant POTUS bashing on ZH is getting tiresome.
Nevertheless, this looks like a solid story.
I'm waiting for an Obama supporter, anywhere, to provide a list of good things he's supposed to have done. They never do. I'm willing to give him credit for something if I knew what it was. But they just spend their time blaming Bush or something else like greedy capitalists, or call names in CAPS, just like Obama.
Bush sucked, but at least the unemployment was low, the economy was good, and Americans were not dying on US soil -- and they did it without groping 6 year old girls at the airport. Obama is making Bush look like a genius.
Fred:
Do you have something good to say about the Shill Barry what's his name? I really would like to hear something good. There is one promiss he made to the American people that he kept. He bought that dog for his girls. OTT is's been nothing but ODRAMA.
I'm guessing you don't like reading news from just about any source very much these days.
Thank God for HuffPo!
/sarc
I have to confess, the more I learn the more I bash the entire succession of presidents right back to FDR. I love to bash him, and will bash his successor even more, regardless of which crooked politcal party he or she slithered out of.
They all deserve it.
Then back to Wilson (save Coolidge) and I'm good with your list. - Ned
[Ed. RR is excluded for non-financial reasons.]
I'm sure the Republicans want to make a story out of this, but it's just business as usual in DC. How far did we get with investigating Enron, Halliburton, and Blackwater? Nowhere. How are we doing policing Wall St? Not so good.
And even if this dogs Obama for 14 months, we'll still get a choice between him and one of the Republicans you'll see in the debate tonight. If you can lower your standards far enough, you can vote for one of these losers.
They all deserve to be bashed for corruption, but The Holy Messiah is getting a pass from the lamestream media
Severstal North America just got a VERY SIMILAR loan in July of 2011 for the purpose of.....AGAIN...building another state of the art plant. More business for construction unions. Severstal recently took a bath on North American investments. They lost on operations and lost even bigger on the sale of half their assets. But never mind that......we must continue to fund the unions.... Shovel Build projects for the unions. Lets see if this lona does any better, or will Severstal be dumping the rest of their assets as our steel market continues to get dumped on by the Chinese imports????!!!????
Good story Bruce, but this story will not go anywhere nor damage Obama. The media will not play it. Good that we have you to tell us.
If anyone has not noticed ZERO HEDGE has produced nothing about the outrageous speeches of Jimmy Hoffa and Obama at the Labor Day meeting. Drudge, ABC, and Fox were the only play. Where the hell is/was ZH?? War, go after the sons of bitches (tea party republicans). The only thing in my life time that I can think of that is as bad is the anti-Civil Rights crazy Democrats yelling and beating up(and killing) the marchers.
This is worth knowing about.
What good does it do to get indignant just because some fat commisar said he's our enemy? That's not exactly news. But, if alarming news will make you happy, here it is:
News Flash! This just in...AFL/CIO/SEIU, Eli Lillie, Monsanto, General Electric, federal government and a consortium of TBTF institutions issue joint statement saying all serfs must enjoy their flat screen tvs, work hard and be happy they have running water. Statement closes with wise advice, "watch TV, have some microwave burritos, quietly enjoy the little things and quietly submit to assimilation."
In a related story, the DHS Secretary released the newest campaign, "Get in Line and Stay in Line". The DHS Secretary spoke on the matter at a press conference. "This campaign is essential to combating terrorism and ensuring that the American way of life continues...for those that matter at least," it said, adding, "I'm not an ogre. Look, Shrek is a completely different shade of green."
You think party politics still matter, onlooker? The only people up in arms are the partisan, tea party hangers-on on syndicated national radio. This is nothing new, and it changes nothing. MSM won't cover it. It won't wake the sheeple up, though it should. Prepare to defend yourself. Sorry for ranting, but I'm in a weird and savage mood. An afternoon of zeroing rifles, Oban, Hoppes No. 9 vapor and filling 5.56 stripper clips will do that to a guy.
Oldtrooper any links to those qoutes
No one cares about Hoffa.
This site is about things financial. It best not turn into some stupid politics site, as there are a billion of those. Also, rank hyperbole in your last sentence.
Seriously--is the Tea Party gonna play the hysterically injured bitch now?
That just doesn't work for them. It's pathetic to see them trying to run it.
But they've always got them 2nd Amendment remedies to fall back on, I spoze.
They should just let it go, imo.
That darn constitution. It keeps getting in the way of you braindead 0bots. I'm sure your Holy Messiah will just trample over it
I don't demonize the Tea Party and I don't support Obama. But them getting a world class case of the vapours about this one is absurd.
Actually, I'm disappointed to see them play it out that way. I expect them to measure up to their public image as bad asses, at least.
It's cheap, imo.