In theWashington Free Beacon is an article entitled “Shovel-Ready in Europe,” a reference to President Barack Hussein Obama’s latest campaign advertisement that touts his jobs creation prowess through Department of Energy (DOE) loans. There are three problems with the ad. First, the ad mentions nothing about taxpayer money spent on failing or failed green energy companies. Second, the ad mentions nothing about taxpayer money spent on foreign owned companies and/or foreign manufactured goods. Third, it mentions nothing about the cost per job.
The ad claims to contrast Obama’s record with George Romney. It accuses Romney, during his tenure at Bain Capital, of having “shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China.”
So, with the ad’s accusation of Romney’s jobs performance, let’s examine how well Obama has done – with creating jobs, foreign jobs, and taxpayer money.
Ford Motor Company: Ford did not accept bail-out money, but it has received a $6 billion taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. And guess where it is expanding – China and India! Neither China nor India were, the last time I looked, within the US. But Obama is to be forgiven since he is a citizen of the world. The India plant will produce 5,000 jobs. No word on how many jobs Ford’s China expansion will create, but its vehicle production capacity will double.
Abengoa: the Spanish clean energy conglomerate got not one, but three taxpayer-guaranteed loans from DOE worth $2.78 billion, to build Mojave Solar, Abengoa Solar, Inc. (Solana), and Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas LLC. The Madrid-based conglomerate is valued at $25.5 billion, had a 2009 cash flow of $4 billion, and a net profit of $288 million. So why did Abengoa need a DOE loan? It didn’t, but got one anyway because of its ties to the Democrat party, including former vice president AlGore and Democrat lobbyist Mark Rokala. And how many permanent jobs were created for $2.78 billion? One hundred ninety five, or more than $14 million per job.
Fisker Automotive: Fisker received a $529 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. It originally tried to be profitable in a former GM factory in Delaware. Its Karma automobile is now built in Finland. And this the same Fisker whose Karma automobile caused a house firein Texas.
Babcock & Brown received $178 million from DOE. It filed for bankruptcy protection. And it is an Australian company!
Regarding the jobs to taxpayer money spent ratio:
Nevada Geothermal Power Company: it received over $160 million in federal grants and loans. It created 14 jobs, or $11.4 million per job. Further, Nevada Geothermal’s auditor said that he has “significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” So the question is are those 14 jobs permanent?
Cogentrix: the Colorado company received an $89 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. It created less than six permanent jobs, or about $16.4 million per job.
NRG Solar: the New Jersey company received a $1.2 billion taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. It created fifteen permanent jobs, or $80 million per job.
Record Hill Wind: the Maine company received a $102 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. It created eight permanent jobs, or $12.8 million per job.
Kahuku Wind Power: the Hawaii company received a $117 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. It created ten permanent jobs, or $11.7 million per job.
Regarding his management of taxpayer money:
Abound Solar: the Colorado company received a $400 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. It just fired 70% of its workforce and has filed for bankruptcy protection.
SunPower: the California company received a $1.5 billion taxpayer-guaranteed loan from DOE. It is reorganizing, cutting jobs. And guess whee SunPower built a production plant – Mexicali, Mexico.
First Solar: the Arizona company received $1.46 billion from DOE. It just cut 2,000 jobs, including 70 in the US, closed a factory in Germany, and idled four production lines in Indonesia.
A123 Systems: the Massachusetts company received $279 million from DOE. It shipped some bad batteries and is barely operating, cutting jobs.
Ener1: the New York company received $118.5 million from DOE. It has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Solar Trust of America: the California company received a $2.1 billion loan guarantee from DOE. It has filed for bankruptcy protection.
And that doesn’t count the $578 million that bankrupt Solyndra and Beacon Power got from DOE.
Green energy is nice, but … can we taxpayers afford it?
Isn’t it humorous (because we must laugh to keep from crying) that when a little research is done, that when, as (the late) Paul Harvey used to say “the REST of the story” is told, a contrasting picture emerges?
But that’s just my opinion.
“It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.” – Ronald Reagan