The Obama administration turned over 432 pages of e-mail communications and other documents Friday to congressional Republicans investigating the collapse of the solar energy firm Solyndra, the White House said.
Posts Tagged ‘Solyndra’
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Conservatives are expressing outrage over Solyndra but the money involved in that 'scandal' is a tiny fraction of what the US spends on energy subsidies for oil, nuclear and coal. The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks down the numbers and gives some perspective. www.csmonitor.com
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Brian Williams was as cool as they come as sirens went off in the NBC Studios at Rock30CenterFellerLand–or whatever it’s called these days. Alarms go off and he stays cool and calm and keeps reading that ‘prompter.
I admire a news anchor who can keep his cool while flames may be sweeping across the anchor desk and mess up his hair at any moment, but excuse me if I don’t get all that excited having “been there, done that.” Actually, my suit was on fire. Watch this quick anchoring bit from a few years back (I’m the kid in the video) when a light blew in the studio during a live interview and lit up my suit. Boxing champ Virgil Hill thought I might spontaneously com-bust right in front of him, I did not, but I ruined a good suit. I kept going with the interview and was glad they gave me a clothing allowance.
NBC is hoping alarms go off with their viewers on Williams’ new show Rock Center (how’s that for a transition?) It’s the Monday night replacement for the cancelled Playboy Club, and the failed experiment with Jay Leno in the 10pm time slot. Seems NBC has still not recovered from losing Hill Street Blues, ER, Law & Order, and Texaco Star Theatre. Since Nightly News outdraws NBC’s prime time lineup, they have chosen to take Nightly News to prime time. Not a bad idea and it might even work because, through their programming, the other networks are trying desperately to help NBC get back into the game.
Rock Center has been a good show, I love the concept. They have reporters do expanded stories then come on set and talk about the “back story.” Real reporters would love to tell more about the stories they have done, but remember, they will not be thrown any curve balls here. Choreography is still key. There is a lot of potential here, but also remember, it’s still NBC. Their immature child is MSNBC.
I’m still waiting to see Rock Center do an expose on the Fast and Furious and Solyndra scandals. They did two segments on the freak show at Penn State the other night, but still silent on the stories that point straight at White House corruption. Opening night they did a great story on the jobs being offered in North Dakota by the booming oil industry in that state, but failed to mention the road blocks the Obama administration has put in the way of expanding that industry during a time when energy and jobs are so badly needed. Hell of a “back story” there and plenty of space and time to provide context. I would like (seriously) to see this show reach it’s potential and not disappoint. My TiVo will keep recording and it won’t be doing it just for laughs, as it does The Chris Matthews Show on Sundays.
As for Fast and Furious and Solynda, if NBC is having a hard time finding a reporter on staff who will honestly do those stories, contact me, I know one. Jake Tapper is making you guys look silly night after night.
For that reason alone, alarms should be going off nightly at NBC.
Thankfully, most Americans were probably too busy with the holiday to read the preposterous editorial yesterday in the New York Times. The Grey Lady examined the Solyndra scandal and concluded Republicans are really off base for having the temerity to complain about throwing taxpayer dollars down a rathole in the name of enriching big Democratic donors:
In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Thursday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu took full responsibility for all decisions regarding the 5 million loan guarantee awarded to failed solar company Solyndra. “As the secretary of energy, the final decisions on Solyndra were mine,” he said, “and I made them with the best interest of the taxpayer in mind.”
But despite taking ownership of the debacle, Chu refused to take any of the blame. He did not admit to any wrongdoing on his behalf or that of the Department of Energy in general. When asked by Energy and Commerce chairman Fred Upton (R., Mich.) if someone should apologize for putting taxpayers on the hook for half a billion dollars, Chu simply said, “It is extremely unfortunate what has happened to Solyndra.”
To date, evidence uncovered by the committee, mostly in the form of e-mails, strongly indicates that 1) Solyndra’s financial condition was always very dubious, making it an extremely risky bet from the get-go, and 2) political considerations played a substantial role in the decision-making process throughout the DOE’s involvement with the company.
Keep reading this post . . .
After weeks of outrage over an ill-fated 5 million federal loan guarantee to Solyndra — a bankrupt, politically backed solar-energy company — you’d think Washington would back away from such boondoggles. Yet, there’s a good chance lawmakers will do it again, this time awarding a billion loan guarantee to an Ohio nuclear-fuel project that, like Solyndra, is almost certain to fail. But rather than being a liberal project to promote “green” energy and enrich Democratic donors along the way, this loan guarantee is an attempt of Ohio politicians — of both parties — to bring the bacon home to their swing state.
Rejected for a loan guarantee once back in 2009, the troubled United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), based in Maryland, has lobbied hard to get the Department of Energy (DOE) to reconsider their case. On October 21, USEC’s insistent pleading paid off: DOE announced it would spend up to 0 million to help USEC reduce the technical problems that forced DOE to reject USEC’s original application.
Keep reading this post . . .
The White House, under fire over loan guarantees to a solar energy company that filed for bankruptcy, sent 2,000 pages of email communication to Capitol Hill late Friday afternoon, a source familiar with the congressional investigation looking into the matter told CNN.
