‘Green’ Energy Will Spark Jobs: Where Are They?
Many of us trust that the federal government is spending our hard earned tax money wisely, not making the risky investment bets that are better left to venture capitalists. Guess what America, that’s EXACTLY what President Obama’s administration has been doing with its effusive support for green energy companies. A CBS News report found there were at least 12 green energy companies which had received about $6.5 billion in federal loans and grants that are now facing financial trouble or have filed for bankruptcy. To make matters worse, it is uncertain whether the tax money used to help fund these companies will be recouped.
Some of these companies propped up by the federal government were already failing, yet the Obama administration STILL choose to give them millions of dollars of taxpayer money! Standard and Poor’s gave one of the companies a “CCC+” investment rating, worse than even a junk bond. Interestingly, some of the firm’s benefiting from these questionable taxpayer investments have been found to have political ties to the Obama administration, which may explain the government’s poor investment acumen.
To add fuel to the fire, President Obama has been endorsing these green energy companies on the tag line they will create jobs and help restore the American economy. In at least two cases the jobs created by these green energy companies have been overseas! First Solar—a company given $3.1 billion by the Obama administration—admitted in a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing that the majority of the company’s full-time jobs are overseas. The company only maintains a small presence in Arizona and Ohio—with just 280 jobs in Ohio.
Maybe this will cheer you up: your hard earned tax money–$529 million—went to helping to fund and manufacture an electric car battery; that’s it, $525 million spent just to research how to build and design a battery. Oh, I forgot to mention that in order to purchase the car you’re going to need $112,000! I’m sure in this recession there are many Americans thrilled that $529 million worth of taxpayer funded money was used to create a car that only half of the One Percent can afford. Fisker Automotive—the maker of this pricy electric car—is a part of the Obama administration’s energy/manufacturing initiative that will supposedly restore our economy. Well, if we spend $529 million on investing in the company and we can’t afford to purchase the product, we at least got some jobs out of it right? Wrong! Fisker may be a California based company, but they outsourced the manufacturing to Finland. Company founder Henri Fisker told ABC he had no other option, “There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle, and they don’t exist here”. Good work President Obama! President Obama needs to face the truth and own up to the mistakes and poor investments that he and his administration have made. The government is not a venture capitalist, free to use taxpayer dollarson high risk gambits and pet projects that continually fail to provide any return to the taxpayer.
