If you need some shill stupidity to mock, David Atkins never disappoints:
Solyndra in a teapot
David Roberts at Grist has a great overview today of the Solyndra nontroversy, based partly on recent polling and focus groups. The upshot? Support for solar energy remains strong even among conservatives, and the non-scandal “scandal” is basically confined to the Fox News nuts
If all you knew about Solyndra came from David Atkins you might think conservatives were opposed to solar energy. To the best of my knowledge no one is trying to make that argument.
There are two main issues with Solyndra:
1. How did Solyndra get approved for a half-billion loan when there was ample evidence it was a bad investment? Was it incompetence or corruption? Were any laws broken and if so, by who?
2. What should be the government role in the development of alternative energy sources? Should the government stay out of it, fund research only or make huge loans to companies like Solyndra?
Both those issues are legitimate areas for investigation and discussion.
In regards to the former, the questions go beyond Solyndra:
Nancy Pelosi is facing accusations of cronyism after a solar energy project, which her brother-in-law has a stake in, landed a $737 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, despite the growing Solyndra scandal.
The massive loan agreement is raising new concerns about the use of taxpayers’ money as vast sums are invested in technology similar to that of the doomed energy project.
The investment has intensified the debate over the effectiveness of solar energy as a major power source.
The SolarReserve project is backed by an energy investment fund where the Minority Leader’s brother-in-law Ronald Pelosi is second in command.
PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund (East) LLC is listed as one of the investors in the project that has been given the staggering loan, which even dwarfs that given to failed company Solyndra.
Other investors include one of the major investors in Solyndra, which is run by one of the directors of Solyndra.
Steve Mitchell, who served on the board of directors at the bankrupt energy company, is also managing director of Argonaut Private Equity, which has invested in the latest project.
Since Solyndra has filed for bankruptcy has been asked to testify about the goings on at the firm by two members of the House and ‘asked to provide documents to Congress’
[…]
The project approval came as part of $1 billion in new loans to green energy companies yesterday.
Crony capitalism is the term for when success in business depends on close relationships between private businesses and government officials. It includes favoritism in issuing permits, awarding government grants, passing special tax breaks, and writing regulations.
If a businessman gave a politician $50,000 in exchange for receiving a $500,000 grant we would have no problem calling that bribery. Crony capitalism is more insidious because there isn’t always a “quid pro quo” or even a direct connection between the businessman and the politician.
Corruption is always an issue with government. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
The Crawdad Hole 
Spoony must have eaten paint chips as a kid.
It says “Short-Bus Captain” on his resume
I am sure that’s just a coinkydink. /
*Ahem*
I seem to recall a small group of vocal people, when the stimulus was first proposed, objecting to it on the grounds that it wasn’t really a stimulus, just a huge re-election slush fund. Who was that….?
Oh, yeah, that was a lot of US.
A better title for Spoony’s post would be “Solyndra in a Teapot Dome.”
Too bad it wasn’t the Republicans that did this. Then we could call it a controversy and demand a thorough investigation.
And of course, if the shady connections involved Reptilian pols instead of Dinocratic pols, the Spoonys of the world would be raising Cain, Abel, Seth, and Pharaoh’s drowned army about it, while the wingnut bloggers would be ignoring it or apologizing for it.
Either way, we the taxpayers are told just to shut up and BOHICA.
raising Cain, Abel, Seth, and Pharaoh’s drowned army about it,
😆
At least I left Sisera, Goliath, Haman, and Sennacherib out.
Although if I had included them, I would have needed to leave out Abel and Seth, since they weren’t OT villains.
Heh! I like that one too!
What, no Jezebel? Sexist! 😀
Shozbot! I forgot her and her hubby Ahab! 😮
Oops, I forgot Delilah as well–although whether she is villainess or heroine depends entirely on whether you’re rooting for the Israelites or the Philistines. She was a Philistine woman, after all; I reckon the Philistines saw her as a patriot.
I love Delilah! Undercover secret agent!!!
If you switched out the names of the green companies for purveyors of new oil or gas technologies, and this happened under a Republican, the left would be having a collective heart attack.
Yeah, the Bush administration gives billions in loans to some companies developing new shale or oil sands or nuclear technology, and a big chunk of them are curiously big R donors. Oh, and the donors get preferential treatment over the taxpayer when the company goes bust. Oh, and it appears everyone knew ahead of time the companies would go bust, but Bush gave them the money anyway.
I’d be yelling my head off, same way I did over Cheney’s secret energy deals (which BTW Obama voted for, and Hillary did not.)
Spoonmuffins is full of shit. This is the same old crony capitalism with a nice shiny “Greenwash” slapped on it. Calling something “green” does not make it automatically moral and pure and above reproach, or even viable. Acknowledging that reality does not make one opposed to alternative energy. These people are fucking idealistic children who believe in unicorns. Except for Spoonycheeks, who I’d wager knows exactly what kind of bullshit is being peddled to the true believers.
Spoony has a PhD in bullshit
(Piled higher and deeper)
True story.
… or if this happened under a Clinton, you can bet you’d hear screaming from these same fauxgressives.
Biden’s Solyndra speech:
“Let Joe be Joe” what could go wrong? I look forward to his brilliant campaigning.
That this is not all over the headlines here in the US and the lead story on every news broadcast tells.
Argonaut- the same one with the Obama bundler Kaiser- who already lost all that Solyndra money. Seems the firm needs a name change from private equity to tax teat sucker.
You really have to wonder how much longer the MSM can largely ignore “Fast and Furious”, Solyndra, and now this one. Sooner or later they should be shamed or forced into reporting on it. It’s too far til the election to hold out.
Yup. The story is how the MSM is burying the story.
If they ever do report it then Spoony will promptly declare it is a “nontroversy”
“how much longer the MSM can largely ignore “Fast and Furious”, Solyndra, and now this one. Sooner or later they should be shamed or forced into reporting on it.”
Then it would become a big grown-up scandal. MSM isn’t drumming it much now, so it’s just a little wannabee scandal.
Support for solar energy remains strong even among conservatives, and the non-scandal “scandal” is basically confined to the Fox News nuts
If all you knew about Solyndra came from David Atkins you might think conservatives were opposed to solar energy. To the best of my knowledge no one is trying to make that argument.
=============
Er, Atkins just that even the conservatives were not arguing against solar energy per se.
That’s what “support for solar energy remains strong even among conservatives” means.
Hope he’s right.
Did you read the rest of what myiq posted? About the conflation of support for solar energy with the Solyndra scandal?
Atkins does a nice little dance. Whether or not Solyndra is a scandal has nothing to do with whether one supports solar energy. He’s the one who is trying to conflate the two.
Atkins line of reasoning goes:
1) Most people still like solar energy
2) Solyndra is solar energy
3) See? NONSCANDAL!!
Some people don’t grasp the concept of “petulant clown.”
I try not to grasp any part of that.
I try not to grasp any part of that.
Good idea. Otherwise you’ll need to get shots.
Joe being Joe We own this crappy economy. This probably won’t go over too well with the White House 🙂
WTF with this photo courtesy of Frank Bruni on FB, if you can see it.
Ewww!!! Though not as vomit-inducing as this one that I remember well:
LMAO. I passed that along to c4p last night and it got a lot of laughs and someone posted this collection of unphotoshopped photos:
http://conservatives4palin.com/2011/09/open-thread-79.html#comment-323370600
Peggy Noonan has a strong piece up. A troubled nation needs a real leader, not a storyteller.
Noonan was the one who called Palin’s VP nomination “bullshit.” I’m not sure what her ideal candidate would be.
Usually don’t read her, and she’s been kinda off lately anyway. But this essay is one of her stronger efforts in the past year imo.
“Storyteller” is the perfect description for Obama. Here in the South, it means liar. Reminds me of when I was a little kid trying to lie my way out of trouble and my mother would say “You’re not telling a story, are you?” when she knew damn well I was.
Solyndra looks like real corruption, they can not sweep in under the rug without more investigation. When BO does direct stimulus (beyond the middle class tax cuts), he needs to do it like FDR during the Great Depression, not like Chicago under Daley. Trust in government is at an all time low, and BO is making it worse. As a result we have more loons at the margins saying get rid of all government, that will solve our problems. As if things were that simple.
Word is, in the rush to pass out even more solar company loan guarantees before the deadline, Dept of Energy has given around $700 million to Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law’s company in California. Ya know, like THAT isn’t bad optics.
Jaysus. They haven’t learned a thing.