During this tough economy, President Barack Obama is desperate to create new job opportunities. When his administration approved of a loan for the California solar panel maker, this was absolutely a factor. Under his administration, the solar panel makers (Solyndra) received a $535 millions dollar loan! The goal was not only to find an alternate(and environmentally friendly) form of energy, but to also create an estimated 4,000 new jobs for Americans. When The corporation then riled for chapter 11 bankruptcy after receiving $535 million in load gaurantees, this became knows as the “Solyndra Scandal”.
Obama with member of the Solydra team
President Obama is taking a ton of blame for this loss, with many people saying that his administration did not carefully examine the proposal before allowing the loan guarantee. According to the Washington Post, the Obama administration continued to send the corporation money after they had failed to pay back on the loan. Then there is another stance, where this whole process supposedly began while President Bush was still in office, and the whole thing was something that Obama stepped into and had to take care of. Either way, it doesn’t look good on either side, and to lose $535 millions dollars during a time when America is suffering financially is certainly going to stir a debate.
Take a look at this video to get a better idea of the whole scandal from the press’ point of view:
One thing I read on one of my classmates blogs, was how this has turned into nothing but a political argument. I was really inspired by their point of view, and I think it’s important to emphasize this fact even further. What we need to be more focused on is the issue we are facing each and every day…global warming! This is a very real situation, and if we don’t act soon things are going to get a lot worse.
Politics, as we all know, can be a dirty game. Obama and his administration lost a substantial amount of money. This is a quote I found in an article for the Chicago Tribute, and I think it sums up this whole mess in just a couple of sentences: “Obama and Vice President Joe Biden got a nice photo op. They got to make speeches about being “green.” But then Solyndra went bankrupt. Americans lost jobs. Taxpayers got stuck with the bill. And members of Congress are now in high dudgeon and making speeches.”
What are your thoughts? Are you frustrated that the Obama administration lost half a billion dollars when this country is already in debt? Or do you respect that he was actually trying to create jobs in this tough economy while in search of an alternate form of energy?
Sources:
The New York Times
The Washington Post
The Chicago Tribute
Wikipedia