Solyndra Was Asked to Delay Layoff News Till After Midterms, Memo Says

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Energy Department asked the Solyndra solar equipment company to delay an announcement about impending layoffs until after last year’s midterm elections, according to a memo by the Republican staff of the House subcommittee that will call the energy secretary to testify Thursday about a government loan to Solyndra.

The Republican memo quotes from an e-mail written by a staff member at Argonaut, a venture capital firm that was a major investor in the company, that says of the Energy Department, “They did push very hard for us to hold our announcement of the consolidation to employees and vendors to Nov. 3rd.” The midterm election was Nov. 2.

“Oddly they didn’t give a reason for that date,” the committee staff quotes the e-mail as saying. The e-mail itself was not released, and no government e-mail requesting a delay has been found.

A spokesman for the Energy Department, Damien LaVera, asked about the e-mail, did not dispute the report, which he said referred to the timing of a press release. But, he added, “as the 180,000 pages of documents that the Department of Energy turned over to the committee indicate, the department’s decisions about this loan were made on the merits, based on extensive review by the experts in the loan program — and nothing in this Republican committee memo changes that.” The memo makes two other points that, if confirmed, would support the Republicans’ position that the $535 million loan guarantee was rushed through and handled badly.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/us/politics/solyndra-was-asked-to-delay-layoff-news-till-after-midterms-memo-says.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimespolitics&seid=auto

[emilyg]

1. knr

[tcaudilllg]

2. Alas, boom and bust tends to be how Democrats do business.

They introduce a new product, make a killing, and go under as conservatives enter the market and create variations. The original company eventually sells to an established company, most of its workers get laid off, and the CEOs make a killing. Then they take their profits and play boom and bust all over again.

Just as they will (or have) with Solyndra.

[Grassy Knoll]

3. It could be worse.........

WMD's not found , which cost us a hell of a lot more than 1/2 a million dollars and a few thousand lives.
A very sad report from the " I Don't Remember yesterday" Or "Chose Not To Remember" Morans.
But Lets put this on Obama, because Bush approved of this loan.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. Oops....

Stupid, stupid, stupid move.