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As if it were his private stash
of
fun-money, Barack Obama set aside $80 billion of the Stimulus
boondoggle to artificially pump up the green-energy industry through a
DOE administered program of grants and loans. When three of the
companies that received funding, Solyndra, Beacon Power, and Ener1,
each declared bankruptcy in rapid succession, a rotten stench started
to waft from the DOE and the White House.
It quickly became apparent that there were
numerous close connections between many of these heavily government
funded businesses and Obama campaign supporters and operatives.
While the cronyism and corruption appeared extensive, until
recently no one had quantified the total extent of the cronyism and
corruption that existed.
Thanks to some extensive research
by the Washington Post, the magnitude of the scandal is
now better defined. Here’s what the WaPo found:
- $3.9 billion in
federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms
with connections to five Obama Administration staffers and advisers.
- Sanjay Wagle, a
venture capitalist and Barack Obama fundraiser in 2008, went to work at
the DOE in 2009, and guided $2.4 billion to companies in which his
former firm, Vantage Point Venture, had invested.
- David Danielson,
formerly of General Catalyst, joined a DOE mission to fund breakthrough
technologies and directed $105 million to three General Catalyst
portfolio firms.
- David Sandalow was
a highly compensated consultant in 2008 for Good Energies, a venture
capital firm, before becoming an Assistant Secretary at DOE in
2009. SolarReserve, a Good Energies investment, received a $737
million DOE loan.
- Steven Spinner, got
a job as an “adviser” at DOE after having been a campaign fundraising
bundler for Obama. Spinner’s wife worked for the global law firm,
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati that specializes in clean
technology companies. WSG&R clients garnered $2.75 billion in
DOE loans, including the now infamous $535 million for Solyndra.
- Steve Westly – an
Obama campaign fundraising bundler in 2008 and 2012 – was the founder
of the venture capital firm, the Westly Group, and an adviser to DOE
Secretary Steven Chu. Westly Group portfolio companies received
$600 million in funding through the green-loan program.
- David Prend
is Managing General Partner at the Boston based venture capital firm,
Rockport Capital Partners. Prend also chaired a solar
technologies advisory panel for the DOE, and had close ties with Energy
Czar, Carol Browner. The DOE pumped $550 million into various
Rockport Partners supported firms, not including Solyndra in which
Rockport Partners was a 7.5% stakeholder. The DOE also funded
electric-car battery company, Ener1 – a partner with Rockport portfolio
car company Think - with a $118 million loan.
[Full article]
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