Solyndra scandal exposes the lie of government 'investment'

By: Examiner Editorial | 09/17/11 8:05 PM

Beware of a company that claims it can make widgets for $10 each, sell them for $8 apiece, and then "make up the losses on volume." No banker or venture capitalist would invest in such a foolhardy scheme. But substitute "solar panels" for widgets and that is exactly what Washington's professional politicians and career bureaucrats did with $535 million in loan guarantees for Solyndra LLC, the now-bankrupt California company that was the centerpiece of President Obama's "clean energy future." The funding came from Obama's $859 billion economic stimulus program. Ultimately, Solyndra may prove to be the only Energy Department loan guarantee that explodes into a scandal rivaling Teapot Dome or Credit Mobilier for venality and abuse of the public trust. However, there are at least 16 more such loan guarantees worth in excess of $10 billion, all approved by the same cast of characters at the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for the current mess. And many other federal departments and agencies have provided billions of dollars' worth of loan guarantees, so nobody should be surprised if Solyndra is only the first of many similar outrages under the Obama economic stimulus regime.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2011/09/solyndra-scandal-exposes-lie-government-investment#ixzz1Yq6ObGgI

US disbursed $601m to dead people, report says

By Ed O’Keefe Washington Post / September 24, 2011

 

WASHINGTON - The federal government pays out millions of dollars to dead people each year, including deceased retired federal workers, according to a report.

In the past five years, the Office of Personnel Management has made more than $601 million in benefits payments to deceased federal annuitants, according to the agency’s inspector general. Total annual payouts range between $100 million and $150 million.

Inspector General Patrick McFarland, who previously reported on the improper payments in 2005 and 2008, urged the agency to more closely track such mistakes.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/09/24/us_paid_dead_people_601_million_over_past_five_years_report_says/