Zero Hedge has an interesting post about a solar panel company called Solyndra.
I, like many people, think solar panels are neat. So are giraffes. As soon as they make financial sense I’ll have them on my roof (the panels…not the giraffes). Unless you live ten miles from the power grid (or in the savanna of Kenya) both are really cool ways to spend a lot of money for very small return.
Since I dwell in reality, I spend my own money. I’d like solar panels but they make no sense…so I’m not spending my money on them. I cut firewood with a chainsaw…that actually makes sense. (And I bought the chainsaw with my own money too. See how that works?) I’m also too cheap to buy a pet giraffe.
However, the government spends other peoples money. How cool is that! There is nothing so stupid that it’s not fun to subsidize with someone else’s money.
Solyndra got some of the bullshit jackpot stimulus money flushed handed to anything politically popular carefully chosen companies. Specifically a $535,000,000 loan. Notice that the bank won’t give me $535,000,000 for a giraffe herd. Then again I wouldn’t take such a loan because I stick with the quaint notion of paying my debts. I miss out on all the fun.
On May 2010 Obama flew to Solyndra’s factory to tout the success of his super cool spend money like it’s on fire stimulus plan. Fifteen months later Solyndra is bankrupt. That’s a total flush of a half billion dollars. Obama got a photo op, the taxpayers took it in the shorts, and I didn’t even get a giraffe steak.
Zero hedge has a 2 minute video of our brave president giving speeches at the Solyndra plant. You should watch it. It’s extra super special to watch knowing that the company sucked down a cool half billion and lasted fewer months than an average teen idol star.
I wonder if we’ll see Obama back there for his re-election campaign? Now that’s something I’d pay good money to see!