Democratic Party

Lawyers Who Backed Obama Advised on Failed Loan Programs

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 03/09/2012 - 08:13

Obama Invesco Last week NLPC reported that an international law firm, whose employees provided significant campaign support for President Obama, was paid $1.8 million from the stimulus to review and conduct “due diligence” for the Department of Energy’s suspended loan to Fisker Automotive, an electric vehicle start-up company. Fisker sent 65 workers to the unemployment lines.

Debevoise and Plimpton, which employs top Obama bundler and fundraiser David Rivkin, wasn’t the only largely Democratic law firm to reap such rewards. At least four other major law practices also analyzed DOE’s loan programs and its grantees – three of which gave large sums of money to the campaigns of President Obama and fellow Democrats.

Surprise! Another DOE Solar 'Bet' Produces Green Job Losses

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Thu, 03/01/2012 - 10:16

Yet another solar company that received loan guarantees from the Department of Energy has dismissed factory workers, lopping off 70 percent of its U.S. employees. Loveland, Colo.-based Abound Solar announced Tuesday it would lay off 280 workers at its production plant near Longmont, leaving 120 still employed. The start-up (2009) company attributed the cutbacks to the need for upgrades at the plant to manufacture more efficient solar panels, with plans to restore production levels and rehire most employees within six to nine months.

Obama-Supporting Law Firm Advised on Failed Fisker Loan

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 09:59

A123 logo

An international law firm, which gave substantial political donations to President Obama and fellow Democrats over the last three campaign cycles, received its own significant stimulus award to advise on a controversial Department of Energy loan transaction with a struggling electric vehicle manufacturer.

After Layoffs, Execs Get Big Raises at Taxpayer-Funded A123

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 21:05

A taxpayer-funded electric vehicle battery company, that is considered in great danger due to its dependency on troubled EV company Fisker Automotive, has awarded its top executives big salary increases despite a steep downward trajectory in its stock price.

Massachusetts-based A123 Systems -- which received $279.1 million in stimulus money from the Department of Energy, and up to $135 million in incentives from the State of Michigan -- boosted the base salaries of two vice presidents and its chief financial officer on February 8.

Energy Dept. Makes More Bad Bets with Taxpayer Money

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 01/13/2012 - 07:43

Chu photo As the U.S. government Venture Capitalist-in-Chief (and President) Barack Obama and his Department of Energy investment guru (and Energy Secretary) Steven Chu pour other peoples’ money into their favorite “clean” technology schemes, private backers appear to be following them off the cliff, “as publicly traded battery makers watched their stocks tank and their businesses stumble,” according to a Dow Jones report late last month.

Democratic National Committee Taps Crony Corporations

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Thu, 01/12/2012 - 10:25

Obama Invesco As Democrats struggle to raise funds to coronate President Obama as nominee in Charlotte, N.C. this September, the role of two crony corporations increases daily.

Bloomberg reported yesterday that the president’s re-election organization will consider moving his acceptance speech at the Democrat National Convention to Bank of America Stadium.

Taxpayers Take Hit as Solar Industry Implodes

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 09:48

In a year where Solyndra became the face of the solar industry’s chronic failures, even the holiday season could not prevent one last flurry of layoffs in 2011.

The Mountain Enterprise (based in Frazier Park, Calif.) reported over the weekend that First Solar, Inc. – which the media sometimes identifies as the largest solar company in the world – laid off half its employees on Friday at its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One project. The facility has been the subject of controversy in the local community over the effects it will have on land use, wildlife, and water usage.

Taxpayer-Funded Green Job Losses Easy as A123

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 12/02/2011 - 09:40

It’s another day, and another round of layoffs by a recipient of millions of dollars under the Obama Administration’s renewable energy initiatives, administered by the mismanaged Department of Energy.

This time the Recovery Act largesse – taken out of the hide of taxpayers – went to A123 Systems, Inc. The Massachusetts-based energy storage company was given $249.1 million to help launch two battery-manufacturing plants in Michigan. A123 also received grants and tax credits from the state that could total more than $135 million. In a separate federal grant as a subcontractor for another grantee, A123 received nearly $30 million for a wind energy storage project.

Should Duke Energy Shareholders Be Nervous About DNC Loan Guarantee?

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 08:10

Jim Rogers and windmill photo In March NLPC reported that Duke Energy guaranteed a $10 million loan to the Democratic National Committee to host its 2012 convention in Charlotte, NC – the utility’s hometown. Now Duke CEO James Rogers – who heads the fundraising effort as co-chair of the DNC host committee for the convention – is silent about how much money has been brought in so far.

Is Union Support Eroding for Obama, Democrats?

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 14:04

AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka and President Obama The Democratic National Convention next August will be held in Charlotte. It's a city without a single union hotel. And it's located in a Right to Work state, North Carolina. Union officials and partisans understandably don't like this. Yet the party's choice of convention site can be seen as a symbol of a growing rift between the party and the unions. Now the idea of a schism may seem unfathomable; union leaders, for all practical purposes, have nowhere else to go. And most rank and file still vote reliably Democratic.