Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
I know I probably shouldn't bring it up; but.....
Topic Started: Oct 17 2012, 04:04 AM (412 Views)
Banandangees
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]

A123 Declares Bankruptcy

As a recipient of $249 million in loans from the Obama administration, the company's bankruptcy will no doubt become another embarrassment heading into the November elections.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pat
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
I'm sure Romney is all over this story, we might hear more about it tonight during the town hall debate.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Brewster
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Yup Ban, you shouldn't have brought up this non-story.

Here's the Truth:
Quote:
 
Today’s announcement, while certainly unfortunate for a once-promising American cleantech company, is neither a huge surprise, nor the loss of a taxpayer investment.

In fact, the only taxpayer funds provided to A123 Systems were for domestic manufacturing facilities — plants that have now been purchased by Johnson Controls, a leading company in the advanced automobile sector (Already, journalists are reporting that A123 Systems received $249 million in grants. Actually, the company only took down $129 million in grants for building its manufacturing facilities).

“Our interest in A123 Systems is consistent with our long-term growth strategies and overall commitment to the development of the advanced battery industry,” said Alex Molinaroli, president of Johnson Controls’ power solutions arm, in a statement.

So an American company purchases manufacturing facilities and other assets from another American company — keeping that advanced battery production in the U.S. — and explains that it’s “consistent with our long-term growth strategies.”

That’s quite an interesting story. But it doesn’t exactly make good election-year messaging.

So less than half the loan guarantee was used, to build plants that have been sold to another American company, so no Taxpayer money has been wasted...

I hope Romney DOES bring it up - he'll get shot to pieces.

But of course the US Right, desperate to find anything to blame on Obama, will be all over it, no matter how silly it makes them look.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Brewster
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Well, sonofagun, here's the US Right already:
Quote:
 
Facts be damned, opponents are lining up to use A123 Systems as a weapon for attacking President Obama and Democrats for their support of clean energy.

“Obama/Stabenow choose badly with $ borrowed from China. A123 goes bankrupt and our kids are left holding the bag,” tweeted former Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) this morning.

What Hoekstra doesn’t mention is that he co-signed a letter in 2009 requesting funds for a Michigan-based manufacturing facility proposed by A123 Systems. He, like virtually every other lawmaker across the political spectrum, explained that such investments are “vital home-grown technologies and job creation in a new industry essential to jump start the development of a U.S. manufacturing base.”

Hoekstra is one of dozens of Republican lawmakers — including Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan — who asked for hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and loan guarantees for clean energy projects in their districts. But that was before it became a political strategy to exploit the failure of innovative companies in order to win an election.
LINK
Edited by Brewster, Oct 17 2012, 05:52 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Summer
No Avatar
Sr. Member
[ * ]
By Steve Benen
-
Tue Oct 16, 2012 2:44 PM EDT

Michigan's Hoekstra condemns stimulus funds he supported

Paul Ryan isn't the only 2012 Republican with a stimulus problem.

You know it's the height of election season when one candidate is criticizing the other for doing the exact same thing that he or she did.

Pete Hoekstra, the former Republican congressman hoping to unseat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) in November, slammed Stabenow on Tuesday for seeking stimulus money for A123 Systems Inc., an electric-car battery maker that just filed for bankruptcy. The company previously received a $249 million federal grant.

"Obama and Stabenow choose badly, A123 files for bankruptcy. There go a few more 100 million of our $s. Debbie replies Don't worry, be happy!" Hoekstra tweeted. He soon followed with another tweet: "Obama/Stabenow choose badly with $s borrowed from China! A123 goes bankrupt and our kids are left holding the bag. Enough is enough!"

You can probably guess the punch-line -- Hoekstra was in Congress in 2009, and signed on to a bipartisan effort, urging the Obama administration to support A123. "Establishing a North American battery center of gravity in Michigan will significantly improve the federal government's ability to more swiftly meet its ambitious vehicle electrification goals," the Republican said at the time. The Obama administration agreed, and the company received the assistance.

In other words, Hoekstra is condemning Democrats for taking Hoekstra's advice and investing in a company Hoekstra said deserved support.

As for the larger point, the underlying argument is equally problematic. The federal government invested in a series of American companies, hoping to help grow an important industry and keep the nation competitive globally. Some of those companies thrived, some didn't, but were it not for the Obama administration, all of those companies would have failed. Hoekstra's argument makes it sound as if all grants to all companies are necessarily a bad idea, which is a pretty awful approach to federal support of business investment.

As Michael Grunwald put it awhile back, "That's capitalism. That's lending. That's life. As one Obama aide told me: Some students who get Pell grants are going to end up drunks on the street." It's not as if those failures discredit the entire Pell grant program.

Update: Also note that A123 arranged to sell its assets/manufacturing plants to a competing American company, and production will continue, so the larger hit will be far less severe.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Banandangees
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Another update:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/battery-maker-a123-files-bankruptcy-135343498.html

A123 joins solar panel maker Solyndra LLC as another example of companies that got government money but failed. The politically connected and now bankrupt Solyndra left taxpayers on the hook for $528 million after it failed to repay a government loan.

The government also made millions in loans to electric car makers Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive, both of which are struggling. Tesla has never made a profit but is starting to repay its loans, while Fisker is trying to raise money so it can build a car that's less expensive than its $100,000 Karma.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Banandangees
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Another (record) update:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/16/a123systems-bankruptcy-idUSL3E8LG3XO20121016

Quote:
 
The U.S. Department of Energy allotted about $90 billion for various clean-energy programs through the administration's stimulus package. Of that, at least $813 million went to energy companies that eventually filed for bankruptcy, including the grant to A123 and a loan to solar panel maker Solyndra.

Johnson Controls, which supplies lithium-ion batteries to a number of vehicle manufacturers, also received a $299 million grant under the same program. A123 has tapped $132 million, or about half, of its U.S. grant, the DOE said.


You mean Johnson Controls bought A123 with tax payer money??

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
jackd
No Avatar
Sr. Member
[ * ]
I'm scatching my head on this.....
Who was the name of first president of the United State to financially support A123 to start their business.
That was before Obama....
I hope he will show this picture to Romny if he ever open his mouth on this subjet.
Obama will not have a word to say

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Berton
Member Avatar
Thunder Fan
[ * ]
I didn't know the Obama stimulus money stretched back that far.

Oh, I see, you want to blame Bush for Obama giving them stimulus money. LOL
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Banandangees
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
http://grist.org/news/heres-romney-latest-attack-on-green-investment-a123-systems/

A123 received a $6 million grant under George W. Bush and a $249.1 million grant under Obama from the 2009 stimulus package.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Fire And Ice General Discussion · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Website Traffic Analysis