Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Will Solyndra Become Obama's Teapot Dome Scandal




Will Solyndra become the Teapot Dome Scandal of the Obama administration? It certainly has the stench of corruption that tainted Warren G. Harding’s presidency. Here is a footnote of abrasive crony capitalism:

The Scandal: One of the politicians who opposed the conservation was Senator Albert B. Fall who became Warren Harding's Secretary of the Interior in 1921. Fall, upon becoming the Secretary of the Interior, convinced Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby to turn the control of the oil fields over to him. Fall then moved to lease the Teapot Dome to Harry Sinclair's Mammoth Oil Company and the Elk Hills reserve to Edward Doheny's Pan American Petroleum Company. In return for leasing these oil fields to the respective oil magnates Fall received "gifts" from the oilmen totaling about $400,000. Fall attempted to keep actions secret but his sudden improvements in standard of living drew speculation. The scandal was first revealed to the public in 1924 after findings by a committee of the U. S. Senate. The individual within the Senate who took charge of investigating the alleged wrongdoing by Fall was Thomas J. Walsh, a democrat from Montana. Albert Fall had made legitimate leases of the oil fields to the private companies but the taking of money was his undoing.

The Solyndra scandal goes all the way up to the president himself. A major investor in the company was a bundler for Obama’s campaign. And now it is being revealed that other green energy companies are cashing in:

On September 7, the [Department of Energy] announced its plan to guarantee 80 percent — or $275 million — of a $344 million private loan taken out by the firm SolarCity. The company installs rooftop solar systems that harvests electricity SolarCity then sells.

The guarantee means that if SolarCity’s project does not succeed, the DOE will use taxpayer money to pay back 80 percent of the company’s private loans.

And here is another company sucking off of the taxpayer teat:

Solexel is financially backed by venture capitalist Steve Westly. In 2008, Westly bundled for Obama’s presidential campaign, bringing in more than $500,000. Westly also served as a California co-chair and was a member of the National Finance Committee for the Obama for American campaign.

He’s at it again for the president’s 2012 re-election campaign. So far, Westly has bundled between $100,000 and $200,000.

There was speculation on Harding’s involvement in the Teapot Dome Scandal. Unfortunately, he died in office and was unable to defend himself; forever tainting his tenure as one of the most corrupt in American history.

It looks like Obama is well on his way of surpassing that mile marker.


Source: http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/hpolscrv/jzeck.html

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63393.html

http://moonbattery.com/?p=2216

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