The Federal Governments Failure in the Quest for Flight

Government success is fast becoming an oxymoron.  Alright, I’ll concede that some projects in the past have been successful, such as the Hoover Dam and the space program, but I’m hard pressed for others.  The Obama administration’s adventures of misfortune are rapidly eroding the public’s confidence in government “investments.”  The latest casualty is Fisker Motor Company, which by the way,  is an Al Gore venture.  They are facing bankruptcy.  Here is an excerpt from The Examiner:

Fisker Automotive laid off three quarters of its staff today to avoid bankruptcy while it seeks an angel with big bucks to help it become operational again.

The maker of the luxury hybrid Karma says it has “at least” $30 million in cash, and $15 million more due after settling a claim this week with its bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems, according to Reuters.

But the company owes $192 million on a $193 million Department of Energy “green” loan. It was supposed to receive $529 million, but the DOE declined to pay the full amount in May 2011 after Fisker fell behind on its targets. Executives who kept their jobs are trying to renegotiate a $10 million loan payment due on April 22.

The federal government has a long history of wasting money.  I recently watched a documentary on the race for the first in flight; it came down to the Wright brothers and Sam Langley.  We all know who won, but what we weren’t told is that the Wright brothers invested their own money, whereas Langley was funded by the federal government.  Langley received over $50,000 from the federal government in the form of a grant.  The Wright brothers, however, invested $1000 and that included room, board and transportation of their airplane to Kitty Hawk, NC.

 

Government failures aren’t just an Obama phenomenon.  It’s a Washington D.C. tradition.  

 

Source:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/fisker-lays-off-75-percent-of-workforce-as-bankruptcy-looms/article/2526429?custom_click=rss