Giving futher credence to the fact that Barack Obama’s green energy agenda has been an epic failure and drain on the wallets of taxpayers, one more government subsidized company has bitten the dust according to the Wall Street Journal:
A maker of rechargeable car batteries that was using a $118.5 million Energy Department grant to build a factory in Indiana filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, becoming the latest green-energy company backed by the Obama administration to run into trouble.
Ener1 Inc., the latest culprit of Obama’s crash-and-burn program, claims that it will stay afloat through the bankruptcy proceedings due in large part to “$81 million in new funds, mostly from Bzinfin S.A., a company backed by Russian businessman Boris Zingarevich.”
The bankruptcy filing is the latest embarrassment for the clean-energy program included in President Barack Obama’s 2009 economic-stimulus package. Last September, Solyndra LLC, a California solar-panel maker, declared bankruptcy and shut down, leaving taxpayers with losses on the $527 million in government loans the company had received. A smaller company that was developing electric-grid technology with U.S. support also filed for bankruptcy protection last fall.
Obama’s phony green-energy stimulus is yet another example of how government involvement in private business is disastrous and a strain on the public. At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet and many are out of work, public funds being funneled to “green” companies that are going belly-up every other week is not only irresponsible - it’s clearly an attempt by the president to tally political points with his leftist base.
My family runs multiple small businesses and I’ve seen on a daily basis just how burdensome government taxation and regulation can be on those who create wealth in this country. These businesses struggle to comply with stifling regulations and an incomprehensible federal tax code. Meanwhile, Obama is funneling money to his green-energy buddies to further a political agenda and win votes while the the people of this country suffer for it. The job creators are stuck with the tab and Obama thumbs his nose at the population.
This is crony capitalism at its finest and utterly shameful.
Mr. Obama defended his efforts in Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, specifically mentioning batteries.
“In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries,” he said. “Because of federal investments, renewable energy use has nearly doubled, and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.”
As I noted in a piece earlier this week, Obama’s SOTU address was filled with sheer hyperbole and this quote is yet another example. His “Federal investments” aren’t growing the workforce. They’re only serving to wreak more economic chaos and extend this unending recession. It’s been three years. No more blaming George W. Bush, Mr. President. You now own this mess of an economy.
