Romney a hypocrite on Solyndra

[SezMe]

Honestly, a couple years back I thought he was better than it now is apparent he is.

I promise to reread this post until I grok it.

 

[Puppycow]

Interesting but doesn't quite go to the claim that the administration got a crappy deal with regard to position of the government in the event of a bankruptcy. Were the Obama officials rubes or did they make a reasonable deal that just turned to crap because of unforeseen circumstances?

Isn't that the definition of a "loan guarantee"? The "guarantor" of a loan can't be first in line to be repaid by definition or it's not a guarantee.

According to wikipedia:

On July 29, 2005 the United States Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, a bill intended to address a variety of developing energy problems in the United States. The bill was signed into law by George W. Bush on August 8, 2005. Amongst other things, the bill authorized the Department of Energy to offer loan guarantees to help finance promising energy projects.

The main criticism of the Solyndra thing was not that taxpayers were last in line to be repaid, but that the Obama administration rushed the approval process without doing sufficient due diligence for political reasons. They were worried about the economy and they wanted to do something to create jobs sooner rather than later.

In March 2009, after a successful milestone in the approval process, the White House wanted to announce the loan guarantee. One White House budget analyst nixed the announcement in a March 10, 2009 e-mail, writing "This deal is NOT ready for prime time" and listing remaining milestones.[14][15]
. . .
In August 2009, an Energy Department stimulus adviser, Steve Spinner, pushed for a quicker final decision on the loan, though he had recused himself from the approval decision itself because his wife's law firm had done work for the company.[18] According to the Washington Post, the Obama administration tried to rush federal reviewers to approve the loan so Vice President Joe Biden could announce it at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the company’s factory.[19]

 

[Brainster]

Isn't that the definition of a "loan guarantee"? The "guarantor" of a loan can't be first in line to be repaid by definition or it's not a guarantee.

This is incorrect. The loan actually was made from the US Treasury, and guaranteed by the Energy Department. But one of the requirements of the loan guarantee program is that the loan have first lien priority:

Any guaranteed obligation may not be subordinate to any other debt and must have a first lien position on all assets of the project and all additional collateral pledged as security for any project debt.

However, a subsequent round of financing in the amount of $69 million was given priority:

But when I read the bankrutpcy filing it turns out George Kaiser’s investment firm is actually first in line, ahead of the U.S. government, for $69 million. Here is the ordering:

Tranche A: $69,302,901 – Argonaut Ventures I, L.L.C
Tranche B/D Term Loan Facility: $527,808,544 - U.S. Department of Energy

Why was Kaiser first in line?

George Kaiser was a bundler for President Barack Obama in 2008 election.