Solyndra, A123, Now LG Chem: Your Tax Dollars, Not At Work

[Dari]

$150M given to LG Chem to build a factory that does nothing. Employees watch movies or volunteer. What a complete waste of money.

link

Three years ago, at a groundbreaking ceremony for an LG Chem Battery plant in Holland, Michigan, President Obama promised that this and other pants will be “a boost to the economy in the entire region.” Instead, the plant has become an example for what is wrong with a state-directed command economy. It also is yet another chapter in the Chevrolet Volt debacle.

Half of the plant’s $300 million price was funded by the tax payer, courtesy of a $150 million government grant. The plant does nothing. Its workers “had little work to do and were spending time volunteering at local non-profit organizations, playing games and watching movies at the expense of the federal government and taxpayers,” Gregory Friedman, inspector general at the Department of Energy, concluded in a report made public yesterday...

 

[boomerang]

We'll have another four years of these types of things going on, I can pretty much guarantee it.

 

[Zebo]

No it wont. Money will be worthless.

 

[KB]

Its no wonder Republicans want cuts. There is just too much wasted. Many will say, 'oh its only 0.001% of what Wall Street got" and thats true, but its still amazingly wasteful.

 

[PokerGuy]

But ... but ... these are green jobs! Part of the new obamaconomy!

 

[Genx87]

The Obama economy is full of govt funded failures, expanded welfare rolls, and increased part time workers.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I'm in the wrong field.

 

[OrByte]

The Obama economy is full of govt funded failures, expanded welfare rolls, and increased part time workers.

overgeneralization ftl



"Through the Recovery Act, the Department of Energy made grants and loans to more than 1,300 companies. While critics try hard to discredit the program, the truth is that only one percent of the companies of the companies we funded went bankrupt. That one percent has gotten more attention than the 99 percent that have not."

http://www.doe.gov/articles/letter-...t-employees-announcing-his-decision-not-serve

yes there have been failures...but high risk high reward ventures sometimes do that.

And apparently for this particular example, LG has some responsibility in the failure of this plant as well. They've refunded what they could back to the fed.

 

[thraashman]

overgeneralization ftl



"Through the Recovery Act, the Department of Energy made grants and loans to more than 1,300 companies. While critics try hard to discredit the program, the truth is that only one percent of the companies of the companies we funded went bankrupt. That one percent has gotten more attention than the 99 percent that have not."

http://www.doe.gov/articles/letter-...t-employees-announcing-his-decision-not-serve

yes there have been failures...but high risk high reward ventures sometimes do that.

And apparently for this particular example, LG has some responsibility in the failure of this plant as well. They've refunded what they could back to the fed.

You mean to tell me that the conservative outrage is flawed, unfounded, and outright false? You don't say.

 

[rudder]

You mean to tell me that the conservative outrage is flawed, unfounded, and outright false? You don't say.

Exactly... Flawed, unfounded, and false. I mean I for one am glad that our tax dollars funded high tech lithium battery research and our Chinese friends were able to purchase all that IP for a bargain.

 

[rudder]

The Obama economy is full of govt funded failures, expanded welfare rolls, and increased part time workers.

Some that get buried in the news:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/jan/14/hemlock-semiconductor-laying-300-400-clarksville-e/

 

[Bowfinger]

overgeneralization ftl



"Through the Recovery Act, the Department of Energy made grants and loans to more than 1,300 companies. While critics try hard to discredit the program, the truth is that only one percent of the companies of the companies we funded went bankrupt. That one percent has gotten more attention than the 99 percent that have not."

http://www.doe.gov/articles/letter-...t-employees-announcing-his-decision-not-serve

yes there have been failures...but high risk high reward ventures sometimes do that.

And apparently for this particular example, LG has some responsibility in the failure of this plant as well. They've refunded what they could back to the fed.

Oh, hush. Righties know that cherry-picked anecdotes are far more meaningful than data, especially when trying to fuel a good emotional rage. Anyone with any finance savvy whatsoever knows you win some, you lose some, but that gets left at the door when the right is looking to attack. Of course in fairness, most Americans have the attention span of a gnat on a sugar high. They can't comprehend the thought of making long-term investments, even in industries that are destined to become huge like advanced batteries.

By the way, this is not a new story: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2277782