Officials Apparently Knew About Problems at Solyndra

Below are a few paragraphs from today’s NY Times article on the ongoing investigation into the government’s loan guarantees to Solyndra.  They are very telling as it relates to how the government used wasted millions in tax payer funds.  Emphasis is mine.  The entire article can be found here.

• “One of our solar companies with revenues of less than $100 million (and not yet profitable) received a government loan of $580 million,” the investor, Brad Jones, an executive at Redpoint Ventures, wrote in December 2009 to Lawrence H. Summers, then the president’s chief economic advisor, referring to Solyndra. “While that is good for us, I can’t imagine it’s a good way for the government to use taxpayer money.”
• “The memorandum, prepared for Democrats who serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, details how officials at the White House considered scaling back or even terminating the loan guarantee program, because of concerns over how it was being managed. The dispute went all the way to the president, the memo says, but there is no evidence that he made any changes in the structure of the loan program.”
• “The most alarming issue to the White House official was growing evidence that Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy last month, was headed toward a collapse even in early 2010. It led the Office of Management and Budget officials to predict widespread problems with companies getting loan guarantees.”
• “What’s terrifying is that after looking at some of the ones that came next, this one started to look better,” said one April 2010 e-mail, referring to the Solyndra decision, and others that followed. “Bad Days are coming.”