President brings daughters to bookstore to promote small-business holiday shoppi

[blacken700]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has pitched in to help small businesses get into the holiday shopping season.

The president took his daughters, Malia and Sasha, along on a shopping run to a bookstore a few blocks from the White House.

He says he made the visit because it's "small business Saturday" and he wanted to support a small business.

The retail industry is encouraging shoppers to patronize mom-and-pop businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It's a counterpoint to Black Friday and the sales and special deals offered by department stores and other large retailers.

The Obamas walked out with a selection of books including "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever" and "Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia." drinking with bob,the daily adventures of 333386,why obama is headhuntersix's boss,and the getbig coloring book 

[Soul Crusher]

Lmfao.   

[Hugo Chavez]

hahahaha...

[Soul Crusher]

Imagine if Obama gave main street 20 billion instead of the 20 billion he spent on the corrupt bundlers' solar companies.   

oh the possibilities.  Onstead we get potemkin village bs like this. 

FU whoever plans on voting for this communist ghetto thug creep again. 

[newmom]

Actually there's a toy shoppe, also specializes in hard to find items from back in the day toys. I actually have done some xmas shopping there in lieu of Wal Mart and stuff. This store has been in the area since I moved here in 90. One thing my pops taught me years ago, he will go to the local hardware store and appliance store in town and if they don't have it then next town over instead of going to lowes or home depot. Sure there are times he has to go there but likes to keep the mom and pop stores in business.

[headhuntersix]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has pitched in to help small businesses get into the holiday shopping season.

The president took his daughters, Malia and Sasha, along on a shopping run to a bookstore a few blocks from the White House.

He says he made the visit because it's "small business Saturday" and he wanted to support a small business.

The retail industry is encouraging shoppers to patronize mom-and-pop businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It's a counterpoint to Black Friday and the sales and special deals offered by department stores and other large retailers.

The Obamas walked out with a selection of books including "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever" and "Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia." drinking with bob,the daily adventures of 333386,why obama is headhuntersix's boss,and the getbig coloring book 

He also bought the book.." How to avoid being being crucified upside down if your a lib douchabag" by headhuntersix and 333386 or my favorite "How to pack your shit in a trashbag and leave America when Barry is voted out of office".

[Soul Crusher]

Hopefully MaoBama bought a book by schiff sowell hazlett Hayek Friedman or some other credible voice on economics. 

[avxo]

Imagine if Obama gave main street 20 billion instead of the 20 billion he spent on the corrupt bundlers' solar companies.   

oh the possibilities.  Onstead we get potemkin village bs like this. 

FU whoever plans on voting for this communist ghetto thug creep again. 

$20 billion? Do you have a reference to back that claim up? The Solyndra "loan" (actually, a conditional loan guarantee, but let's not split hairs on that particular detail since hair is at a premium for some of us) was valued at 535 million -- or 0.02% of your claimed figure -- which is quite the difference.

[howardroark]

$20 billion? Do you have a reference to back that claim up? The Solyndra "loan" (actually, a conditional loan guarantee, but let's not split hairs on that particular detail since hair is at a premium for some of us) was valued at 535 million -- or 0.02% of your claimed figure -- which is quite the difference.

He might be referring to the budget for some program or department? 

[Soul Crusher]

$20 billion? Do you have a reference to back that claim up? The Solyndra "loan" (actually, a conditional loan guarantee, but let's not split hairs on that particular detail since hair is at a premium for some of us) was valued at 535 million -- or 0.02% of your claimed figure -- which is quite the difference.

look at the total DOE solar loan portfolio. 

[avxo]

look at the total DOE solar loan portfolio.  

So it's your assertion that every solar "loan" the DoE made was to "corrupt bundlers"? Interesting. Can you go through that "DOE solar loan portfolio" and provide us with an actual list that adds up to $20,000,000,000 and has the company name, the loan amount and the bundler behind it?

You're spouting bullshit and you know it. There are perfectly legitimate and powerful criticisms on Obama's actual positions and policies, so there's really no need to make shit up. Why do it? Ultimately all this type of behavior achieves is to actually bolster Obama, because even the legitimate criticisms will be written off as just another piece of fiction. Are you, secretely, a liberal, doing your part for Hope & Change 2012?

[Soul Crusher]

So it's your assertion that every solar "loan" the DoE made was to "corrupt bundlers"? Interesting. Can you go through that "DOE solar loan portfolio" and provide us with an actual list that adds up to $20,000,000,000 and has the company name, the loan amount and the bundler behind it?

You're spouting bullshit and you know it. There are perfectly legitimate and powerful criticisms on Obama's actual positions and policies, so there's really no need to make shit up. Why do it? Ultimately all this type of behavior achieves is to actually bolster Obama, because even the legitimate criticisms will be written off as just another piece of fiction. Are you, secretely, a liberal, doing your part for Hope & Change 2012?

Actually 80 percent of all the DOE loans went to Obama donors and bundlers.   

[avxo]

Actually 80 percent of all the DOE loans went to Obama donors and bundlers.   

Do they add up to the 20 billion you claim and can you provide a reference? It really should be a simple thing to answer that question. Why are you avoiding answering it?

[Soul Crusher]

Do they add up to the 20 billion you claim and can you provide a reference? It really should be a simple thing to answer that question. Why are you avoiding answering it?

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/14/report-80-of-doe-green-energy-loans-went-to-obama-backers

[Soul Crusher]

Do they add up to the 20 billion you claim and can you provide a reference? It really should be a simple thing to answer that question. Why are you avoiding answering it?

New book: 80% of DOE loans to Obama contributors
Posted on November 14, 2011 by Steve Milloy | Leave a comment
Check out this new book from Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweizer.

 Here’s a sample from Schweizer’s Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison :

When President-elect Obama came to Washington in late 2008, he was outspoken about the need for an economic stimulus to revive a struggling economy… After he was sworn in as president, he proclaimed that taxpayer money would assuredly not be doled out to political friends…

…But an examination of grants and guaranteed loans offered by just one stimulus program run by the Department of Energy, for alternative-energy projects, is stunning. The so-called 1705 Loan Guarantee Program and the 1603 Grant Program channeled billions of dollars to all sorts of energy companies…

…In the 1705 government-backed-loan program [alone], for example, $16.4 billion of the $20.5 billion in loans granted as of Sept. 15 went to companies either run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers—individuals who were bundlers, members of Obama’s National Finance Committee, or large donors to the Democratic Party. The grant and guaranteed-loan recipients were early backers of Obama before he ran for president, people who continued to give to his campaigns and exclusively to the Democratic Party in the years leading up to 2008. Their political largesse is probably the best investment they ever made in alternative energy. It brought them returns many times over.

…The Government Accountability Office has been highly critical of the way guaranteed loans and grants were doled out by the Department of Energy, complaining that the process appears “arbitrary” and lacks transparency. In March 2011, for example, the GAO examined the first 18 loans that were approved and found that none were properly documented. It also noted that officials “did not always record the results of analysis” of these applications. A loan program for electric cars, for example, “lacks performance measures.” No notes were kept during the review process, so it is difficult to determine how loan decisions were made. The GAO further declared that the Department of Energy “had treated applicants inconsistently in the application review process, favoring some applicants and disadvantaging others.” The Department of Energy’s inspector general, Gregory Friedman, … has testified that contracts have been steered to “friends and family.”

…These programs might be the greatest—and most expensive—example of crony capitalism in American history. Tens of billions of dollars went to firms controlled or owned by fundraisers, bundlers, and political allies, many of whom—surprise!—are now raising money for Obama again.

Support JunkScience.com and use this link to get Throw Them All Out at Amazon.com.







Not to mention the billions of non- DOE Stim Bill crap that went to donors as well.   

[avxo]

Interesting read, although the excerpt of a new book  and a review/endorsment by Heritage is hardly what I'd call a objective. It still lacks names, which leaves me a bit skeptical. Still an interesting read and a starting point for more research. I'll go pull up the GAO reports and see if that sheds more light on the issue.

By the way, as I mentioned before - these are loam guarantees and not loans. There's a difference and it's not a small one even if you aren't quite sure what the difference is. Please try to speak accurately.

[Soul Crusher]

Interesting read, although the excerpt of a new book  and a review/endorsment by Heritage is hardly what I'd call a objective. It still lacks names, which leaves me a bit skeptical. Still an interesting read and a starting point for more research. I'll go pull up the GAO reports and see if that sheds more light on the issue.

By the way, as I mentioned before - these are loam guarantees and not loans. There's a difference and it's not a small one even if you aren't quite sure what the difference is. Please try to speak accurately.

I know the difference - there is a very good reason these companies could not get regular loans - the solar panel business is not viable in the marketplace without taxpayer being on the hook.   BTW - here is another article with more of a breakdown: 

http://biggovernment.com/whall/2011/11/17/shock-claim-energy-dept-kickbacks-make-obama-americas-biggest-crony-capitalist-ever

[avxo]

I know the difference - there is a very good reason these companies could not get regular loans - the solar panel business is not viable in the marketplace without taxpayer being on the hook.   BTW - here is another article with more of a breakdown: 

http://biggovernment.com/whall/2011/11/17/shock-claim-energy-dept-kickbacks-make-obama-americas-biggest-crony-capitalist-ever

If you knew the difference why did you say these were loans, when they clearly aren't? Were you being dishonest?

[Soul Crusher]

If you knew the difference why did you say these were loans, when they clearly aren't? Were you being dishonest?

Its not dishonest at all - the taxpayer acting as co-guarantor of these loans put them in the same standing as the lender itself.  And for what?  What the does the taxpayer get out this?  What are the terms?  If these companies could not get a loan in the marketplace - they are by definition a far greater risk of default.   

And these loans were only given out on the last year or 2.   Unlike Solyndra which collapsed very quickly, many of these other companies will fold in the next few years as well due to the fact that they are not viable.   

and why is the taxpayer acting as venture capitalist now with no possibility of gain?  how ridiculous is that?   

[avxo]

Its not dishonest at all - the taxpayer acting as co-guarantor of these loans put them in the same standing as the lender itself.  And for what?  What the does the taxpayer get out this?  What are the terms?  If these companies could not get a loan in the marketplace - they are by definition a far greater risk of default.

They may have been able to get a loan out in the marketplace on the merits. A guarantee would have resulted in more favorable interest rates, which would be a strong incentive for a company taking a multi-million dollar loan. So, there is a substantial difference between a loan guarantee and a loan.

As for the terms and what the taxpayers get out of this, I'm with you. I don't think it's the job of the government to provide finance assistance for private entities, except via tax incentives.

[Soul Crusher]

They may have been able to get a loan out in the marketplace on the merits. A guarantee would have resulted in more favorable interest rates, which would be a strong incentive for a company taking a multi-million dollar loan. So, there is a substantial difference between a loan guarantee and a loan.

As for the terms and what the taxpayers get out of this, I'm with you. I don't think it's the job of the government to provide finance assistance for private entities, except via tax incentives.

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A123 Systems lays off 125 workers at Michigan battery plants (Green jobs)
Annarbor.com ^ | 11-27-2011 | Nathan Bomey
Posted on November 27, 2011 8:14:28 PM EST by Darren McCarty

Battery maker A123 Systems, which has been celebrated as one of Michigan's biggest alternative energy successes, laid off 125 workers at its Livonia and Romulus battery plants this week, according to a report by the Observer & Eccentric.

It was not immediately clear whether there were additional cuts at the company's research-and-development center Ann Arbor's Research Park, where the company has about 35 workers.

A123 spokesman Dan Borgasano told the Observer & Eccentric that the company expects "to be calling these people back in six months or less" and attributed the move to a reduced battery order from California electric vehicle startup Fisker Automotive.

A123 was one of Michigan's biggest winners of federal economic stimulus funding and also won major battery tax credits from the state government. In 2009, A123 received a $249 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and more than $125 million in tax credits from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

(Excerpt) Read more at annarbor.com ...