Newt Gingrich Calls For Steven Chu To Be Fired Over Solyndra Scandal

WASHINGTON -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Monday called for Energy Secretary Steven Chu to be fired for his decision to allow Solyndra to keep receiving taxpayer money even after the struggling solar company had technically already defaulted on the $535 million federal loan guaranteed by the Energy Department.

The long-shot presidential candidate attacked Chu on his website Monday, earning Gingrich the dubious honor of being the first politician to publicly attack the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who arrived in Washington via academia.

“The president says he has full confidence in Secretary Chu despite this scandal," Gingrich wrote on his website. "What kind of confidence can we have in a president who refuses to hold his cabinet officers accountable?”

“As President, I would have fired Secretary Chu for so grossly mismanaging taxpayer dollars," Gingrich continued. "Furthermore, to protect taxpayers, I would have blocked any additional loan guarantees until a full investigation had taken place into the mismanagement and potential corruption in the loan for Solyndra."

The comments come as House Republicans are turning up the pressure on Chu after a spokesman admitted the secretary was ultimately responsible for the restructuring of Solyndra's federal loan guarantee, which the politically-connected company secured in 2009.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the chairman of the subcommittee at the center of an investigation into government loan programs that benefit private companies, told The Huffington Post on Friday that Chu's decision was a direct violation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which requires that taxpayers be placed ahead of private investors when it comes to repaying a federal loan guarantee.

Stearns has not, however, explicitly called for Chu to be fired.

“Secretary Chu and other officials should be held accountable for their role in exerting pressure to close the Solyndra loan and for illegally subordinating the taxpayers to two private hedge fund investors this year," Rep. Cliff Stearns said in a statement to The Huffington Post on Tuesday night. "I intend to have him come before the committee and testify so that he can explain his actions and then hold him responsible.”

Chu is slated to appear sometime soon before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.

Internal White House email threads released in their entirety on Tuesday showed that government officials had significant concerns about the Solyndra loan guarantee. As Democrats have noted, the emails do not reveal any signs of corruption, merely disagreement about whether the firm was financially viable.

The documents "do not contain evidence that government decisions relating to Solyndra were influenced by considerations relating to campaign donations," wrote Democrats in a memo on Monday. "Rather, the documents show that there was internal disagreement within the administration about Solyndra's viability and the effectiveness of the loan guarantee program throughout the process."

Comments

[golfvue3]

05:29 PM on 10/11/2011

Here's the next scandal - could be worse that Solyndra. And of course, the dem's are up to their neck in this one as well. SunPower - more jobs for Mexico - and the company is broke - but our democrats in gov't guaranteed over $1 Billion (with a B) in loan guarantees....

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46761

[Robert M Shelby]

02:42 AM on 10/08/2011

I call for duct tape over Gingrich's mouth.

[garboop2]

02:58 PM on 10/06/2011

Oh boy! Way to go Ging, get a Nobel Prize winner fired when all he's doing is what is best for our country. Gingrich, you are pathetic! Would you please start looking out for the best interests of our country. Please?

[BIGTERRA]

11:24 PM on 10/08/2011

garboop2 are you smoking that "stuff" again? Looking out for the best interests of our country? Chu? By your illogical logic the "best interests of our country" is to give more than a half million taxpayers dollars to a company that's about to go bankrupt and to illegally put our government at the bottom of the pay-back list! That's a pretty asinine statemen, garboop2! And that's not even considering the apparent Solyndra pay-off to Obama!

This whole Solyndra thing stinks..all the way to the White House!

[bdoug25000]

12:48 PM on 10/06/2011

I kinda agree with ol' Newton there. We, The People should always hold our government accountable, no free passes because they're "too smart to be wrong". I do believe it is in our best interest that the government continue to support efforts to move away from fossil fuels, and other toxic energy sources, but they have to be responsible and sensible about it. I advocate dropping ALL subsidies to oil, coal, and nuclear energy, but making them adhere to strict environmental standards, on their dime. The cost of energy will skyrocket, and clean renewables like solar, wind, hydro, fuel cell, maybe even fussion would become more than competative, they would in fairly short order become the norm. And on the way, all of us would be bound to take conservation efforts far more seriously. Too many people today say, "what do I care, I can afford it" (including me). But the results of extravagant use of toxic energy will become the game changer, if it hasn't already, and it won't be pretty....indeed, acid rain has all but killed off eastern forests, and mercury is everywhere right now, at levels that are becoming alarming. This is fact, not alarmist fiction, and it comes from burning coal. Do we have to wait until all our children are born with disabling birth defects before we do something about it?

[john hodgson]

05:16 PM on 10/06/2011

sorry, your two bits is just foolish; salesman and those that create business contracts are not responsible for the final outcome of the merger or deal. When you start doing that (they are responsible for the outcome of the deal), let me know.

[bdoug25000]

08:07 PM on 10/06/2011

I think maybe your blindfold is strapped on too tight, or your masters are feeding you lines, try using your own brain for a change, bagboy.

[Craig Bovia]

11:32 AM on 10/06/2011

Gingrich's ego has to be Gigantic. That this human failure has the audacity to offer advice to anyone on anything, is beyond belief.

[BIGTERRA]

11:42 PM on 10/08/2011

Talk about huge egos...have you bothered to look at the biggest ego the world has ever seen...Obama's? Matter of fact yours looks pretty large too.

"That this human failure..." Obama has the audacity to even consider a second term as president considering his absolute failure during his almost finished first term as president is beyond comprehension.The man and the asinine czars he has appointed have driven our country to the brink of bankruptsy, They have spent the taxpayer's money and tremendous amounts of borrowed money as though it's gold from
that famous mythical goose...and they have just about killed that goose.

Obama has disgraced himself by failing to honor the oath he took to protect and defend our Constitution. What gives him the right to declare laws of this country as unconstitutional and to refuse to defend and enforce them? Does this precedent he has created mean that any future president can ignore laws and the constitution? That seems like a very slippery slope!

Regarding the Solyndra affair, it looks like Obama has sold a half a million dollars to a scam company for a few dollars given to his camaign fund. How many more "Solyndras" will come to light? Why did Silver very quickly distribute 4.7 Billion dollars in the last few weeks of September?

[Craig Bovia]

11:37 AM on 10/09/2011

You're just pissed your man McCain came in second. Have a drink with your bigoted buddies on me.

[cog702]

11:23 AM on 10/06/2011

Where was his outrage when cheney's company was bilking millions of dollars in Iraq?

[BIGTERRA]

11:44 PM on 10/08/2011

Typical lib trick...try to change the subject. We're not talking about Chaney or Bush or Clinton. Obama and his failed presidency is the matter before us.

[Kenz300]

01:37 AM on 10/06/2011

How many x-wives does this family values candidate have?

[Airborne Forever]

10:19 AM on 10/06/2011

and what does that have to do with what is being discussed here?

[snowballinhell]

01:32 AM on 10/06/2011

Newt Gingrich is so out of touch he doesn't know Steven Chu should have been fired for his handling of the BP DeepwaterHorizon oil well blow out in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

[oneeasyrider]

03:19 AM on 10/06/2011

Onion Newsflash: Wind experiment confirms Newt can heat 10 New England homes in dead of winter.

[Airborne Forever]

10:20 AM on 10/06/2011

Newsflash 2: oneeasyrider is a complete i*%(t

[john hodgson]

05:17 PM on 10/06/2011

Oh and was CHU? the once that was in charge of the Oil Well. Not? Blame someone else, you will always blame others

[snowballinhell]

03:08 PM on 10/07/2011

Sorry, I should have clarified. Chu was responsible for the slow federal response in shutting the oil well blow out down. The overall responsibility in the administration was the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. It was he who was responsible for reforming the MMS which we all knew needed reforming during the Bush administration. Ultimately of course, President Obama was in charge of the response. BP was responsible for the oil well blowout. Like the Wall$treet blowout, no one has been tried or gone to jail for the eleven deaths and destroyed tourism, fishing and ecosystem damage along a good portion of the northern Gulf of Mexico.

[mamacat]

09:08 PM on 10/05/2011

Hey Newt, have you GOPers apologized yet for lying us into the Iraq war?

How about apologizing for removing the regulations that would have prevented this latest economic depression?

Any chance you GOPers want to apologize for piling us under mountains and mountains of debt, with your insane tax cuts for the super wealthy?

No? Didn't think so.

[Airborne Forever]

10:24 AM on 10/06/2011

Ok and prove the lies and the fact that everyone including other world leaders and Bill Clinton himself said Iraq had them, so give it up
Once again, you are clueless to facts. Bush and the Reps tried to regulate fannie mae and Freddymac several times, but were stopped by the dems in the house and senate. (when they controlled the Senate and through those awful filibusters)
and as far as the debt are you also asking the Obama administration to apologize since he has accumulated more debt in three years than Bush did in eight

No. I Didn't Think So

[Craig Bovia]

11:38 AM on 10/06/2011

Try using facts, instead of GOP-bagger propaganda and lies.

[john hodgson]

05:18 PM on 10/06/2011

Sorry your facts are incorrect, and frankly just manufactured lies.

[jacqueduvall]

11:19 AM on 10/06/2011

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998.

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998.

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998.

"There is no doubt that . Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and other Democrats, Dec, 5, 2001.

It was Clinton who also pushed to deregulate the Financial Markets and abolish Glass-Seagal (1991)

So the Republicans have nothing to apologize for

[john hodgson]

05:18 PM on 10/06/2011

LIes

[anthonyshrubb]

08:14 PM on 10/05/2011

Does that mean Newt will get a firing squad and a cesspool for a grave for his criminatory , corruption and incompetence ,if not aleast for amoral and hypocrite if not that at least for economic high treason against the American people.

[oneeasyrider]

03:00 AM on 10/06/2011

Nice thought but no; it's just pseudo-intellectual Newt being Newt: pandering and entertaining the base.

[BIGTERRA]

12:10 AM on 10/09/2011

anthonyshrubb you are a nasty person.

[AbrahamMcLemore]

02:46 PM on 10/05/2011

Let’s say that you have your 401k invested in a particular mutual fund. Let’s say that that fund manager wanted to take a risk on Sylondar, a solar panel company. And, let’s say, that all his advisers told him that it would go bankrupt in September 2011. But this fund manager proceeded against advice and put YOUR money into this company.

In September, exactly as his advisers predicted, the company went belly-up and your 401k took the hit.

Then, hypothetically, let’s say that you subsequently find that a good friend of the fund manager was invested in Sylondar and, thanks to YOUR money and the fund manager’s decision against good advice, that friend recouped his investment. YOU, of course, did not recoup yours.

And then it is revealed that this fund manager is puttingeven more of YOUR money into another similar company, RolarSeserves. One of the major investors in this other company is the brother-in-law of a very good friend of the fund manager.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043282/Nancy-Pelosis-brother-law-given-loan-bigger-Solyndra-solar-plant.html?ITO=1490

Some of your fellow investors that you don’t really know very well and don’t really like, are calling for the resignation of this fund manager.

What do you say?

[Michael Creely]

03:21 PM on 10/05/2011

Valid Points.

Risk vs rewards. If I had a choice I would of course want first dibs on my cash in the event of a failure. The funding pool is over 3 billion dollars. Solyndra was only a portion of this albeit a high risk.

Would I be pissed and want someones head??? Not necessarily. I am an investor too so I know there is always risk. My 401K like so many others took a major haircut in 2008. Diversification is the key here and, unfortunately, this one was a risk doomed to fail.

Hopefully, we can get better business men in place in all areas of government but there will always be favoritism.

[AbrahamMcLemore]

03:42 PM on 10/05/2011

Michael
The question is not fund managers in general or risk in general, (although gov't risk in private industry is another kettle of fish).

The question is THIS fund manager and his behavior.

Should this fund manager be fired?

[AbrahamMcLemore]

03:52 PM on 10/05/2011

All day long these other investors that I don’t like very much have been arguing with this fund manager about him and the previous fund manager and whose fault this is. Back can forth, Blah Blah Blah.
But when I got home and settled down, I am left with these facts:

His advisors told him not to do it.
His friend got his money back.
I lost my money.

I don’t think he is a very responsible fund manager and I’m not happy.
He should go now.

[Michael Creely]

02:23 PM on 10/05/2011

Newt has just confirmed he has the brains of one. I worked for Solyndra. This is all a republican witch hunt to insure they win the election next year. Stop all funding?? Idiot...OK China...you win...we concede to your price war with inferior products.

Yea they are cheap but not nearly as efficient. Had we continued the funding process we would have continued to drop our price per watt. Was that a guarantee?? No but it was a solid roadmap. Solyndra was not the only company with funding that failed but because Obama used it as a glimmer of hope the republicans are seizing political opportunity. Nothing more.

Solyndra was a great company from the manufacturing side. Yes, there were some bad management decisions but Brian inherited a lot of them. Killing all funding in a new and growing technology says we will just continue to be a slave to offshore competitors. My taxes were involved in this venture as well. I support new technologies and what investment brings to future designs. Should more scrutiny be involved??? Of course but gamble and risk is part of what makes us great.

[BIGTERRA]

12:33 AM on 10/09/2011

Perhaps Solyndra migtht have had a chance to become a viable company had the company been a little more conservative. By that I mean Solyndra should not have built a luxury factory on some of the most expensive land in the country if not the world. This alone created a huge overhead expense. A very poor decision on management's part.

It might be interesting to learn how much Solyndra's top executives paid them selves and if they gave themselves any bonuses.

[Michael Creely]

02:04 PM on 10/09/2011

Perhaps!,

There was a lot of speculation about that. The issue was that significant orders projected on the books could not be filled without ramping up. Using 20/20 yea we could have gone at a slower pace and reduced manufacturing costs somewhat with more of the same assembly machines but not significantly. We had to produce much higher volume to get the cost per watt down and stay competitive. The new building was a beacon for us at the time that we were on the growth path but we were all a little skeptical. The new building was the CIGS Plating facility. A larger fully automated version of the building down the street.

It takes a lot of money to build a fab. Chip manufacturers spent Billions. The Solyndra development costs were enormous and the $535 Million infusion was not the largest amount of cash nor was it a significant portion of the $40 Billion available in the alternative energy fund. I am not trying to belittle the significance of the size of this loan. It is a lot of cash. Mine and yours. However, it has become a major contributor in the Republican arsenal as a thorn in Obama's side. I truly believe that is unwarranted.

[Michael Creely]

02:05 PM on 10/09/2011

As far as bonuses...incentives are always a good carrot to help push ahead. As employees we also had incentive bonuses based on several targets. As we produced higher outputs and sold more panels we would receive a percentage of the profits annually based on a percentage of salary. I don't see where management should be any different. If they were sloughing off the top of the loan then legal ramifications would be in order but I seriously doubt they would have been that stupid.

In any case, what happened to Solyndra is not uncommon. It was a good bet at the time until more recent silicon prices dropped to a point that it was no longer competitive and china subsidies took away our competitive edge. If anything, it put more eyes on the government investment policy and may force stronger leadership in the alternative energy selection process

[MartinEden]

02:19 PM on 10/05/2011

"Newt Gingrich Calls For Steven Chu To Be Fired Over Solyndra Scandal." I've got a better idea: let's vote the Tiffany Newtster off the island for being a broviating, irrelevant bore.

[Airborne Forever]

10:26 AM on 10/06/2011

No because if they do that that means one less person on the President's blame list

[lambdin1]

02:06 PM on 10/05/2011

Old bombastic men and women that want to be president.... You were fired before Newt! Don't you get it?!?

[BIGTERRA]

12:35 AM on 10/09/2011

And now it's time to fire that incompetant president, Obama!

Washington Times calls for Obama impeachment
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/22/the-case-for-impeachment-142967590/

[bad spelling grammar]

01:39 PM on 10/05/2011

OMG, if you applied that logic to the banking industry everyone should have been fired. What Newt doesn’t understand is that when a new industry arises there are a few companies bound to fail which will give way to more efficient companies. This is the backbone of capitalism and since he is a conservative it so hypocritical for him to make this claim. He might as well be honest and say that he is here to represent the interest of big oil and that solar goes against those interest and that he will do anything he can to make the solar industry look bad.

[BIGTERRA]

12:36 AM on 10/09/2011

It seems to me that Solyndra has done more than enough to make the solar industry look bad.

[bad spelling grammar]

12:52 PM on 10/11/2011

I doubt it, this is what you close minded oil folks need to understand. Oil has peaked as far as technology; it will never become more efficient or cost less. Solar on the other hand is becoming less expensive and more efficient by the minute. You just have to get your head out your_A$$ in order to understand some basic facts!