Ruh Roh: How much do Solyndra and the Chevy Volt have in Common?

I must admit, I'm more than mildly surprised by how quickly the Solyndra scandal that seems to be entrapping the White House is catching fire. Perhaps because it strikes at the heart of what awakened the Tea Party in early 2009 - the stimulus bill. We are now seeing the bitter fruit from that monstrosity. A much bigger problem could be the very likely possibility that what happened at Solyndra is going to happen elsewhere. The Chevy Volt may just be the next gleaming pile of excrement.

Via National Legal and Policy Center:

The story of bankrupt solar company, Solyndra, has turned into a major scandal for the Obama Administration as questions arise about the government's free spending of taxpayer money on failing so-called green initiatives. A $535 million federal loan was initially rushed through for the company as Obama touted Solyndra as being a prime example of how the bold new green-energy driven economy would create jobs while saving the environment. Now the results bring into question how dangerous the green economy strategy may be.

1,100 jobs were created at Solyndra at a cost to taxpayers of about half a million dollars per job. Both the jobs and the money are now gone. White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, dismissed the failure by pointing out that there are no guarantees in the business world. Well here's a novel thought; ventures that are getting taxpayer money poured into them should actually be able to make a profit and eventually stand on their own. Dumping billions of taxpayer dollars into money losing green ideas like Solyndra, as well as on the dismally selling Chevy Volt, does nothing to help the economy or the environment.

A recent Reuters' article [1] points out that the auto industry is relying on fleets to support sales of plug-in vehicles like the Chevy Volt. In a nutshell, this means that government agencies (along with cronies at GE) will use taxpayer funds to purchase Chevy Volts that have been widely rejected by retail consumers. All to support a vehicle that was developed using billions of dollars of that same taxpayer money. Not even the most naïve, green energy supporting apologist for the Volt can legitimately debate that the car is not profitable for General Motors. Former car czar, Steven Rattner, admitted that the vehicle had "commercial clay feet" and would not be profitable for GM in the foreseeable future. Yet this is not stopping the continued wastefulness of our government's taxpayer subsidized support for the vehicle as well as for a future Cadillac version of the car.

The author goes on to point out that the taxpayer dollars wasted at Solyndra pale in comparison to those wasted on the Chevy Volt and wonders why there isn't far more outrage about the money pit that is the latter as opposed to the former. Though he doesn't go here, the political climate that is forming right now, in the wake of the recent NY 9 election that saw Anthony Weiner's old seat go Republican, may just get us there.

h/t Fox Nation