White House Emails show Concerns Solyndra Would Harm 2012 Election Prospects

Isn't it amazing how virtually every single promise made by the Obama administration has failed to come to fruition, yet ominous predictions made inside the administration seem to be spot on when it comes to the Solyndra scandal. Emails apparently show that in addition to severe concern that Solyndra would be a failed enterprise, the timing of its failure would start to happen as the 2012 election season would be kicking into gear.

Via CBS News:

WASHINGTON - White House officials discussed the political ramifications of a possible default by a troubled solar energy company that received more than $500 million in federal loans, newly released emails show.

Emails released Thursday night show the Obama administration privately worried about the effect of a default by Solyndra Inc. on the president's re-election campaign.

"The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad," an official from the Office of Management and Budget wrote in a Jan. 31 email to a senior OMB official. "The timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up."

That message has turned out to be a fairly accurate prophecy of Solyndra's failure haunting President Obama's 2012 campaign, even before the end of 2011.

In remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued that Solyndra's bankruptcy this month was just another reason to fight against the president's jobs plan, reports CBSNews.com's Lucy Madison.

"This place was supposed to be the poster child of how the original stimulus would create jobs. Now it's bankrupt and most of its 1,100 employees are out of work," McConnell said.

Remember, the Stimulus bill amounted to $787 billion. Solyndra's woes account for $500 million of that stimulus package, which is only about 6% of the entire stimulus. As Solyndra-gate continues to heat up, there is another question that needs to be asked and that is: How many Solyndras are out there?

Something tells me there are several more and that Jay Carney will not continue to issue absurd denials like this very much longer.

h/t Weasel Zippers