Solyndra Headquarters in Fremont (Solyndra Inc.)
FREMONT (CBS 5) — After filing for bankruptcy last year, Fremont solar company Solyndra still owes American taxpayers half a billion dollars. But CBS 5 caught them destroying millions of dollars worth of parts.
At Solyndra’s sprawling complex in Fremont, workers in white jumpsuits were unwrapping brand new glass tubes used in solar panels last week. They are the latest, most cutting-edge solar technology, and they are being thrown into dumpsters.
Forklifts brought one pallet after another piled high with the carefully packaged glass. Slowly but surely it all ended up shattered.
And it’s not a few loads. Hundreds of thousands of tubes on shrink-wrapped pallets will meet a similar demise.
Solyndra paid at least $2 million for the specialized glass. A CBS 5 crew found one piece lying in the parking lot. Solyndra still owes the German company that made the tubes close to another $8 million.
So why is a bankrupt company that owes a fortune to creditors, including American taxpayers, throwing away millions of dollars worth of assets?
Solyndra is not commenting. But court documents reveal the company received permission from the bankruptcy trustee to abandon the high grade glass, the court agreeing that it was of “inconsequential value” because the cost of storing them exceeds their value.
An employee for Heritage Global Partners, the company in charge of selling Solyndra’s assets, told CBS 5 they conducted an exhaustive search for buyers but no one wanted them.
But how exhaustive was that search? The tubes were never included on the list of Solyndra assets put up for sale at two auctions last year.
If they were, David Lucky told CBS 5 he would have bought them. “We certainly would have bid on them, yes,” Lucky said.
Lucky owns several large warehouses near Las Vegas. He buys and then resells manufacturing equipment and components all the time.
“Our company has bought a lot of stuff over the years. Truck loads and warehouses full of inventory that companies were just ready to send to the dump, because they don’t want to take the time to find markets for it,” he said.
When Solyndra shut down last year, he bought hundreds of fully assembled solar panels at the auctions and is reselling them on eBay. “They’re going for a third their original price. They are a great deal,” Lucky said.
He said if given a chance he would have snapped up the tubes too. “One day some manufacturing company would eventually need those,” Lucky said.
Solar scientist Greg Smestad agreed they have value. “As a scientist I said ‘Wow, this needs to be studied,’” he said. Smestad has consulted for the Department of Energy.
He recently bought a Solyndra solar panel to study its technology, which is completely different from traditional panels. “It can accept both the direct sun and also track motion, because it’s a cylinder,” he explained. “The technology is very promising.”
Smestad wrote a letter to the auctioneers, asking if they could donate to Santa Clara University any of the leftover tubes after the Solyndra auctions are completed. “Let one student use this as an inspiration for their career and that will be worth something,” he said. But the auctioneers wrote back saying they couldn’t do that.
“That really makes me sad,” said Smestad. “Those tubes represent intellectual investment. These could have had a better value to do public good. I think they owed the U.S. taxpayer that.”
Solyndra was hoping to have sold the entire company by Thursday, but they called off the sale because nobody bid for it.
CBS 5 asked more than once for Solyndra, the auction company and the bankruptcy trustee to talk on camera. But they all refused.
CBS 5 also called the German company that made the glass tubes to see if they would have wanted the tubes back. After all, they are still owed almost $8 million dollars. A spokesman said he had no idea they were being destroyed.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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292 Comments
This makes me sick!! Obama gave tons of our money to this ridiculous green tech firm that (predictably) went under and now they are squandering any hope of recouping the loss. Shame! Shame! Shame!
January 19, 2012 at 10:22 pm | | Report comment
The federal government needs to be eliminated to the extent possible. The fact that the Congress and the White House could allow half a billion of taxpayer funds to go to a random company is disgusting. This is why we’re bankrupt and in debt to China.
January 20, 2012 at 8:20 am | | Report comment
ans the very asinine act of borrowing money to GIVE to other countries.. they aren’t borrowing it.. they’ll never pay it back,, they know we’ll write it off.. but China would’ve come after them for the debt..
January 20, 2012 at 8:54 am
I am mentioned in the story and allowed CBS to interview me. Please search the web on these key words, “Greg Smestad solar” and then go to my solideas news page and then to the google photo album link from there. This will give the public (and reporters) many more details about the story. CBS 5 did not list me correctly. I told them several times to slow down and be careful and to go more in-depth. See my comments below on this CBS site somewhere in this sea of responses. That said, my comments in the video stand.
January 20, 2012 at 10:04 am
It wasn’t a random company. It was hand picked by Obama to allow for money to get in the hands of his big donors. It’s money laundering and organized crime at the least
January 20, 2012 at 12:12 pm
No the liberals in Congress, the President and all the Communist/Socialist appointed advisors he’s surrounded himself with (because they couldn’t pass a national security test) need to flushed out. It is they who are destroying this country! They have bankrupted future generations with this astronomical national debt! A debt that President Obama has racked up more than President Washington than to Bush combined!
January 20, 2012 at 1:53 pm
This is shameful…. shameful that we (taxpayers) were forced to invest in this garbage in the first place. At least let the technology develop and become economic before we subsidize it… get back to oil. There are billions upon billions of barrels under our feet in shale plays like The Bakken and North Dakota Oil . Shame on the government and Shame on Obama… please oh please lose the next election so your leftist wacks will be kicking a can down the road
January 20, 2012 at 2:22 pm
In the age of information, there is no need at all for a parasite class (politicians). We can have direct democracy via technology.
January 20, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Odumbdumb doesn’t care! He already got part of the $500,000,000 back into his campaign coffers long ago.
NOBAMA 2012!
January 21, 2012 at 7:01 am
I too am convinced that the elites who control our gov’t need to be eliminated. I don’t think they will go voluntarily, it may require painful extraction much like a rotten tooth. I believe they are addicted to theft.
January 22, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Chris K:
It won’t let me reply directly to your comment – where did you get your information from?
According to the US Debt Clock (usdebtclock.org): In 2000 the US Debt was $5.7T, in 2008 it was $9.3T. Today it is $15.2T. All are as of 1/23 of the respective years. In order for Obama to rack up more debt than all the combined Preseidents the debt would have to be over $18T at least.
Let’s not forget that throughout history, wars have sent this country into debt. Wars are never paid for before hand and to cut domestic spending for foreign wars would be shameful. This President did not send us to war and commit us to spending over our budget year-in and year-out.
January 23, 2012 at 11:34 pm
hi,
It wasn’t Congress that gave them the money, it was Obama’s staff that did. The Dept. of Energy headed by David Chu, who was hand-picked by Obama, sped up the paper work to “give” over 500 million dollars to Solyndra, a co. in which initial investors were campaign donors to Barrack Obama….start reading the facts.
Your President is responsible for this. Do you think this wimp media will call him to task on it?
January 25, 2012 at 11:47 pm
This is much ado about nothing. Unless someone has a need for glass tube EXACTLY of the dimensions of the Solyndra ones, with the exact chemical composition as the Solyndra ones, the tubes are worthless. And the glass, like all glass, isn’t even worth (economically or environmentally) being recycled. Remember folks, glass recycling is political theater. It is not economically or environmentally justifiably.
January 20, 2012 at 8:24 am | | Report comment
@Tyrone, your an idiot. Glass can be recycled significantly cheaper than making new. Ever wonder why glass plants don’t ship out the glass cuttings? No, they melt them back in and use it for product, fool.
January 20, 2012 at 8:51 am
you’re not your
January 20, 2012 at 9:09 am
Bob, it’s you’re, not your.
January 20, 2012 at 9:45 am
Tyrone, you obviously have had no experience with the glass industry. Glass is expensive and highly recyclable. You also missed the part where Mr Lucky said it was just the sort of thing he would buy. Also, the company asked for bonus money so the geniuses making these decisions would stay with the company. Just great.
January 20, 2012 at 8:55 am
how many cents on the dollar was Mr. Lucky going to offer? 1 cent? 2 cents? Two million dollars at 2 cents on the dollar is … ?
January 20, 2012 at 9:54 am
Does it matter? Even giving all these away FREE is better than what they are doing. It is costing labor to destroy these, as well as disposal fees – ultimately costing more. Stop the spigot of throwing yet more of the $$$ out the window.
January 20, 2012 at 10:07 am
…more than they received by destroying the product…
January 20, 2012 at 10:12 am
bob..leave the poor fool alone.. that wasn’t included in today’s daily-pis talking points..
January 20, 2012 at 8:56 am
You’d justify any amount of waste so long as you covered a brother’s ass, eh Tyrone?
Read the article. There are numerous people who wanted these tubes. But the only ones who had a real claim to them were the Germans who got stiffed by this clown show and the American taxpayer that paid for the Bozo in Chief political favors.
January 20, 2012 at 8:57 am
Hey you brain-washed lemming. It’s the principle of the matter that I paid for that. You probably didn’t. But I did.
January 20, 2012 at 8:58 am
He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave. ~William Drummond, Academical Questions
January 20, 2012 at 8:59 am
Bob & Mike: Pay no attention to Tyrone, he is a liberal and logic means nothing to them.
January 20, 2012 at 9:04 am
You must be a Democrat, being so free with other people’s money. Even if someone offered to cart it off for FREE, that would have been better than the creditors (i.e., US) paying to have it carted off and dumped in a landfill.
January 20, 2012 at 3:11 pm
If noone needs the product (glass tubes) why were they produced?
January 20, 2012 at 3:21 pm
They are destroying property that does not belong to them! It has not been paid for. It is theft.
January 20, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Tyrone, OH really??? A diamond is merely ” coal” subjected to pressure and heat!! Throw away any diamonds lately?????
January 20, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Tyrone might not understand complicated multisyllabic words like “diamond.” Marc, I think for him to understand your question about whether he’s thrown away any diamonds lately, you might need to use a term that he’s more familiar with. I believe that among Obama’s primary constituency, those are referred to instead as “bling.”
January 20, 2012 at 5:41 pm
“Unless someone has a need for glass tube EXACTLY of the dimensions of the Solyndra ones, with the exact chemical composition as the Solyndra ones, the tubes are worthless. ”
Something is worth what others will pay for it.
We’ll never know because the tubes were destroyed without even letting anyone bid on them.
At a fraction of the cost on the dollar, maybe someone could find a use for them. Someone in free enterprise, that is, not someone on the government dole.
January 20, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Tyrone: If it is NOT recyclable…where is it to be DUMPED? Environmentally JUSTIFIABLE? I have been playing with solar programs a while, AND…ANY glass can be used to produce SOME product usable in the solar manufacturing process. These, if not in their present size, could be cut to usable lengths. Recycling is POLITICAL THEATER? How many years have we been recycling, not only to help the environment, but to use less raw materials? You CAN NOT excuse this blatant waste…no way!
January 21, 2012 at 8:10 am
It’s not like it’s real money, it’s just government money, of which there is an unlimited supply.
The purpose of government money is to buy votes, engineer society to achieve liberal goals, and to give rebates to contributors to Democrat politicians.
January 20, 2012 at 9:11 am | | Report comment
We aren’t REAL people. we are just here to serve the Obama’s and Bush’s and UNIONS. Hey WE won’t have to pay back any of these debts. It is on our grandchildren’s backs. HAHAHAHA
January 20, 2012 at 9:36 am
You pawns just shut up. We chess masters know best how to move you all around the chessboard. Submit! Obey! And don’t point out all out embarrassing failures!
January 20, 2012 at 9:43 am
You pawns just shut up. We chess masters know best how to move you all around the chessboard. Submit! Obey! And don’t point out all our embarrassing failures!
January 20, 2012 at 9:43 am
Somewhat surprised by this good reporting, CBS. Almost like the way things used to be investigated. Now go after the FBI as to why they rushed over to Solyndra, took all the records and computers, but haven’t arrested anybody for fraud. Probably would reflect badly on the Office of the Teleprompter is my guess.
January 20, 2012 at 9:47 am
Granted, this happened under Obama… but it is part and parcel of Big Govt, which the Republicans are as guilty of supporting for their own reason.
When it’s other people’s money, who cares where the money goes?
Ron Paul is the only politician who will stop this.
January 20, 2012 at 9:14 am | | Report comment
Paul is too old for most voters.
He would be the same age (77) STARTING a Presidency that Reagan was FINISHING his.
Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 83 and he probably had the disease long before that, possibly while he was still in office.
Between 1/3 and ½ of the people get Alzheimer’s by age 85.
The odds are against someone Paul’s age.
It doesn’t matter how healthy or smart he is. Alzheimer’s strikes all types of people.
If there is a good VP to back him up, then run that person now instead of Paul.
January 20, 2012 at 9:23 am
Weak argument. Vote for what you want and what’s right. I’ll take the old guy over the liars, cheaters, flip-floppers etc…
January 20, 2012 at 10:29 am
If the old fart picks a half decent VP then I would vote for him… I would have voted for McCain if he hadn’t picked a nutty inflatable sex toy for a running mate…. So as long as Paul picks someone with even half a brain I wouldn’t mind voting for him even though he might die before the end of his term.
January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm
I don’t care so much about longevity as Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. The odds of someone Paul’s age getting those in office are FAR too high.
January 20, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I don’t want people to think that CBS stands for the Careless Broadcasting Service, but they got the details wrong on my affiliation. The story indicated that I lecture at Santa Clara University. I have one seminar lecture scheduled (my first and perhaps last there) and I am not a lecturer or professor at SCU! Please go to my site – triple w solideas dot com and click on the news link to get the full details from my Google Picasa Album. I should be clear that I am an Alumni (SCU was my undergraduate Alma Mater), but I am not their representative and I my views do not necessarily represent those of SCU, its staff, professors, lecturers, students or its sponsors. I was, however, working with one of the professors there, and we are sharing results and thinking of ways to use the panels to teach basic engineering and science concepts to students. The CBS story now makes that difficult and awkward.
January 20, 2012 at 9:44 am | | Report comment
These tubes could have been used to teach students how to get ahead by bribing corrupt bureaucrats. It is a growth industry in California. This company was a scam from the start. The USA has almost endless supplies of domestic and cheap natural gas.
January 20, 2012 at 1:45 pm
No way would those “tubes” be any better than flat panels at collecting the 7% of solar flux that is in the visual spectrum. Solyndra was bogus from the get-go for that reason alone, and that’s what their tests showed, and that’s why they couldn’t succeed. PT Barnum is watching and laughing at us.
January 20, 2012 at 2:14 pm
November is coming
January 20, 2012 at 10:16 am | | Report comment
YERMIN SNIPE: Palin has demonstrated at least as much intelligence as ANY of those campaigning, and ABSOLUTELY more than THE S.O.B. OB in office now, of the actual needs of our country. Maybe she IS sexy (your estimate) , but she is observant and intelligent. ABSOLUTELY more so than YOU have displayed with your comments.
January 21, 2012 at 8:41 am
It’s not as bad as it sounds. Solyndra may have paid millions for these custom made tubes, but they aren’t worth nearly that much as industrial surplus. No other company makes solar panels out of tubes like solyndra did so nobody else wants them.
It would cost more in labor to sell them than they could earn, so into the recycle bin they go.
Now if they were throwing away industrial machines that could be sold for a significant fraction of their value I’d be mad.
January 20, 2012 at 12:04 pm | | Report comment
It costs money to dump stuff. Think of your garbage bill and then multiply it by the amount of stuff they dumped compared to the amount of stuff you dump. Plus it just fills up the landfills. The article says there were buyers. It was just plain stupid not to include them in the auction. But at this point it’s not their money, so why should they care? Same principle as most government spending.
January 20, 2012 at 1:42 pm
obama STILL wants more money to Solyndra tax payer money for the upper management’s salaries….they could have sold that and right on the air is a guy saying he would have bought them, this is such a fraud. obama needs to be held accountable and so does Solyndra,
January 20, 2012 at 1:42 pm | | Report comment
Part of those bonuses probably go right back to Odumbo’s 2012 campaign coffers.
January 21, 2012 at 7:11 am
I agree. Give ‘em to me. I’ll store ‘em somewhere. We don’t need no stinkin’
garbage.
January 20, 2012 at 1:55 pm | | Report comment
They need to audit the DNC. I bet they would find $500M in their campaign account.
January 20, 2012 at 1:58 pm | | Report comment
Your Spot On. These guys are freakin criminals and have stolen 500 million dollars from the tax payer. They could have sold the glass tubes. Lots of people wold be willing to buy them. This a classic example of a government contractor and Democrat corruption working hand in hand. Anybody with a ” D ” in front of their name has to be thrown out in the election in November. I will crawl over broken glass to vote against Obama
January 20, 2012 at 2:54 pm | | Report comment
Pingback: Solyndra destroys millions of dollars of parts - US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum
read your history.. the whole Solyndra thing started under BUSH.
January 19, 2012 at 11:34 pm | | Report comment
Read YOUR history. The Bush admin recommended against giving any money to Solyndra. Stop trying to cover up this farce of the Obama corruptacracy with lies because you can’t bear the embarrassment of Obama being so stupid.
January 20, 2012 at 2:27 am | | Report comment
Great reply Lava. Dumocrats seem to suffer from selective memory.
January 20, 2012 at 8:31 am
The average man never really thinks from end to end of his life. The mental activity of such people is only a mouthing of clichés. ~H.L. Mencken, Prejudices, 1925
January 20, 2012 at 8:44 am
We can’t let the liberal facts get in the way Dale. You libs truly have no shame. The Bush admin was against giving them the money!
January 20, 2012 at 10:25 am
Bush did not give money to this Co. because it was a bad investment. Look it up.
January 20, 2012 at 8:29 am | | Report comment
Lava,
Dale Norbeck is just a mindless chunk of human waste, sorta like a Democrat drone union worker.
He’s just parroting what he was programmed to say. Most of these cretins despise Bush, but are incapable of coming up with one valid fact that could even begin to justify their hate.
January 20, 2012 at 8:38 am | | Report comment
Believing is easier than thinking. Hence so many more believers than thinkers. ~Bruce Calvert
January 20, 2012 at 8:50 am
Invest a few moments in thinking. It will pay good interest. ~Author Unknown
January 20, 2012 at 8:41 am | | Report comment
Physiological response to thinking and to pain is the same; and man is not given to hurting himself. ~Martin H. Fischer
January 20, 2012 at 8:42 am | | Report comment
Bush REJECTED the Solyndra bid, moron. Their exact conclusion: These guys are using technology that the Chinese already use which is cheaper. They will not be able to compete.
YAEOHBWRAOWW
Yet Another Example Of How Bush Was Right And Obama Was Wrong.
January 20, 2012 at 9:00 am | | Report comment
“Yet Another Example Of How Bush Was Right And Obama Was Wrong”
should be “… and Obama Is/Was wrong”
Wrong for many reason… (going forward)
January 20, 2012 at 10:02 am
Adn it was the Bush administrationb that flatly refused to fund any aspect of Solyndra with tax payer dollars. Do some research
January 20, 2012 at 9:10 am | | Report comment
Bush rejected the deal!
January 20, 2012 at 9:12 am | | Report comment
One can always count on libunatics (liberal lunatics) to claim everything is the fault of Bush or to blame racism.
This reveals a complete lack of integrity among those libunatics.
January 20, 2012 at 9:13 am | | Report comment
Wrong. PLEASE GET OVER GEORGE BUSH. YOU ARE TIRESOME.
January 20, 2012 at 9:13 am | | Report comment
But the Prez is a good singer, right? He was a hit at the Apollo last night. So what if this administration can’t get the needle to budge on a black unemployment rate of close to 50%. He’s a good singer and a cool guy. What else should matter?
January 20, 2012 at 9:15 am | | Report comment
What amazes me is that the people who suffer the most from Democrat policies continue to vote for Dem politicians at a rate over 90%.
January 20, 2012 at 9:30 am
Simple. Insanity.
January 20, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Not amazed to me… it’s that THINKING thing that gets them every time.
All they hear in their head is what they have been told (and the crumbs that are occassionally thrown thier way!
January 20, 2012 at 10:06 am
What are you clueless? DOn’t you read the papers? Don’t you know the Bush Administration put it on hold and when the BIG-O got in to power hehis Administration Fast Track the loan,,, proably as payouts for his Doners,,, who all got rich from the loan and then stuck it to the tax payer????????
January 20, 2012 at 9:24 am | | Report comment
Bush did indeed fund some wrong things, trying to appeal to liberals.
For example, he was big into ethanol subsidies, which are a COMPLETE waste of money and petroleum.
It takes almost as much oil and natural gas to make ethanol from corn as it saves. Then, factor in the lower gas mileage we get with ethanol, and it’s basically a wash.
Even some environmentalists now realize that ethanol subsidies are a complete waste, yet we continue to throw money away.
The reason for that is because the Iowa caucuses are early in the Presidential election cycle and winning Iowa – home to big ethanol subsidies – is critical to any candidate.
January 20, 2012 at 9:27 am | | Report comment
As a liberal, truth is what you WANT to be true, not what actually IS true. It’s half mental disorder and half indoctrination by liberal college professors who repeatedly told you that the sky is green and therefore you needn’t look up to see for yourself. Some day you might want to try looking up; you may find that the sky is not green after all….
January 20, 2012 at 10:23 am | | Report comment
Anyone care to wager this Lib puke will never read any replies to his lies? Liberals live in a fantasyland of their own creation and no amount of reality or common sense will ever enter this kingdom…
Libs spend their days on the Daily KOS or Huffpo being fed propaganda every second of every day, Occasionally a few that truly believe will make an appearance on a list or forum spewing this kind of nonsense then patting themselves on their back telling each other how smart all Liberals are and how dumb Conservatives are.
Just like an 8 year old at recess, lie, deflect, then hide…
Liberalism is a Mental Disorder…
January 20, 2012 at 10:44 am | | Report comment
You’re kidding, right?
January 20, 2012 at 10:51 am | | Report comment
Dale Norbec: You START a race with a fine vehicle…BUT, when that vehicle shows an imbalance, OR that something is terribly wrong with it’s capability… you don’t CONTINUE until you have blown it ALL up. THEN…go putting in money for things that you CAN NOT…POSSIBLY use. This company was in business BEFORE the Bush years…AND…DID the Bush administration INVEST in that company? Usually, SPONSORS take a GOOD look, before investing in a thing. Just how good a look (or just exactly WHAT were they looking at) did this administration take before investing BILLIONS of tax payers dollars into it?
January 21, 2012 at 9:20 am | | Report comment
Yes, in a sense it did. Solyndra did petition the government for money under Bush. They went through the official request process.and then were turned down by the Bush Administration. Obama came into office and HIS people authorized half a billion dollars to go to them anyway. Not only did they give them money, they knew that the company was in serious financial trouble when they did it.
We certainly do need to have our facts straight, don’t we.
January 23, 2012 at 6:32 am | | Report comment
Just the pretense of an ethical business without the troubles of accountability.
January 19, 2012 at 11:40 pm | | Report comment
Corporation: a method of getting personal profit without personal liability.
January 20, 2012 at 2:16 am | | Report comment
I am guessing you have never owned your own business James? Some corporations are small businesses and I am very personally responsible for my Sub S corporations liabilities. Nice sound bite but I am sick and tired of soundbites.
January 20, 2012 at 8:23 am | | Report comment
You’re an Obama drone..:
This is not a failure of the “corporation”; it’s the Exhibit A in the ongoing failure of big state collusion with big business (Big Green here), formerly called Fascism.
January 20, 2012 at 8:24 am | | Report comment
Except, “James”, when your Halfwit Hero squatting in OUR White House needs campaign slush funds….
Then they are DEFINITELY on the hook for your Halfwit’s $$$$.
Azzklown.
January 20, 2012 at 8:41 am | | Report comment
“Corporation: a method of getting personal profit without personal liability.”
FALSE.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 makes members of the board of directors of any corporation directly and personally responsible for a number of acts committed by the corporation, even if such acts were done without the knowledge or approval of the Board.
The Board is required to take action via policy, programs, and audits to ensure that such acts do not occur.
BTW, are POLITICIANS held to the same standard? NOPE!
January 20, 2012 at 9:34 am | | Report comment
Correction:
“GOVERNMENT: a method of getting personal profit without personal liability.”
Example:
See Nancy “VISA IPO” Pelosi.
January 20, 2012 at 9:35 am | | Report comment
Correct:
“GOVERNMENT: A method of getting other people’s personal profit without personal liability.”
January 20, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Nancy, Harry, and Odumbo should all be on death row for all the damage they have done to our country!
NOBAMA 2012
January 21, 2012 at 7:21 am
If it wasn’t a corp supported by MY TAX PAYERS DOLLARS, they may have made more of an effort to do the right thing and sell the stuff.
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
January 20, 2012 at 12:41 pm | | Report comment
You’re confused, you defined Democrat Politician.
January 20, 2012 at 1:20 pm | | Report comment
I wonder whether Obama during his re-election campaign will trumpet this latest glorious development at Solyndra the way he trumpeted the support that his administration was throwing behind Solyndra with half a billions dollars of our tax money! For all you Lefties reading this article, this is an example of why government funding of corporations doesn’t work–it completely destroys the incentive to make a good product at the lowest cost, and it destroys the competitiveness of other companies that are in the same business.
January 20, 2012 at 3:18 am | | Report comment
Donald, Obama DID exactly as you predicted, tried to trumpet his “green jobs” successes and blames his failures on the mythical “secret oil billionaires” he embarrases me personally as he is the POTUS and he is flashing his stupidity for the whole world to see!!!
January 20, 2012 at 9:36 am | | Report comment
Um, just so you know, NObama’s busy running ads touting his “outstanding ethics” and “green” record here in VA……….that’s present tense, mind you. Not “did,” not “will,” but “IS.”
Unbelievable.
January 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm
Aren’t all these millions of green jobs just fabulous?
January 20, 2012 at 9:37 am | | Report comment
You wonder about that. I’ll wonder just how many months you can continue talking about all the money Solyndra got. The bill for which is surpassed by several days in Afghanistan. The primary benefit of which seems to be cheap heroin.
Moan some more about this taxpayer money that got thrown somewhere other than into the bottomless pit that shall not be mentioned.
January 21, 2012 at 1:38 am | | Report comment
Why in the world should anyone feel obligated to bring up something about *Afghanistan* in an article about waste and corruption at *Solyndra*? Following that silly line of reasoning, an article about any tragedy would have to bring up every worse tragedy that ever occurred! So I guess an article about the ship that went aground in Italy would need to state that the Holocaust was so much worse. Where would that absurd practice end? How utterly ridiculous.
The only relation between Solyndra and Afghanistan is that Obama wasted money there too. Obama, who ran on ending wars, has spent more on wars than Bush could ever have dreamed of. But again, that’s not relevant to the article.
January 21, 2012 at 9:49 pm
I don’t want people to think that CBS stands for the Careless Broadcasting Service, but they did the details wrong on my affiliation. The story says, “Smestad has consulted for the Department of Energy and lectures at Santa Clara University.” I have one seminar lecture scheduled (my first there) and I am not a lecturer or professor at SCU! Please go to my site – triple w solideas dot com and click on the news link to get the full details from my Google Picasa Album. I should be clear that I am an Alumni (SCU was my undergraduate Alma Mater), but I am not their representative and I my views do not necessarily represent those of SCU, its staff, professors, lecturers, students or its sponsors. I was, however, working with one of the professors there, and we are sharing results and thinking of ways to use the panels to teach basic engineering and science concepts to students. The CBS story now makes that difficult and awkward.
January 20, 2012 at 7:43 am | | Report comment
Dr. Smestad, I am truly sorry to hear that. it would have been nice to have had a little **accuracy** when referencing people, but…..this is kind of what happens when one comes into a story with a predecided agenda.
Best of luck, though, with your educational endeavors!
January 22, 2012 at 6:01 pm | | Report comment
Bankrupt subsidized green company fails to recycle glass.
January 20, 2012 at 8:20 am | | Report comment
Kind of ironic don’t you think?!
January 20, 2012 at 8:46 am | | Report comment
Where is an investigation? Ask yourself: where would this be if the aider and abetter were G.W. Bush?
Do you that’s right?
January 20, 2012 at 8:22 am | | Report comment
Those glass tubes (a new and expensive technology) are the reason that Solyndra was uncompetitive and failed. So….What good are they?
January 20, 2012 at 8:26 am | | Report comment
@NowYouKnow: “Those glass tubes (a new and expensive technology) are the reason that Solyndra was uncompetitive and failed. So….What good are they?”
At a fraction of cost compared of the original they may be economical. That’s how liquidation works.
January 20, 2012 at 10:54 am | | Report comment
This just shows that when you are using other people’s money, you do not respect it. Let’s stop paying for this waste.
January 20, 2012 at 8:29 am | | Report comment
and it was recently revealed that solyndra purposely staved off declaring bankruptcy untl after the 2010 elections.
can you say “collusion”
January 20, 2012 at 8:30 am | | Report comment
Big News Everyone, somebody illegally downloaded a movie. We have bigger fish to fry than wondering what happened to trillions of dollars. I mean, what about that 12yr old who is watching illegally downloaded disney movies. GET THAT KID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 20, 2012 at 8:30 am | | Report comment
AMEN
January 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm | | Report comment
This stuff is going in the trash. Same s as the rest of OUR money under the Obama administration.
January 20, 2012 at 8:32 am | | Report comment
AMEN…
January 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm | | Report comment
Why didn’t they just send back all the glass to the company they bought it from if they still owe the money for them?
January 20, 2012 at 8:33 am | | Report comment
because it was a logical thing to do.. and dimwits dont use logic.. they go with feelings over reason.
January 20, 2012 at 9:01 am | | Report comment
i meant returning it would be a logical thing..
January 20, 2012 at 9:02 am
It’s entirely possible that because the material was custom-ordered and custom-made, the manufacturer won’t take it back. Especially overseas. Even if it’s recyclable.
January 22, 2012 at 6:07 pm | | Report comment
Good report CBS. Lets keep this story alive for as long as possible so Americans never forget the sham company, the sham industry and the sham president.
January 20, 2012 at 8:34 am | | Report comment
I’m sure they are just following orders…
January 20, 2012 at 8:35 am | | Report comment
To the left-coast, bleeding-heart, ‘do as we say, not as we do’ socialist liberals on this blog trying once again to pin the blame for what happened at Solyndra on Bush…YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID!
January 20, 2012 at 8:37 am | | Report comment
A green company does not mean a liberal company!
Corporations are run by people, some lean left, others right. While a CEO may be left, its COO / CFO … may be right.
Aligning a company with green tech to left politicians is just gamemanship. In the real world Left and Right are just words with no real meaning.
Whether these units could be reused or recycled???
Theoretically, they could have been dumped on EBay (+shipping and handling) as collectors items!
This points towards our governments commitment to recovering debts! Let a citizen owe a few thousand dollars in taxes and the IRS will seize their home, but this just gets swept away.
January 20, 2012 at 8:38 am | | Report comment
Mantis…..
“A green company does not mean a liberal company”….
“Aligning a company with green tech to left politicians is just gamemanship. In the real world Left and Right are just words with no real meaning”.
Really? REALLY?
Pass that joint around, bud… you are defintely smoking some class weed!
January 20, 2012 at 8:46 am | | Report comment
I could have sold them all for at leased $1m in less than 72 hours on Craigslist…
January 20, 2012 at 8:38 am | | Report comment
The Trustee is payed handsomely to protect and liquidate any and all assets of value in order to pay what they can back to the debtors.
The trustee needs to be NAMED in this article, and they need to be held financially accountable.
This is more inept govt. BS form a truly corrupt administration.
January 20, 2012 at 8:42 am | | Report comment
Solyndragate = Failed Obamessiah
January 20, 2012 at 8:45 am | | Report comment
We can start calling him “Former President Obama,” because exactly one year from today, that’s what he’ll be.
January 20, 2012 at 9:38 am | | Report comment
Sadly, he is running against 3 Republican Progressives and a frreaking crazy arse whack job… Obama will win again and America will fall into a Civil War…
January 20, 2012 at 10:35 am
Big salaries and golden parachutes for the execs I’m sure.
January 20, 2012 at 8:46 am | | Report comment
I do believe its ILLEGAL to do that?
Another Obama success
January 20, 2012 at 8:47 am | | Report comment
This is a pure example of just plain stupidity. Option 1.call the supplier and give them back in trade for a reduction of the debt owed to them, 2. advertise them on auction sites, websites like Craigslist or other wholesaler sites and at least sell them for 10 cents on the dollar. 10% on the dollar is $200,000 or 4 each of a $50,000 salary, 3. offer the product for a fraction of the value – yes, to a competitor who may need the product thus, help them from also going bankrupt. This is the problem with these types of companies and pencil neck lawyers in Federal Bankruptcy situations – no common sense.
January 20, 2012 at 8:47 am | | Report comment
Dear Art House
I am a liquidator with intimate knowledge of this glass… The Mfg does ot want it back, as they have no use for it. It was designed and manufactured to spec.
Also, it would blow your mind if you knew how much was actually avasilable… literally 1,000s of pallets. A bit much to sell on CL, even if you could….
However, the real problem is the toxic ingredients in the glass… the recyclers can not handle it without a lot of trouble…
So, its not as clear cut as you may think…
January 20, 2012 at 9:13 am | | Report comment
Mike, a reasonable answer doesn’t appear to be what anyone is interested in here.
The story noted that the trustee looked into whether it was worth trying to sell the glass. The story noted that the court agreed that it wasn’t worth it.
The story is not about the management of Solyndra, but there are obviously quite a few commenters willing to grind that axe with it.
January 20, 2012 at 9:50 am
And I have been on the Bankruptcy Trustee Teams enough to know that there is very little concern for doing a hard days work to properly “liquidate” many items for the “true benefit” of the creditors. As long as the Trustee gets a pound of flesh and nothing is left but the bone. That is their primary consideration. Get their fees paid and the heck with the rest. I have been at this for over 40 years and what I know about these things – is quite clear. But, thanks for the thought.
January 20, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Is there anything that has ever happened or ever will happen on this planet that Bush does not get blamed for?? Come one people give it a rest.
January 20, 2012 at 8:58 am | | Report comment
Thank you.
January 20, 2012 at 1:48 pm | | Report comment
Random act of journalism???????
January 20, 2012 at 9:00 am | | Report comment
Pingback: Obama-Backed Bankrupt Solyndra Caught on Video Destroying Brand New Parts | Scotty Starnes's Blog
We might as well refer to Barry as “Former President Obama,” because in 12 months that will be his new title.
January 20, 2012 at 9:06 am | | Report comment
You, who believe Obama is incompetent or foolish, are making a big mistake. If you haven’t figured it out yet . . . whatever, whoever, whenever Mr. Obama and his ilk can cause waste, pain, or failure in America, he & they will do. He/they are counting on you to think they are just dumb.
January 20, 2012 at 9:08 am | | Report comment
Barry is indeed very clever. He’s done more damage to the USA in three years than Stalin, Mao, and Hitler – combined and over decades.
January 20, 2012 at 9:08 am | | Report comment
Also these Democrat looters at Solyndra want to give themselves bonuses with taxpayer money. The Democrat Party deserves all the blame for this stupidity and should be destroyed at the polls in November.
January 20, 2012 at 9:08 am | | Report comment
Also count how many times the name “Obama” comes up in this article. Zero.
January 20, 2012 at 9:09 am | | Report comment
Could anybody doubt that Mitt Romney couldn’t have stepped in and saved this company with its technology, jobs, and industry? Experience rules!!!!
January 20, 2012 at 9:10 am | | Report comment
I doubt this company was salvageable because the fundamental premise is false. The technology is just not ready to compete on economic terms.
January 20, 2012 at 9:41 am | | Report comment
Noone can save these firms because the concept is flawed to the core. Lst I heard, 10 out of 11 of these firms that were given stimulus monies – “BILLIONS of DOLLARS” are now in bankruptcy. The government had a worse record of losing taxpayer dollars than Wall Street firms. Where is the OWS band of slugs now? They should be marching on the WH
January 20, 2012 at 1:52 pm | | Report comment
typical government project. buy high, recover nothing. its just an excuse to spend other peoples money.
January 20, 2012 at 9:11 am | | Report comment
Racist!
Don’t you care about the planet or the people?
(Sorry, just saving some liberal lunatic from typing)
January 20, 2012 at 9:42 am | | Report comment
Funny!
January 20, 2012 at 12:52 pm
I wonder how much of that taxpayer money paid to Solyndra was diverted back to Democrat campaign funding? Probably all that they could get away with, seeing that Solyndra only existed to provide Democrat party campaign money.
Remember Enron, and how the press went berserk? Enron doesn’t hold a candle to Solyndra, especially when you consider that Enron failed with investors’ money, Solyndra failed with TAXPAYERS’ money.
January 20, 2012 at 9:12 am | | Report comment
Currently, the Treasury is seen by Democrat politicians as merely a temporary holding tank for funds being diverted as rebates to contributors to the Dem party.
And the Treasury can also be used to buy votes and perform social engineering.
January 20, 2012 at 9:44 am | | Report comment
And now they want to give 782 mil to another such company that Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law is involved in. The stupidity of it all!
January 20, 2012 at 9:13 am | | Report comment
High speed rail is the same as Obama’s “green jobs” scam.
It’s just a way to transfer taxpayer money to labor unions – because just about everything related to train travel is heavily unionized. Also, it’s a way to make large financial awards to contributors to Democrat politicians.
January 20, 2012 at 9:14 am | | Report comment
This is what you do when you spend someone elses’ money.
January 20, 2012 at 9:16 am | | Report comment
I hope the GOP use this in the upcoming elections…
January 20, 2012 at 9:17 am | | Report comment
Unfortunately the GOP has proven itself to be IDIOTIC. Seriously, Obamacare prompted the Tea Parties in 2009. So in 2012 we nominate a guy that set the stage for Obamacare with Romneycare? You cannot justify this…
The GOP field is so shockingly bad as to have no chance of defeating Obama.
Alan West
Fred Thompson
Bobby Jihndal
Sarah Palin
And we get to choose from…
Newt… Are you kidding me sitting with Nanzi Piglozi talking about Global Warming??? You elimiinated yourself…
Romney… Romneycare or anynumber of politically expediant flip flops.
Santorum… Progressive Republican. Never met a Big Govt reg he didnt support.
Ron Paul… His supporters are crazier than he is, and thats saying something…
GOP=IDIOTS
January 20, 2012 at 11:10 am | | Report comment
Perhaps, but these failures surely mean something. Look at what has just been reported about IL..that even after raising individual taxes to 67% last year (along with Corporate taxes), they STILL owe about $8Billion! The Democrats want the Federal government to do exactly the same thing…raise taxes. And guess what? We’ll get further and further into debt! Sometimes you have to rip off the bandaid…it hurts, but it’ll be better in the end.
January 20, 2012 at 11:51 am
well that’s great for the environment!
Hard to imagine how it was costing anything to store glass????????
Also hard to imagine the German company wouldn’t have wanted those back — but fear not, those dumpsters full of broken glass probably won’t last more than a couple thousand years in a landfill.
Another successful government project!
January 20, 2012 at 9:18 am | | Report comment
We have the video. Only ONE president made a personal appearance at Solyndra, to great hyped-up fanfare: that ONE president is Barack Hussein Obama. We know where the blame lies. This is a disgusting piece of news and should cost, with many other things, Obama the presidency. In fact, he should be impeached and thrown out of the White House.
January 20, 2012 at 9:19 am | | Report comment
What doesn’t make this a Felony?
In Daytona, if you even Spit,……… “You’re Goin’ Down Buddy!”
January 20, 2012 at 9:19 am | | Report comment
Breaking Laws is for the “Little People”….
January 20, 2012 at 11:13 am | | Report comment
That’s our money being thrown in a dumpster . . .
January 20, 2012 at 9:36 am | | Report comment
Great investigative reporting CBS San Francisco. Well done. Keep up the good work.
January 20, 2012 at 9:37 am | | Report comment
It’s interesting and sad that no one in government (oxymoron) involved could figure out how to recycle or resell this glass yet they figured out a way to distribute and recycle your and my tax money…
January 20, 2012 at 9:41 am | | Report comment
Pingback: Busted! Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying Brand New Parts « A TowDog
Pingback: Video: Why is Solyndra destroying millions of dollars in parts? « Hot Air
The truth of the matter is that is solar was so good, the IPO would be red hot, and investors would be lined up around the block to get in on the ground floor.
Evidently, it isn’t, so all those hard working taxpayers, can now pay for this and keep voting for those that keep wasting your money, and trashing it with no concern.
After all, they can just stick it to you with tax increases.
For those that pay no taxes, ain’t life grand, as you don’t pay your fair share and get to complain, when you have no skin in the game.
January 20, 2012 at 9:57 am | | Report comment
And to top it all off Obama is going to let them be paid big bonuses,larger than most people that aren’t in the top 1% make a year.But Obama knows that he can count on getting a large part of it back as campaign contibutions,or is that tribute?With the ” con ” being on us
January 20, 2012 at 9:58 am | | Report comment
Money is easy to abuse when you don’t have to earn it yourself.
January 20, 2012 at 10:04 am | | Report comment
Throwing out parts, huh?
Now, if we could throw out Barry Obumma, the Kenyan King, just as easily!
Remember: NOBAMA in 2012!
January 20, 2012 at 10:06 am | | Report comment
Gee, how many tens of thousands of jobs did that create, Mr. Obama? Friggin’ moron.
http://www.zazzle.com/FirstPrinciples?rf=238518351914519699
January 20, 2012 at 10:09 am | | Report comment
STUPID, stupid, STUPID
January 20, 2012 at 10:14 am | | Report comment
Your gubbermint at work. This is how they will run healthcare.
January 20, 2012 at 10:15 am | | Report comment
Anyone familiar with standard insurance or bankruptcy proceedings knows that all company assets which cannot be sold or reclaimed by the court to pay off creditors must be destroyed and disposed of. I work at a bankruptcy firm and I have personally seen brand new still in the box Dell desktop and laptop computers, office furniture, carpeting, construction materials, store fixtures and more get tossed right into the dumpsters and carted off to landfills. I am speaking of brand new and still-operational used equipment. It’s how the laws are written that mandates this. Standard operating procedure.
January 20, 2012 at 10:17 am | | Report comment
Sad, but true.
January 22, 2012 at 6:17 pm | | Report comment
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Who is giving the authorization for the destruction of the glass? They should be jailed! There should be a protocol that nothing gets destroyed with out an exaustive search for buyers and auctions from many sources.
January 20, 2012 at 10:20 am | | Report comment
Ah yes – more efficiency from the government and everything it touches.
January 20, 2012 at 10:30 am | | Report comment
Just the other day i read a story about how Solyndra wants to authorization to ok millions in bonuses to retain “key employees”….and now this.
January 20, 2012 at 10:34 am | | Report comment
That “hope and change” sure is strange….
January 20, 2012 at 10:36 am | | Report comment
Destroy the evidence!
January 20, 2012 at 10:36 am | | Report comment
Pingback: Local CBS Station catches Solyndra destroying million bucks worth of parts | Thoughts and Rantings
Green Energy Scam. Hope the stuff was recycled at least.
January 20, 2012 at 10:49 am | | Report comment
So much for being Green. How much energy was wasted on all that glass. Someone should get a major carbon foot print in the A**. Makes me sick!!! Obama should be charged with fraud to the American tax payers and locked away with many others.
January 20, 2012 at 10:55 am | | Report comment
Subtract the difference from the President’s pay & anybody else that was involved in this.
January 20, 2012 at 11:13 am | | Report comment
Of course, those who voted for the Messiah are not in the least troubled. Why? Because they aren’t the ones paying the taxes; they have their hand out for “free” government money rather than earning it themselves.
January 20, 2012 at 11:19 am | | Report comment
Covering their tracks. A camera inside the facility would show hard drives being destroyed.
January 20, 2012 at 11:23 am | | Report comment
Local/County/State/Fed Govts no longer have my Consent… The Lawyers that have stolen OUR country right out from under us, using the weakness of our own Words against us are the enemy. That I need a lawyer in nearly every aspect of my everyday life proves my point, clearly and obviously.
If and when enough of us come to this common sense, Constitutionally legal act is when this Govt collapses under its own (Unionized) weight.
We can then determine our new Govt amongst ourselves in a Constitutional Convention.
January 20, 2012 at 11:24 am | | Report comment
Well, they’ve obviously taken to heart the lessons our government has taught them about financial responsibility.
January 20, 2012 at 11:25 am | | Report comment
Lazy liberals can’t even be bothered to sell the stuff they wasted. They just absolutely refuse to work.Losers! Losers that do nothing but complain about everyone else!
January 20, 2012 at 11:27 am | | Report comment
Oh they had a buyer. The usual one when the democrats are in charge: Taxpayers. And like most everything they make us pay for, it ends up in the trashcan.
January 20, 2012 at 11:29 am | | Report comment
This was the plan all along, If you sell anything out of the bankruptcy you have to account for that,,the money off of that sale goes to the Creditor,,,The U.S. Tax payer. However, if that happens a LOT of other things will have to be accounted for,,like wherer all the money went if they didn’t pay THEIR creditors. The money is in someone’s bank account.
January 20, 2012 at 11:34 am | | Report comment
The Big Zero is behind all of this waste of tax payer money. The owners of this company were BIG donors to his campaign and Zero talked about the renewable energy green jobs he was creating which is another load of fertilizer.
I hope all of you who are upset at this are going to register to vote and vote all these dumbocrats out of office in Nov.
January 20, 2012 at 11:35 am | | Report comment
Obamanomics at work! What sense of economy can you expect from a party most of whose constituents have never worked for a living.
January 20, 2012 at 11:37 am | | Report comment
Solyndra was nothing more than Obama writing a big check to his buddies.. Eff you, liberals. HARD.
January 20, 2012 at 11:39 am | | Report comment
Your tax dollars at work = bankruptcy and waste.
How’s that Hopey Changey thing working out everyone?
January 20, 2012 at 11:41 am | | Report comment
The “hopey changey” thing is working out well for those who voted for Obama; after all, they don’t work for a living but live off their “entitlements.” It’s those of us who actually work who pay the taxes that go for Obama’s fraudulent schemes.
January 20, 2012 at 11:55 am | | Report comment
Solyndra and the other solar energy “loans” are just Chicago style graft. So is Lightsquared, but what should be even more infuriating about Ligthsquared is the willingness to compromise national defense to benefit donors. The Obama administration was even willing to suborn perjury (Gen. Shelton’s congressional testimony) to get the deal approved. Combine thse with “Fast and Furious”, buying over $400 million worth of a questionable smallpox treatment from a contributor’s firm, and other unseemly stuff and what you get is a continuing criminal enterprise.
January 20, 2012 at 11:47 am | | Report comment
SHH! Let’s listen to Newt’s ex-wife and compare tax returns from the Republicans instead. You know, all that stuff we say isn’t important when a liberal is asked the same questions.
January 20, 2012 at 1:39 pm | | Report comment
Wow!!! A random act of journalism by the mainstream media! What’s up with that????
January 20, 2012 at 11:55 am | | Report comment
POST OF THE DAY!!!!!!!!
January 20, 2012 at 12:43 pm | | Report comment
lets see…
a green company
trashes perfectly good materials
hypocrites perhaps?
Just like their masters in the dem party.
January 20, 2012 at 11:57 am | | Report comment
Pingback: Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying Brand New Parts - Political Wrinkles
See hwat happens when the Obama administration gets involved in business! It’s just taxpayer money. What the heck, they’ll never miss it, especially if we never tell. Just throw it away because there are always more taxpayers out there.
January 20, 2012 at 12:03 pm | | Report comment
“So why is a bankrupt company that owes a fortune to creditors, including American taxpayers, throwing away millions of dollars worth of assets?” the anchor asks. Because, Solyndra is sh!tcanning OUR money, not their’s. It’s a liberal thing – we wouldn’t understand.
January 20, 2012 at 12:13 pm | | Report comment
This is what happens to YOUR MONEY people when you vote to hand it all over to the government. The government and idiots that run it, have little at stake in all of this because it’s not their money, it’s yours. They simply tax you for it under threat of jail/incarceration or stealing your property if you don’t ante up. How much of your hard earned wages do you think the government deserves? I think they deserve $0. Do you realize how much each congressman, senator, and president will walk away with out of your pocket not just during their terms, but for the remainder of their lives? They get to vote their own pay increases. Do you? This is why I have such a distrust of them. They control you at an exorbitant cost to your freedom and rights. Think about how much you turn over in income taxes and sales taxes every year as a private citizen working in the private sector. I’m amazed anyone not working for the government votes to have so much of their money taken away, as if they don’t know how to spend or save it themselves.
January 20, 2012 at 12:21 pm | | Report comment
Would love to know where the board of the specialty glass leans politically and how many government contracts they have. In sure the garbage company leans toward obama since most garbage goes that way
January 20, 2012 at 12:24 pm | | Report comment
OBAMB-UN-ISM
January 20, 2012 at 12:35 pm | | Report comment
Here is book that might be of interest: “Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them” by Steve Milloy, founder and publisher of JunkScience.com.
January 20, 2012 at 12:42 pm | | Report comment
What’s to lose when you have no skin in the game? Obama made sure Solyndra filled their pockets while their creditors and the taxpayers took the hit. You can bet Obama and Solyndra never intended the wealth to spread any farther than themselves.
January 20, 2012 at 12:42 pm | | Report comment
Its funny that CBS, even an affiliate, a member of the liberal media, would show this since it was an order from the Obama admin. LIkely from Biden himself.
January 20, 2012 at 12:51 pm | | Report comment
The CIA and AQ both agreed to stop the “spectaculars” when Bush left,the next step is a “financial jihad” which is >85% completed at this point.Once the financial issue is a melted down,and no immediate pay for military,then the backpacks start popping off,and then comes an emp over four startegic nodes for comm grids.At that point we’ll see about a 90% population reduction here,the random element,the decisions made by China and Russia,being a once in history chance to effect change on a global scale,never seen.(and it’s not the “chand”,you’re looking for)
January 20, 2012 at 12:54 pm | | Report comment
That’s “change”.
January 20, 2012 at 12:55 pm | | Report comment
POTUS is OK with it. Solyndra is the first thing highlighted in his new campaign TV spot.
January 20, 2012 at 12:57 pm | | Report comment
Solyndra served its purpose: to put millions of dollars into the pockets of well connected Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi’s brother in law. It was never intended to produce anything other than an opportunity for them to loot at the public trough.
January 20, 2012 at 12:57 pm | | Report comment
Obama = Solyndra = Obama.
Like father like son.
January 20, 2012 at 1:00 pm | | Report comment
Pingback: Solyndra caught tossing millions of dollars’ worth of assets into dumpsters | The Right Scoop
Thanks, oblama.
January 20, 2012 at 1:07 pm | | Report comment
Obama = Solyndra = Obama
Like father, like son.
January 20, 2012 at 1:08 pm | | Report comment
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“So why is a bankrupt company that owes a fortune to creditors, including American taxpayers, throwing away millions of dollars worth of assets?”
Your article answered this question in the previous paragraph, with the term “specialised glass”.
If you purchase a customized design for parts in a product only your company produces, neither the returns policy to the manufacturer or the resale ability should be a big mystery.
When Dodge goes out of business, you think they get to sell the Dodge badges? Does Toyota want them? Can the parts manufacturer sell them to a different company called Dodge? Yeah, look it’s the point you missed in your almost journalism.
January 20, 2012 at 1:15 pm | | Report comment
Except for the fact that the story includes willing buyers. OOPSIE looks like you skipped over THAT part. Got any more oblivious scolding for us?
January 20, 2012 at 1:50 pm | | Report comment
Well, the badges could certainly be recycled (metal or plastic) or repurposed in some way.
And, we are talking about a product that was purchased from an international manufacturer, so OBVIOUSLY, there is more than one single user (Solyandra) out there using the German technology. I highly doubt the German co, started production JUST for Solyandra.
AND, since they are OWED money by Solyandra, the German co should have been awared the materials by the BK trustee since they were a creditor in the BK. They should have been given the option of reclaiming their product, storing and selling it.
If the trustee decided that the items had no value to the case, (no assets), then the creditors should have the options of repossession or purchase.
THROWING AWAY potential assets or items never paid for by the debtor is WRONG and probably would not have gone down that way in a “NORMAL” business bankruptcy.
I smell some FED intervention there with the Trustee.
January 20, 2012 at 2:07 pm | | Report comment
Obama likes to show off his pocketfull of occult religious good luck new age charms while bashing Judaism & Christianity. But it seems like everything Obama does is bad luck
January 20, 2012 at 1:28 pm | | Report comment
Prepare for the green light bulbs that contain mercury.
January 20, 2012 at 1:37 pm | | Report comment
COMRADES! Solyndra is Obama-approved! Questions are decadent!
January 20, 2012 at 1:43 pm | | Report comment
Pingback: Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying Brand New*Parts
Solyndra. Yet another Obamanation.
January 20, 2012 at 1:47 pm | | Report comment
Wow, imagine that, a “green” industry is filling the landfill full of garbage that could have been recycled or repurposed.
January 20, 2012 at 1:50 pm | | Report comment
It’s good to see a news station doing some investigative reporting!
January 20, 2012 at 1:51 pm | | Report comment
There is a repurposing company in Denver that would have taken these “garbage” parts off their hands for FREE and repurposed them.
Check out: http://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com They do AMAZING things with items manufacturers no longer want!
January 20, 2012 at 1:53 pm | | Report comment
Greg Smested,
No one cares about the minute details of your scholarly affiliations or lectures. No one will look up your info.
Everyone else,
Solyndra wasted is chicken feed compared to the Trillions in government waste annually. Either directly through nonsensical spending, or indirectly through laborious thousands of regulatory costs to businesses and individuals.
We need Obama out ASAP!
January 20, 2012 at 1:53 pm | | Report comment
Greg’s maneuver is a logical fallacy called “appeal to authority”. Liberals love this one. They use it all the time. Global Warming is a fine example. They use this one so much, it’s how they developed their “everyone else is stupid” idea and why you will see them use that as “proof” for everything.
January 20, 2012 at 2:04 pm | | Report comment
Looks like Obama did create jobs, the two knuckle heads tossing glass.
January 20, 2012 at 2:00 pm | | Report comment
Don’t be hatin’ on Solyndra here. Breaking perfectly good expensive parts is the closest thing Obama has to a “shovel ready” project.
January 20, 2012 at 2:06 pm | | Report comment
Solyndra was just a money transfer from US taxpayers to Obama’s eco-wacko commie friends.
January 20, 2012 at 2:08 pm | | Report comment
Even Ebaying them would have been better than trashing them!
January 20, 2012 at 2:10 pm | | Report comment
Pay attention….this is how Obamanomics works…now think of Obamacare….
January 20, 2012 at 2:15 pm | | Report comment
That’s the way it works when you get free money from the government. Nobody thinks about the bottom line, nobody worries about productivity or value or meeting a budget or paying debts, it’s all just a big game which you win by getting cozy with the boys in power. The concept of doing something that’s useful in any real-world way is completely irrelevant and even alien to these people.
The same thing is true for other government “green” boondoggles. They’ve blown hundreds of millions of dollars on facilities to turn wood chips and other non-food organic material into ethanol, and it’s all been wasted (look up, for example, “Range Fuels” in Georgia). The corn-to-ethanol subsidies are a handout to cronies, burning as much in oil as they produce in ethanol (even Al Gore now admits this). The Chevy Volt costs a quarter million dollars to build, making it the most wasteful car ever, but they promote it as “green”. The waste, the squandering of treasure, the enormous debt. It’s enough to make you cry. What’s wrong with us, that we let this insanity continue?
January 20, 2012 at 2:18 pm | | Report comment
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If Obama gets re-elected the entire country is going into the dumpster.
January 20, 2012 at 2:24 pm | | Report comment
There you go, Thank you King Obama. you SOB!!!!
VERY QUIETLY OBAMA’S CITIZENSHIP CASE REACHES THE SUPREME COURT
http://actualgrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/very-quietly-obamas-citizenship-case-reaches-the-supreme-court/
January 20, 2012 at 2:25 pm | | Report comment
Sorry to break it to you Mike but that particular story is a total hoax.
January 20, 2012 at 2:42 pm | | Report comment
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Larry Kroger – Not only that but they’re spending over $2.5 BILLION per year to shove this ‘climate change’ ‘science’ nonsense down our throats. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/FY12-climate-fs.pdf
And now regulatory czar Cass Sunstein wants to step on the 1st Amendment and shut down all web sites that criticize them wasting all that money!
January 20, 2012 at 2:36 pm | | Report comment
SICK SICK SICK !!!! TREE HUGGING LIBERAL POLITICIANS HAVE F**KED THIS U.S.A
January 20, 2012 at 2:38 pm | | Report comment
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Why isn’t the US Bankruptcy Trustee hiring an independent investigator to see how much money Solyndra and it’s managers ‘FILTERED’ through to Obama’s
campaign for re-election.
January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm | | Report comment
Instead of worry and disillusion, crying why me etc, If everyone who is concerned with the direction this country is going, all five hundred million of us, would gather their familiy members together and get on their knees to give praise to God for everything He has done to ensure that this country has always been blessed because of our belief that we are truly One nation under God, and ask Him to please restore us to greatness, and admit that we have strayed far from Him , and we will unite to make sure we will try to do better, with His help. He only asks that we accept His gifts with praise and thanksgiving. Continuosly pray in your mind, thank you Lord, please give me wisdom and faith to accept that you only are our hope against this evil which has almost ruined our country. Do you ever wonder where the expression ” they were brought to their Knees” came from? If we are brought to our knees, miracles will happen , believe it. Please stop squabling among yourselves. United we stand, divided we fall. God bless you all.
January 20, 2012 at 2:43 pm | | Report comment
Because the Obama campaign can’t accept solar panels as contributions… Heck, that is what Solyndra was ever all about, so why NOT trash the panels?
January 20, 2012 at 2:48 pm | | Report comment
They have technologies to run cars on water , But the Democrats are trying to figure out how to charge $3.50 taxes for gallon for water.
January 20, 2012 at 2:50 pm | | Report comment
I have mixed emotions on all of this. Should we impeach Obama or run him out of town tarred and feathered?
January 20, 2012 at 2:57 pm | | Report comment
Time for someone to go to Jail. It is also time for the Taxpayer to sue who ever gave our money to this usless company.
January 20, 2012 at 3:03 pm | | Report comment
They should have installed these panels at the white house and cut off their electric. Or maybe they could have used them to power an obamamobile which would look like something fred flinstone drives.
January 20, 2012 at 3:06 pm | | Report comment
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Shameful, irresponsible waste — as was the Obama administration’s $500 million in taxpayer subsidies to Solyndra.
Ron Paul for president in 2012!
January 20, 2012 at 5:48 pm | | Report comment
Yet another case of graft that gets uglier the longer we look at it. Obama himself should be held accountable to the Treasury for misappropriation of funds.
In a time when the economy is doing badly, this whole deal was like salt in an open wound.
January 20, 2012 at 6:43 pm | | Report comment
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The amount of energy used to create all those glass tubes has now been wasted. And Solyndra called itself a “green” company with the backing of that idiot in the glass house on Pennsylvania Avenue.
January 21, 2012 at 5:35 pm | | Report comment
I just wanted to comment that KCBS did an excellent job on this news report. I wish that more of our mainstream media actually did a thorough journalism effort like you. If it were a story broke by CNN, we would have heard that it was being destroyed, how much it was worth, and that would have been the end of it. We never would have heard about how much they owe the vendor, the vendor wouldn’t have heard it was being destroyed, and we certainly wouldn’t have heard of someone who actually wanted to buy this stuff, or its usefulness at the university. You have pwn’d them on every aspect of this topic. Keep up the good work!
January 22, 2012 at 6:25 am | | Report comment
The glass tubes broke under thermal stress … byt that is neither reason to demolish a tangible asset with possible alternative uses ….
We had to live the EV 1 electrtic car demolition now to live another wall street spawned waste …
I say demolish wall street greed first ……
January 22, 2012 at 6:36 am | | Report comment
@Claritas.. those tubes ARE actually better. Using a reflector array, light is focused on the tube, creating steam, driving turbines. The array systems they were designing utilize solar energy in a different way than the flat pannel systems do. Highly efficiently.
Any if they are just throwing stuff for solar tech away.. DONATE IT TO SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry!!!!
January 22, 2012 at 8:18 am | | Report comment
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