The Patriot Post® · Energy Department Blows More Money

Barack Obama’s Department of Energy will again lose tens of millions on a loan extended to a speculative vehicle company with ties to a top fundraiser for the president. The blandly named Vehicle Production Group, “loaned” $50 million in 2011 by the Energy Department thanks to the Democrats’ ridiculous stimulus act, revealed in May that it ceased operations last February and laid-off 100 people after the DOE froze its assets. As is the Obama administration’s usual practice with squandered taxpayer “investments” (we use the term pejoratively) the administration tried to bury it with a Friday afternoon news dump that $42 million won’t be paid back. Obviously there were few remaining assets to freeze.

Recall that the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing also financed politically connected green vehicle loser Fisker Automotive, which likewise ceased production and may declare bankruptcy.

Not content with poorly picking winners and losers, DOE recently announced it will restart the program (just in time for the 2014 election cycle) because there is $15 billion remaining in the funding authority even though the DOE hasn’t dished out any more gifts since 2011. The scheme was best summed up by Sen. John Thune (R-SD): “From Solyndra to Fisker, taxpayers have already paid too much for President Obama’s risky green energy bets,” he said in a statement. “Now is not the time to revive defunct Department of Energy loan programs that have already wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.” We couldn’t agree more.