[graphicgr8s]

Seems as though our illustrious governments attempts at investing in companies such as Solyndra, Fiskars etc fails with a success rate of 0% they can't run a power company either:

HICKSVILLE — Two weeks after Superstorm Sandy, while most utilities have restored electricity to nearly all their customers, there was one glaring exception Monday: a Long Island power company with more outages — almost 60,000 Monday — than all the others combined.
As people on Long Island fumed over the cold and the darkness and complained that they couldn't get answers from the company, the Long Island Power Authority said in its defense that the storm was worse than anyone could have imagined and that it didn't just damage outdoor electrical lines; it caused flooding that touched home and business breaker boxes.
LIPA also acknowledged that an outdated computer system for keeping customers notified has added to people's frustration.
But some say the government-run utility should have seen it coming. It was recently criticized in a withering state report for lax preparation ahead of last year's Tropical Storm Irene and for the 25-year-old computer system used to pinpoint outages and update customers.
"It's antiquated. I think they're negligent," said Phil Glickman, a retired Wall Street executive from South Bellmore who waited 11 days to get electricity back.
LIPA has restored power to nearly 1.1 million homes and offices. About 46,000 still waiting for the lights to come back on are along Long Island's south shore and Rockaway Peninsula, and had water damage to electrical panels and wiring, so their service can't be restored without an inspection and possibly repairs. The utility said it expects to restore service to the last 11,000 customers outside flooded areas by early Wednesday.
At its peak, the storm knocked out power to 8.5 million customers in 10 states, with New York and New Jersey bearing the brunt. Those outages have been nearly erased, though Consolidated Edison, the chief utility in New York City, has cited problems similar to LIPA's, saying about 16,300 customers in flooded areas of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island can't get service until their internal electrical equipment is repaired, tested and certified.
LIPA customer Priscilla Niemiera, whose finished basement in Seaford flooded, said her house needs to be inspected and she can't get any answers. Every time she calls the utility, she said, she gets hung up on.
"I think LIPA should be broken up into small companies and it shouldn't be a monopoly anymore because this is every single time we have a disaster," she said.
LIPA, whose board is chosen by the governor and lawmakers, contracts with National Grid for service and maintenance. Last year, its board chose a new contractor, New Jersey's Public Service Enterprise Group, which will take over in 2014. Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized the storm response of all New York utilities in the region, saying their management had failed consumers.
A state report criticized LIPA in June for poor customer communications after Irene last year and for insufficient tree trimming. The Department of Public Service noted major problems in telling customers estimated power-restoration times, faulting its computer system, which a consultant had found deficient back in 2006.

[Ratmagiclady]

Solyndra didn't 'fail' cause they had a loan guarantee: they failed cause they were competing against Chinese companies with ten times the support. (And the US oil industry that gets orders of magnitude more money in government subsidies they don't nee to *begin* with.)

Also, of all solar companies we *do* have. Did the others fail?


Hrm.

Seems Germany buys so much PV from *us* there's none left for the domestic market.

And Fiskars? Last I heard, they made wonderful knives and scissors and came from.... Finland or something. . How you pin that on Obama again? Maybe Bush dumping more mercury in the Great Lakes reduced demand or something.

We still export more PVs than we deploy here, though, and despite corporate games, aren't meeting the demand.

[Medium FormatPro]

Solyndra didn't 'fail' cause they had a loan guarantee: they failed cause they were competing against Chinese companies with ten times the support

Solyndra failed because of items such as fraud, breaking civil regulations and also breaking laws - even on the federal level.. Let me be quite clear about this one - because I state it as fact. If Solyndra or anyone that ran it in the past doesn't find it entirely accurate please feel welcome to pursue action.

Main reason: Solyndra involved in criminal activity. Which is exactly why the company and most of the (key) executives that worked there are still under the current day investigation of the; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Treasury, and Internal Revenue Service. Actually there is much more to it than that, and it will all come around quite soon.

Even the briefest of looks at resources such as Wiki, or most news sources could dhed further light on this one.

But then again... Solyndra is just one of those american companies that like to play the blame game and not really acknowledge that there was basically no management structure at all behind the company - or perhaps about enough management to make it on a par with Enron. When something fails in america it is all about excuses. Meanwhile most of upper management profited at the expense of american taxpayers

[JohnInIndy]

Solyndra failed because of items such as fraud, breaking civil regulations and also breaking laws - even on the federal level.. Let me be quite clear about this one - because I state it as fact. If Solyndra or anyone that ran it in the past doesn't find it entirely accurate please feel welcome to pursue action.

Main reason: Solyndra involved in criminal activity. Which is exactly why the company and most of the (key) executives that worked there are still under the current day investigation of the; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Treasury, and Internal Revenue Service. Actually there is much more to it than that, and it will all come around quite soon.

Even the briefest of looks at resources such as Wiki, or most news sources could dhed further light on this one.

But then again... Solyndra is just one of those american companies that like to play the blame game and not really acknowledge that there was basically no management structure at all behind the company - or perhaps about enough management to make it on a par with Enron. When something fails in america it is all about excuses. Meanwhile most of upper management profited at the expense of american taxpayers

This may be true but again, a solid investor would never have put money into such a company. This was payback for donations to the Obama campaign.

Actually while we did export PV related items they were either machinery to manufacture or the polysilicon not finished product. In other words we are selling the items to make it but having China actually make the modules
Out of 32 companies that "we" have "invested" in none have been successful.

Accounting for 99% of total exports, PV components, primarily PV polysilicon feedstock and manufacturing equipment used to manufacture solar PV cells, were the leading export categories at $2.5 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively. China and Germany were the leading importers for these solar PV products.
Solar PV imports totaled $3.7 billion, $2.4 billion of which was solar PV modules. China and Mexico topped the list of countries from which US companies sourced solar PV imports

Rat Magic I have a feeling he meant Fisker. The car company. That we put money into to help Finland not the scissor maker.

[Medium FormatPro]

I wouldn't mind running stats on seeing exactly how much of the bailout money gave any return at all. Sure there are a few isolated cases, but america will never get most of that money back.

[jeffkrol]

I wouldn't mind running stats on seeing exactly how much of the bailout money gave any return at all. Sure there are a few isolated cases, but america will never get most of that money back.

good thing nobody actually has to pay for it......................

[debmalya]

I wouldn't mind running stats on seeing exactly how much of the bailout money gave any return at all. Sure there are a few isolated cases, but america will never get most of that money back.

This does not qualify as comprehensive research, but a quick search yielded this: AIG Overview - Federal Reserve Bank of New York


On January 14, 2011, the New York Fed’s assistance to AIG was terminated and its loans to AIG fully repaid. The New York Fed’s exit was part of a comprehensive recapitalization announced in September 2010 and closed on January 14, 2011, by the company, the New York Fed, the Treasury Department and the AIG Credit Facility Trust. The recapitalization, which reflected the progress made in reducing the scope, risk and complexity of AIG’s operations and stabilizing its operating results, was designed to accelerate the repayment of AIG’s obligations to the American public.
On February 28, 2012, and August 23, 2012, respectively, Maiden Lane II LLC (ML II) and Maiden Lane III LLC (ML III) sold the last of the securities they had purchased as part of the Federal Reserve's assistance to AIG.* The New York Fed's management of the ML II and ML III portfolios resulted in the full repayment of the New York Fed's loans to the two LLCs and resulted in a combined net gain of approximately $9.4 billion for the benefit of the U.S. public, including $1.3 billion in interest paid on the loans to the New York Fed.

It appears that the AIG bailout actually benefited the exchequer substantially. I am guessing the other bank bailouts also resulted similarly? I do not know about the GM/Chrysler bailout and do doubt that those yielded as much if anything at all. But bottom line is, America probably got most of her money back, and was repaid with interest for her generosity PLUS a lot of Americans got to keep their job and put food on the plate for their family. What is the point in living in a society or nation if you only think selfishly? After all, you cannot only expect to receive and never to give when enjoying the benefits of societal living.

[jeffkrol]

This does not qualify as comprehensive research, but a quick search yielded this: AIG Overview - Federal Reserve Bank of New York


On January 14, 2011, the New York Fed’s assistance to AIG was terminated and its loans to AIG fully repaid. The New York Fed’s exit was part of a comprehensive recapitalization announced in September 2010 and closed on January 14, 2011, by the company, the New York Fed, the Treasury Department and the AIG Credit Facility Trust. The recapitalization, which reflected the progress made in reducing the scope, risk and complexity of AIG’s operations and stabilizing its operating results, was designed to accelerate the repayment of AIG’s obligations to the American public.
On February 28, 2012, and August 23, 2012, respectively, Maiden Lane II LLC (ML II) and Maiden Lane III LLC (ML III) sold the last of the securities they had purchased as part of the Federal Reserve's assistance to AIG.* The New York Fed's management of the ML II and ML III portfolios resulted in the full repayment of the New York Fed's loans to the two LLCs and resulted in a combined net gain of approximately $9.4 billion for the benefit of the U.S. public, including $1.3 billion in interest paid on the loans to the New York Fed.

It appears that the AIG bailout actually benefited the exchequer substantially. I am guessing the other bank bailouts also resulted similarly? I do not know about the GM/Chrysler bailout and do doubt that those yielded as much if anything at all. But bottom line is, America probably got most of her money back, and was repaid with interest for her generosity PLUS a lot of Americans got to keep their job and put food on the plate for their family. What is the point in living in a society or nation if you only think selfishly? After all, you cannot only expect to receive and never to give when enjoying the benefits of societal living.

The Treasury may lose direct money on GM but most likely makes it up in "intangibles" such as less unemployment paid out, more paychecks to tax.. more "stuff" bought"...things hard to quantify and also generally ignored by the linear thinkers on the right..

[JohnInIndy]

The Treasury may lose direct money on GM but most likely makes it up in "intangibles" such as less unemployment paid out, more paychecks to tax.. more "stuff" bought"...things hard to quantify and also generally ignored by the linear thinkers on the right..

No. We don't ignore them at all. I think the liberals ignore a lot though. Here's a thought. If GM had failed those who would have bought a GM car would have had to buy another make. The same amount of vehicles would have been sold minus the gift purchases from the government. Given the quantities of cars GM handles no single car company could handle all of that. In fact more than likely the other remaining companies would have had to hire people. Best workers with the least amount of training would of course come from those idled workers. Of course not all of them would be rehired by GM competitors but I would venture most would. Since it would be a given that not all would be rehired the question now becomes would the unemployment and other entitlement monies outweigh the 25 billion we still stand to lose given that GM has "paid back the loan" to the letter of the agreement? Remember the stock has to top $57/share as a break even. And most of the cars sold during the "most profitable year ever" were back to the US.
We lost $1.3B on Chrysler.

The books are already closed on the Chrysler Group bailout. That automaker received $12.4 billion and repaid $11.1 billion, including interest on loans, leaving taxpayers about $1.3 billion short on that rescue.

The government also will probably lose money on the bailouts of automakers General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler Group. GM received $51 billion in bailout funds and has paid Treasury about $24 billion, mostly with the proceeds of its November 2010 initial public offering. Treasury still holds about 500 million shares of GM, worth about $11.5 billion at current prices. But those shares would have had to rise to almost $57 a share from its current price of $23.14 in order for taxpayers to break even.

And remember Jeff, according to Nancy Pelosi giving out food stamps stimulates the economy:

Nancy Pelosi Says The Way To Create 600.000 Jobs Is Unemployment, Food Stamps - YouTube

[Medium FormatPro]

The Treasury may lose direct money on GM

Most people ar enot aware how many time General Motots was bailed out - and how much it added up to. But one also has to wonder why GMAC was bailed out?? So every time you happen to see an Ally commercial on television (the new name of GMAC), know that taxpayers paid for that

[JohnInIndy]

Most people ar enot aware how many time General Motots was bailed out - and how much it added up to. But one also has to wonder why GMAC was bailed out?? So every time you happen to see an Ally commercial on television (the new name of GMAC), know that taxpayers paid for that

What about the Chrysler bailouts?

And Ford did get bailout money contrary to popular belief.

General Motors Co. profits fell 41% as the automaker piled up losses in Europe and earned less money in the U.S.
GM said it earned $1.5 billion in the second quarter, down from $2.5 billion in the same period a year earlier. Revenue dipped 4% to $37.6 billion.

[jeffkrol]

What about the Chrysler bailouts?

And Ford did get bailout money contrary to popular belief.

SPLITTING hairs..............

The Automotive Industry Financing Program — which was created under the Troubled Asset Relief Program — provided $79.69 billion to GM, GMAC and Chrysler. So far, they have paid back a little more than half of the money, or about $40 billion, according to Treasury’s daily report for Sept. 16 on TARP funds.

Ford did not receive any money under AIFP, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t get any federal assistance.

In a Jan. 30, 2009, report on the bailout program, the Congressional Research Service noted that Ford “is counting on $5 billion from the DOE loan program to support a $14 billion plan to reorient its lineup toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.” On June 23, 2009, the Department of Energy announced it would provide $5.9 billion to Ford “to transform factories across Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio to produce 13 more fuel efficient models.”

It’s true that Ford was not “bailed out by our government,” as Chris says. However, the company’s president and CEO testified that his company would suffer if Congress did not pass legislation to provide financial support to the ailing auto industry. He urged Congress to pass the bill.

Mulally, Dec. 5, 2008: In particular, the collapse of one or both of our domestic competitors would threaten Ford because we have 80 percent overlap in supplier networks and nearly 25 percent of Ford’s top dealers also own GM and Chrysler franchises.

He also asked Congress to authorize a credit line of up to $9 billion for Ford in case the economy got worse and the company needed it.

Mulally, Dec. 5, 2008: In addition to our plan, we are also here today to request support for the industry. In the near-term, Ford does not require access to a government bridge loan. However, we request a credit line of $9 billion as a critical backstop or safeguard against worsening conditions as we drive transformational change in our company.

The Automotive Industry Financing Program — which was created under the Troubled Asset Relief Program — provided $79.69 billion to GM, GMAC and Chrysler. So far, they have paid back a little more than half of the money, or about $40 billion, according to Treasury’s daily report for Sept. 16 on TARP funds.

FactCheck.org : Ford Motor Co. Does U-turn on Bailouts

[Medium FormatPro]

But GMAC need for a bailout was fraud on a very large scale.

[Just1MoreDave]

When I saw this post originally, I wondered how the power company got to be government run. It is a long story, and NPR had an article on it this morning. In case anyone else wanted to know:

Sandy Reveals Long Island Utility's 'Boondoggle' Past : NPR

[normhead]

The Ontario Hydro trucks that came down and helped restore power in the US came from a Public utility, publicly owned and operated. Maybe instead fo whining about an American utility that obviously lacks sufficient oversight, you should be thanking the the Public utility that came you your rescue. I found it interesting that all the US utilities packed it in when the snow storm hit and only the Canadians were out there during the storm restoring power. I guess learning to work in snow isn't a priority for US companies. So you have to ask. Why can't Americans run a public utility. (Or if it snows, even a private one.) Canadians and many other countries can.