Media Fail To Fact Check Romney's Solyndra Speech
Mitt Romney's remarks at Solyndra were full of falsehoods that went unchecked by many major media outlets. The media also largely failed to point out that as governor of Massachusetts, Romney invested in several companies that subsequently went bankrupt or defaulted on state loans.
Media Perpetuate Falsehoods From Romney Speech
Media Fail To Note That There Is No Evidence Of Wrongdoing In Solyndra Loan
Media Uncritically Forward Romney's Claim That Obama Gave Loans To "Friends." The Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN and Fox News uncritically repeated Romney's claim that Solyndra is an example of "crony capitalism" and Obama "giving [taxpayer money] freely to his friends."[Los Angeles Times, 5/31/12] [Wall Street Journal, 5/31/12] [CNN, Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien, 6/1/12, via Nexis] [CNN, John King USA, 5/31/12, via Nexis] [CNN, The Situation Room, 5/31/12, via Nexis] [Fox News, Special Report, 5/31/12, via Nexis] [FoxNews.com, 6/1/12]
But After Long Investigation, There Is No Evidence Of Wrongdoing. Bloomberg Businessweek's Joshua Green reported:
A White House source passed along some information that gives a sense of just how much time, money, and effort has been spent pursuing this investigation: House Republicans have sent 32 congressional letters, compelled 187,000 pages of administration documents, 72,000 pages of documents from Solyndra investors, 9 committee staff briefings, 5 committee hearings, and a sworn committee interview with the Obama bundler who raised money from people involved in the company. Much (but not all) of the committee's $7 million budget has been devoted to funding this inquisition. And it's turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. [Bloomberg Businessweek, 2/17/12]
Solyndra Investors And Lobbyists Included Republican Supporters. As the Huffington Post reported, one of Solyndra's lobbyists was Bill Weld, a "semi-prominent supporter of Mitt Romney." And Solyndra's second largest investor was Madrone Captial Partners, which is linked to the Walton family, who are major Republican donors. [Huffington Post, 5/31/12] [Media Matters, 9/19/11]
Media Forward Romney's Misrepresentation Of Inspector General's Comments
Media Uncritically Repeat Claim That Inspector General "Concluded That The Administration Had Steered Money To Friends And Family." MSNBC.com, ABCNews.com, and FoxNews.com uncritically repeated Romney's claim that "an independent inspector general looked at this investment and concluded that the administration had steered money to friends and family, to campaign contributors." [MSNBC.com, 5/31/12] [FoxNews.com, 5/31/12] [ABCNews.com, 5/31/12]
Inspector General Did Not "Conclud[e]" Any Such Thing. As TIME's Michael Grunwald noted, the Inspector General's comment was actually about an open investigation, and the Inspector General "hasn't confirmed" that any contracts were "steered to friends and family":
It was a line near the end of Romney's ad that caught my attention: "The Inspector General said contracts were steered to 'friends and family.'" That sounded like news. I've spent two years in stimulus-world, and I had no idea an inspector general had said that. I asked the Romney campaign for documentation, and it produced a Newsweek article asserting that Energy Department inspector general Gregory Friedman "has testified that contracts have been steered to 'friends and family.'"
Except that Newsweek article was an excerpt from the book "Throw Them All Out," written by Peter Schweizer, a right-winger who has served as an adviser to Sarah Palin's PAC, edited one of Andrew Breitbart's websites, and written a slew of books portraying liberals as pond scum. Not exactly a disinterested source. And it turns out that the inspector general never testified that stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. He said his office was investigating whether stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. So far, it hasn't confirmed that any were. [TIME, 5/31/12]
CNN's Anderson Cooper: Romney Camp's Charge Is "Not Factually Correct." Anderson Cooper made a similar point in an interview with Newt Gingrich:
ANDERSON COOPER: I want to ask you about a charge in the latest Romney ad in talking about the stimulus. The ad says, and I'm quoting, the inspector general said contracts were steered to friends and family, talking about in the Solyndra deal.
That is not factually correct, though. He actually said his office was investigating whether contracts had been steered to friends and family, and so far there haven't been any confirmed cases at all. And independent investigators have only found evidence that one-one- thousandth of a percent point of stimulus money has been lost to fraud.
Darrell Issa himself has pointed out -- I just want to make sure I have the quote right -- he said: "Is there criminal activity? Perhaps not. Is there political influence and connections? Perhaps not." [CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, 5/31/12, via Nexis]
Rachel Maddow: "I'm Surprised This Is Not A Bigger Story." Rachel Maddow called Romney's charge a "lie," and asked why it is "not a bigger story":
An inspector general did not look into the investment in Solyndra and conclude that the administration had steered money to friends and family. That did not happen. That is a lie.
Michael Greenwald writes at "Time" magazine and he`s been writing a book about the stimulus. He wrote about this turn in the Mitt Romney campaign today. But it hasn`t really been picked up anywhere else. I`m surprised this is not a bigger story.
[...]
Even in this nuts day in American politics, don`t you think the candidate telling a big, blatant lie in the middle of the news cycle deserves a little follow up? [MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show, 5/31/12, via Nexis]
Media Repeat Romney's "Robots" Distortion
Media Uncritically Forward Claim That Solyndra Had Opulent "Disney" "Robots." The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, ABCNews.com, and Fox News repeated Romney's depiction of Solyndra as a "symbol of gross waste" because "the robots inside actually provide Disney music tunes." [Washington Post, 5/31/12] [Wall Street Journal, 5/31/12] [ABCNews.com, 5/31/12] [Fox News, On The Record, 5/31/12, via Nexis]
In Fact, Solyndra Used A Common Technology To Transport Materials. As PolitiFact reported, the "robots" Romney referred to were "automated guided vehicles" designed to transport materials -- a common technology used since the 1950's to reduce labor costs. Music was played to alert workers that the vehicles were nearby for safety reasons. [Media Matters, 11/29/11]
As Governor, Romney Made Failed Investments
Biotech Firm Shut Down After Receiving A Massachusetts-Backed Loan. Reuters reported in an article titled "As governor, Romney picked winners and losers of his own":
A $2.5 million state loan helped lure Rhode Island biotech firm Spherics Inc across the state line to Massachusetts in 2005. Romney's economic development secretary, Ranch Kimball, touted the move as "a tangible result of the combined and coordinated efforts of the public and private sectors to highlight the benefits of locating in Massachusetts."
The company shut down three years later, laying off all of its employees and defaulting on $1.5 million of the loan, according to MassDevelopment, the state development authority. [Reuters, 5/31/12]
Solar Firm Received $2.5 Million From Massachusetts, Later Went Bankrupt. The Washington Post's Greg Sargent reported that while Evergreen Solar was highlighted in an anti-Obama attack ad, it actually received assistance from the state of Massachusetts during Romney's tenure:
[T]hree weeks into Governor Mitt Romney's term, Evergreen Solar received $2.5 million from the Romney administration for a "major expansion and to cover operating losses as it tried to become profitable," according to a February article in Politico. The investment was part of a broader program in which the Romney administration gave millions in subsidies to multiple other companies, Politico reported.
Evergreen ultimately filed for bankruptcy last year, making this case very similar to Solyndra. [The Washington Post, 5/31/12]
- Evergreen Received No Federal Money. The New York Times reported in January 2011 that "Evergreen has received no federal money." [Media Matters, 8/18/11]
Romney Was Previously A Proponent Of Government Investment In Clean Energy. The Huffington Post reported:
[Romney's] 2008 energy policy platform called for a "dramatic increase" in "federal spending on research, development, and demonstration projects that hold promise for diversifying our energy supply." Among those projects were "bringing clean energy technology to market through commercialization of large-scale renewables." [Huffington Post, 5/31/12]
But Media Overlook Romney's Failed Investments
Major Outlets Largely Failed To Mention Romney's Failed Investments As Governor. Less than a quarter of print and television coverage of Romney's remarks at Solyndra mentioned his failed investments in Massachusetts. Fox News and all six major print outlets did not mention them at all.
METHODOLOGY: Results are based on a search of Nexis, Factiva and internal archives from 5/31/12 through the morning of 6/1/12 for "Solyndra." The search included six major print outlets (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times) and the major cable (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News) and broadcast (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks.
Written, edited and published by Roger Ailes.
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IMHO
UTOPIA
They don't care enough about the slick and polished politicians being pathological liars.
I'm not going to hold any high expectations, but I wonder if he will hold to his principles and demand that an investigation into the details of the holocaust should be reopened in order to find out the "truth". After all it was largely the military under the arm of the administrations of a number of these corrupted governments forming the Allied powers during and post World War 2 that did these investigations into the holocaust. Some of them were also funded by the highly corrupt Bank of London as well.
It's what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, once stated in a private interview (only about investigating the holocaust, he never accused the administrations who did so as witholding information or being corrupt), and it earned him the title of holocaust denier.
Was that a conspiracy? Or does it show that there are unstable people in this world.
Much like President Obama, Carter took over the presidency during a tough time for our country. He also had to run against a republican party working with our enemies in Iran to help seal his defeat.
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IMHO
UTOPIA
Now that, my friends, was cronyism.
Only .1% of the loan to Solyndra was in the Energy Budget.....so many lies and distortions it's hard to keep track of them
No. That's not "cronyism" - that is the power structure flaunting it in our faces and laughing at us.
Consider yourself to be Pavlov. When the dogs see your name they salivate and begin to bark.
Perhaps you are Jewish and imagine that you are surrounded by anti-semites.
All the links that don't take me to either an article about banks in the city of London, is about a Jewish conspiracy theory. In fact most of the "evil" "secret" society and banker cabals conspiracy theories stem from raging antisemitism: the protocol's of Zion, the Bildebergs, Rothschild and Bavarian illuminati. That's in fact the main thing they have in common.
By the way, satanism is not real. There is a Satanic church, yes, but it doesn't control anything.
That book (can't remember the title) was a catalyst for anti-antisemitism and was even quoted by the Nazi party as "proof" that the Jews were evil. It has since been revealed however that the book was highly plagiarized from a piece of satire written by a satirist that was highly critical about the failings of government administration.
Clouseau probably subscribes to this book (or information from one of its derivations) and does not believe that it has been proven not only false, but plagiarized from a satire.
It's entirely possible he's just one of the "useful idiots" these media charlatans have ensnared into their marketing matrix.
Just wait...while sitting on his butt watching a Ranger's double header, Alex Jones will discover the hidden link between the Bank of London and Obama's secret plan to outlaw the internal combustion engine.
But what do you think about the fact that the funding for Solyndra began under Bush?
Thanks to muriel_volestrangler posting at Democratic Underground way back in July of '04:
"excerpt in The Guardian yesterday:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1266233,00.html
"The story behind America's "super contract" begins in 1992, when the department of defense, then headed by Dick Cheney, was impressed with the work Halliburton did during its time in Kuwait. Sensing the need to bolster its forces in the event of further conflicts of a similar nature, the Pentagon asked private contractors to bid on a $3.9m contract to write a report on how a private firm could provide logistical support to the army in the case of further military action.
...
Thirty-seven companies tendered for the contract; KBR won it. The company was paid another $5m later that year to extend the plan to other locations and add detail.
The KBR report, which remains classified to this day, convinced Cheney that it was indeed possible to create one umbrella contract and award it to a single firm. The contract became known as the Logistics Civil Augmentation Programme (Logcap) and has been called "the mother of all service contracts". It has been used in every American deployment since its award in 1992 - at a cost of several billion dollars (and counting). The lucky recipient of the first, five-year Logcap contract was the very same company hired to draw up the plan in the first place: KBR.
The army's growing dependency on the company hit home when, in 1997, KBR lost the Logcap contract in a competitive rebid to rival Dyncorp. The army found it impossible to remove Brown & Root from their work in the Balkans - by far the most lucrative part of the contract - and so carved out the work in that theatre to keep it with KBR. In 2001, the company won the Logcap contract again, this time for twice the normal term length: 10 years."
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So: Halliburton wins the contract to write the government guide on outsourcing to private companies; and then successfully wins the first contract (surprise, surprise), both under Dick Cheney and the Republicans.
Under Clinton and the Democrats, Halliburton lose the next 'whole military' bid - but are so thoroughly entrenched in the Balkans that it's better for them to continue there (hmm, guess that outsourcing process wasn't written so well after all - we better get back to the company who wrote it and tell them they don't know what they're talking about. Hey, wait a minute - haven't we seen you guys somewhere before???)
Under Cheney and the Republicans, Halliburton win not one, but two - yes, count them, corruption fans, two - Logcap contracts. Which is handy, because you never know who might be in power by the time 2006 rolls around. Can't have those Democrats awarding contracts to someone else, can we ..."
It is near midnight in Roger Ailes' office at FOX NEWS.
He finishes reading a transcript of Rachel Maddow's show that includes "Even in this nuts day in American politics, don`t you think the candidate telling a big, blatant lie in the middle of the news cycle deserves a little follow up?"
He pulls one the Cubans (a gift from Rush) out of an expensive humidor on his massive desk, clips one end, rolls up the transcript of Rachel's show, strikes a match to it and uses the flaming transcript to light his stogie.
He leans back, grunting as he lifts his shoes and plops them on his desk, he leans back and takes a big puff
And he smiles.
The government has an obligation to support industries that benefit the country as a whole. Alternative energy benefits the country and therefore deserves government support. That's because private industry will NOT support alternative energy as long as they can make a buck sucking all the oil and ripping all the coal out of the Earth.
If there are failures in private business, why can't there be failures in business supported by the government? Why hold the government to a higher standard?
Which is why the should never be 'no bid contracts'...
However, only in those circumstances.
Yeah because no one would ever use "urgency" over "national security" to rush us into anything.
Because of the gravity of the subject and the President's unique access to classified information, members of Congress and the public should expect the President and his senior officials to take special care to be balanced and accurate in describing national security threats. It does not appear, however, that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice met this standard in the case of Iraq. To the contrary, these five officials repeatedly made misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq. In 125 separate appearances, they made 11 misleading statements about the urgency of Iraq's threat, 81 misleading statements about Iraq's nuclear activities, 84 misleading statements about Iraq's chemical and biological capabilities, and 61 misleading statements about Iraq's relationship with al Qaeda.
I live amid tens of thousands of acres of rice fields being flooded with subsidized water to grow a crop (nearly all of which will be exported) that is also price supported.
Solyndra is but a fly fart in a hurricane compared to this "wrongdoing", don'tcha think?
Not really very informed, are you?
The relationship between corporations, tehcnology and government is nothing like you are describing. No markets actually work the way you are protraying them either. Taxpayer money is used all the time to develope technology. Some fail and others redefine civilization.
Your idea of "free-markets" is a fairy tale that Milton Friedman told Presidents. The reality is free-markets are man made contructs designed to benefit certain groups. We know that unregulated free-markets end up in nothing but monopolies.
Stop repeating broken ideas and bring something real to the table...
Hmmm...talk to an economist, a recession is a spend time, not an austerity time. This is true from about 90% of economists.
I stated the relationship between the markets government and technology does not operate the way you are describing. Corporations like oil and gas do not see need to change if they make a profit. There was no reason or motivating factors for them to become less polluting. The technology they use in coal fire plants was develloped by governments and imposed on the coal industry.
The idea that corporatiosn are efficient and that government is not is an absolute false meme. Companies fail all the time government do not have the luxury of failure. Corporations may be profitable, but inefficient at the same time.
Anyway, the Debt to GDP has been higher before. Tax cuts during two wars was nonsense. The health-care system needs to be changed completely, you can use the Swiss model is you want to keep it as a private industry, but they are strictly contolled. Cut military spending by half and actually tax corporations. Us corporations claim they bare the heaviest tax burden at 38%. In reality few companies pay more than 20%, and the bigger they get the less they pay.
The rightwing is simply a lobbying group for corporations, they present only broken ideas that favour industry over society.
Or in the case of the one-sided cable news channels, it's just one happy reinforcer after another.
Fact checks inform and educate, today's media want battles and loudmouths, for the most part.
This is the same "both sides do it" false equivalency argument that "jamesB/right ON/tommy/etc" has always pushed in a dishonest way. And that's because "confer" is "jamesB's" latest screen name.
They will tell you anything to repeat their message e.g. Mitt is a good businessman, President Obama is bad. Facts do not matter. The idea that rich businessmen make good Presidents is not true, never has been and never will ber Romney does not appear to be any of these. I'm sure he is a nice guy, but he is not a President.
Being President takes leadership, communication, likeability, cnmpassion, and most of all VISION.
FORWAR...FORWARD...FORWARD...
President Obama did not come up as a business man, but as an academic. The right claims he has no business experience because he was not the CEO, COO or CFO of a major corporation.
Please tell me you are blinded by your ideology and not as slow as you appear.
The right has two models for President: businessman in the mold of Ayn Rands heroes, or an empty vessel like an actor that they ccan feed lines to and control.
The prez is worth about 7.5 million.
Most of his current wealth came from the sale of his books.
Or are you saying that he is a brilliant business man to have earned his money through investing in his education, networking while at Harvard and parleyying that into $10 million?
I'm still not following your logic. Are you saying he got money from corporations? You mean like how Newt bankrupted one company after he charged his own campaign a large consulting fee?
Or how if you get money donated and don't run you can keep up it? I beleive that is hwo SArah Palin did it...lol
Or was it his book and potential books he writes after? Maybe it was a combination of that and some property?
Sigh...You should look President Bush Jr and VP Cheney and check out how rich they were and how they got even richer.
I don't see any from him to be followed.
They should let the mittster lie without calling him out on dozens of flat out lies in almost every single speech he makes. (Isn't that what being a Mormon is all about?)
Then if that black man, that is not good enough to ride on Air Force One, (unless he rides in the back of course) has even one little tiny thing happen during his illegitimate presidency, then the LIBRUL media should tear him apart in headline after headline after they disbelieve his birth certificate for four solid years with absolutely no proof!
That is how you can tell it is such a LIBRUL media!
Obama (BAD, HATE HIM, NO CREDIT FOR ANY GOOD WORK)
Mittster (ANGEL, LET HIM LIE, PARROT TALKING POINTS.....)
"Mittster" is a nickname for Mitt Romney.
Hope the mocking tone of my (kind of ugly post) was not lost on him.