$ubSidie$, that is!
"Google wants to help homeowners add solar power panels; Search giant looks to benefit from subsidy programs" September 28, 2011|By Jonathan Fahey, Associated Press
NEW YORK - Google wants to buy solar panels for your house.
The search giant announced yesterday that it will provide $75 million to build 3,000 residential solar electricity systems across the country. Google will own the panels, and get paid over time by customers who purchase the electricity the panels produce....
Google will earn what it calls an attractive return on its investment in two ways. It gets the monthly fee from homeowners, and, as the owner of the systems, Google will get the benefit of federal and state renewable energy subsidies....
Yes, dear Americans, that means YOUR TAX DOLLARS will be going to Google.
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Related: Google Lets the Sun $hine In
Also see: US Taxpayers Burned by Solar Stimuloot
Speaking of solar stimuloot:
"FBI investigating Solyndra for possible fraud" September 30, 2011|By Seth Stern and Jim Snyder, Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON - The FBI is investigating Solyndra LLC for possible accounting fraud and the accuracy of financial representations made to the government, according to an agency official.
The FBI is examining possible misrepresentations in financial statements, said the official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is continuing.
That means LIES!
Solyndra, which made cylindrical solar panels, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 6 and fired about 1,100 workers with little notice, about two years after winning a $535 million US loan guarantee from the Energy Department....
Related: Biden's Moment in the Sun
That's a pretty expensive photo-op, taxpayers.
Solyndra’s collapse has prompted congressional scrutiny of the Obama administration, which issued final approval of the loan that also won support from officials in the administration of George W. Bush.
Did we get any change that wasn't for the worst out of this guy?
Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has investigated the loan since February, have said the administration pressured US loan officers to expedite the review of Solyndra’s application so it could be promoted as a stimulus success story. The firm was the first to receive a guarantee under the stimulus act and was the largest award given to a solar manufacturer under the program.
Democrats, who dispute accusations that politics played a role, joined Republicans in criticizing Solyndra’s chief executive, Brian Harrison, for what they called misrepresentations of the company’s finances in meetings with lawmakers.
“When Mr. Harrison was in my office in July, he said that Solyndra’s future was bright, with sales and production booming,’’ Representative Henry Waxman of California, top Democrat on the Energy committee, said at a Sept. 23 hearing where Harrison was a witness. “I’d like to know why he told me that in July, and then filed for bankruptcy one month later.’’
Harrison and the company’s chief financial officer, Bill Stover, invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions at the hearing....
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And guess who is the landlord:
"Affordable housing investment in Allston clicks for Google" September 29, 2011|By Casey Ross, Globe Staff
On its face, the investment seems strange because it puts Google Inc., typically focused on the virtual world, in a corner of the affordable housing business dominated by big banks and investment companies.
Are those guys really into providing affordable or creating bubbles they can cash in on before they go pop? See how ass-backwards AmeriKa has become?
However, Google and other companies know something that others don’t: Rental and low-income housing projects are now among the most lucrative investments available, with businesses from Apple Inc. to Sherwin-Williams Co. buying millions in government tax credits used to finance affordable homes in Massachusetts and other states....
An executive with Google said the technology company was attracted to affordable housing in part because the projects seldom encounter financial difficulties and almost never result in a default.
“We want to be responsible corporate citizens, and that’s what drove us to invest, but the returns are also quite good considering the risk,’’ said Axel Martinez, an assistant treasurer for Google....
Developers are allocated tax credits by government agencies, and in turn sell them to investors and use the proceeds for construction.
It's the WHOLE MBS SCHEME all over again!!!
The traditional buyers are banks and lenders that not only use them to lower their tax bills, but to fulfill the requirements of the federal Community Reinvestment Act....
Related: State Street Stealers
And what do you mean GE got a $3.2 billion refund?
The tax credits have become a critical source of funding for affordable housing, but in the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008, many builders found it difficult to find investors with the wherewithal to finance these projects. Banks and other traditional buyers were saddled with huge losses during the period and withdrew from the market, which forced the federal government to step in to provide funding to keep the sector afloat.
Investors came back to the market in 2010, when banks and other buyers earned enough profits to be able to use the tax credits, and prices for them had dropped so much that they had become investment bargains. Companies could buy a dollar of credits for 70 cents or less, allowing them to get double-digit returns that are exceedingly difficult to get elsewhere.
It should be clear now whom government works for, readers -- and it ain't you and me!
And while prices for tax credits have risen in recent months - to 90 cents on the dollar or more - even at those prices they still produce better returns than other investments.
Many of the affordable projects financed during the past few years are just now getting under construction, providing badly needed jobs in the hard-hit construction industry....
Among other companies to invest in Massachusetts projects recently are Apple Inc., Sherwin-Williams, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., and Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the financial company founded by billionaire Warren Buffett.
One of the questions now facing the affordable housing market is whether those investors will stay in the market with rising prices for tax credits eating into their returns. Google, for one, has said it intends to continue investing, although many others have come and gone over the years....
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Related: Googletown, U.S.A.
