A Record Of Failure Spanning The Globe
Over his four years in office, Obama promised that he would focus on creating "jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced." However, as he racked up trillions in new debt, billions of dollars did go to create jobs that were outsourced or spent overseas. Whether it is electric cars made in Finland or solar panels in Mexico,
taxpayers would be astonished to learn that their hard earned money went abroad for jobs that weren't created in the United States.
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"And I will invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create five million new energy jobs over the next decade - jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced; jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and a new electricity grid; jobs that will help us eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in ten years and help save the planet in the bargain. That's how America can lead again."
President Barack Obama, October 30, 2008
Tracing Obama's Overseas Investments
Electric Cars
Obama handed over billions of dollars in loan guarantees and stimulus awards pursuant to his goal of putting one-million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Much of that money ended up leaving our shores. A $2.4 billion stimulus program to support battery production sent nearly half of its money to foreign firms, including two South Korean companies that used their awards to hire foreign nationals in Michigan to do work that Americans easily could have done. In the end, despite all the money Obama handed out, electric vehicle sales have lagged and The Washington Post deemed his goal of one million electric cars "overly optimistic."Wind Farms
Obama's stimulus included over $8.5 billion in grants for wind farms that flowed overseas, despite Congressional criticism from both sides of the aisle. In total, over half of the money went to either foreign developers or foreign wind turbine manufacturers, creating thousands of jobs overseas with money that was supposed to create jobs within the United States. Even worse, hundreds of millions of dollars went to wind farms that began construction before the stimulus was passed. The end result of all this spending: the wind energy industry lost 10,000 jobs last year.Manufacturing TaxCredits
As Obama was doling out over $2.3 billion in clean energy manufacturing tax credits that were supposed to create jobs in America, $880 million went to foreign firms. Worse still, some of those same recipients are now closing up shop and shipping jobs overseas.Loan Guarantees
Remember Solyndra? The problems with Obama's loan guarantee program don't end there. The largest recipient of Obama's program to jumpstart green energy projects was the Spanish Company Abengoa, which took in $2.7 billion in loan guarantees for three of its projects. Other projects importing foreign-made solar panels are, much in the same way as Fisker Automotive, choosing to make their products overseas.Switzerland
Cronyism
Swiss-Based Landis+Gyr Received Over $50 Million In Stimulus Contracts For Their Smart Grid Meters. Cathy Zoi, A Former Obama Energy Department Official, Held Over $250,000 Worth Of Stock In The Company As They Profited From Her Department's Policies. Zoi Had Previously Served As An Executive Director At Landis+Gyr Before Joining The Obama Administration.
China
Stimulus Funds
North Carolina-Based LED Maker Cree Inc. Received Over $39 Million Through The Stimulus And Later Opened Its First Plant In China. Over Half Of The Company's Employees Are Now Located In China And Cree's CEO Says The Company's Strategy Is "Cree Chip, China Heart."
Loan Guarantees
Sempra Received A $337 Million Loan Guarantee For An Arizona Solar Plant. The Solar Panels Will Be Supplied By SunTech, A Chinese Solar Panel Manufacturer.
Jobs Council
General Electric Cancelled An Order From Wind Turbine Manufacturer ATI Casting In Order To Get The Parts Cheaper From China. After ATI Offered To Match The Price, GE Still Refused The Order. ATI Was Forced To Layoff 302 Workers Due To The Move.
General Electric Has Also Been Criticized For Using Chinese Made Wind Towers Over American Towers At The Stimulus Funded Shepherds Flat Wind Farm In Oregon.
General Electric Has Also Been Criticized For Using Chinese Made Wind Towers Over American Towers At The Stimulus Funded Shepherds Flat Wind Farm In Oregon.
Stimulus Funds
Solar Power Industries Received A $5.4 Million Stimulus Grant Before Laying Off American Workers Based On An Increased Reliance On Imports From China.
Finland
Loan Guarantees
After Receiving A $500 Million Loan Guarantee, Fisker Automotive Is Producing Their $100K Luxury Electric Sports Car In Finland.
Denmark
Stimulus Grants
Subsidiaries Of Danish Wind Mill Maker Vestas Received $51.6 Million In Stimulus Grants To Build U.S. Based Factories. They Have Announced Plans To Layoff 180 U.S. Workers And Possibly Another 1,600 By The End Of The Year.
Stimulus Grants
The Windy Flats Project Began Construction Before The Stimulus Was Passed, Received A $218 Million Stimulus Grant And Used Wind Turbines Assembled By Seimans In Denmark.
Stimulus Funds
Danish Catalyst Company, Haldor Topsoe, Received A $25 Million Stimulus Award For The Construction Of A Demonstration Scale Biorefinery.
South Korea
Stimulus Funds
Two Korean Manufacturers Of Electric Vehicle Batteries Were Given $300 Million To Build Plants In Michigan. Union Workers Are Now Claiming That Foreign Nationals Are Being Brought In To Fill Jobs That They Could Take. The Department Of Energy Has Admitted That 11 Of The 18 Contractors On Site Are Asian Firms.
Stimulus Grants
The Gulf Wind Project Received A $179 Million Stimulus Grant And Sourced The Parts From South Korea, As Well As Japan And Mexico.
Australia
Stimulus Funds
The Melanoma Institute of Australia received a $162,000 stimulus contract to supply the National Cancer Institute with tumor samples.
Mexico
Stimulus Funds
SunPower Admits That Some of the Solar Panels for the $1.3 Billion Stimulus Backed California Solar Valley Ranch Will Be Manufactured At Their Facility In Mexico Rather Than Their Facility In California.
Stimulus Funds
ABB Inc. Received Over $16 Million in Stimulus Funds to Create Green Energy Manufacturing Jobs, the Company Has Laid Off Workers in the U.S. and Transferred Work To Mexico.
Dominican Republic
Stimulus Funds
Parago Used Stimulus Funds to Hire Hundreds of Workers in El Salvador and the Dominican Republic to Administer a Renewable Energy Appliance Rebate Program.
New Zealand
Stimulus Funds
A $817,000 Stimulus Contract Was Awarded To New Zealand's Connexionz To Install Bus Monitors For The City Of Santa Clarita. A Local Contractor That Could Have Performed The Work Objected To The Funds Going Overseas.
Thailand
Bailout Funds
After Taking A Taxpayer-Funded Bailout, General Motors Opened A $200 Million Plant In Thailand To Supply Diesel Engines For The Chevrolet Colorado Pickup Truck.
Vietnam
Jobs Council
General Electric Opened A $61 Million Factory In Hai Pong To Produce Wind Turbine Components. GE's CEO Jeffery Immelt Chairs The President's Jobs Council And The Company Has Received Over $1.2 Billion In Stimulus Funds.
Italy
Stimulus Funds
Brevini Wind Was Given A $12.75 Million Tax Credit To Build A Facility To Manufactuer Wind Turbine Gearboxes In Indiana. Over Two Years Later The Company Has Only Hired 70 Of The 450 Workers Promised And The Company Has Announced They Do Not Expect To Be Operating The Facility Until Late-2013.
Cashing In
Italian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Pulled In Over $84 Million In Cash Grants Through The Stimulus' 1603 Program.
Russia
Stimulus Funds
Ener1 Received Over $118 Million In Stimulus Funds To Produce Vechicle Batteries. After Going Bankrupt, It Was Acquired Outright By A Russian Investor, Sparking Security Concerns Surrounding The Company's Work for The U.S. Military.
Germany
Stimulus GRants
E.ON Climate & Renewables Received Over $440 Million In Stimulus Grants For Wind Farms That Began Construction Before The Stimulus Was Passed.
Stimulus Grants
At Least 25 Wind Turbines For Stimulus Funded Projects Were Supplied By German-Based Nordex.
Luxembourg
Stimulus Funds
Luxembourg-Based ArcelorMittal's Subsidiary Received $31.5 Million In Stimulus Funds For A Waste Heat Recovery Unit.
El Salvador
Stimulus Funds
Parago Used Stimulus Funds to Hire Hundreds of Workers in El Salvador and the Dominican Republic to Administer a Renewable Energy Appliance Rebate Program.
Great Britain
Stimulus Funds
$39 Million In Stimulus Funds Went To Navistar For Electric Delivery Trucks That Are Manufactured In Coventry, England.
Stimulus Grants
British Private-Equity Firm Terra Firma Received Over $40 Million In Stimulus Funds Through An American Wind Consortium It Bought Just Days Before The Stimumuls Funds Were Awarded.
India
Stimulus Grants
India-Based Suzlon And Its Subsidiaries Installed Over 200 Wind Turbines Under Obama's Stimulus Grant Program With Most Of The Materials Coming From Its Operations Overseas.
Spain
Stimulus Funds
Spain-Based Iberdrola Renewables Received $1.5 Billion In Loans And Grants And Claimed It Created Over 15,000 American Jobs But The Company Only Has 850 U.S.-Based Employees.
Stimulus Grants
Madrid-Based EDP Renewables Received Over $100 Million In Grants For Their Wind Farms and Announced In September 2011 That They Were Planning To Lay Off 10% Of Their North American Workforce.
Indonesia
Stimulus Funds
The EPA Gave A $1.5 Million Grant To Indonesia To Reduce Air Pollution In Jakarta.
Japan
Stimulus Grants
Japanese-Subsidiary Eurus Energy Received $91.4 Million In Stimulus Grants For A Wind Farm Completed Before The Stimulus Was Passed And Used 180 Turbines Manufactured Overseas By Mitsubishi.
France
Cashing In
French Wind Turbine Manufacturers Pulled In Over $69 Million In Cash Grants Through The Stimulus' 1603 Program.
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