Loan Guarantees

As I prepare for the national gathering in Washington pertaining to Israel's request for $10 billion in loan guarantees, I felt it imperative that I respond to your Sept. 11 editorial. You cite that the Bush Administration seeks "to give direct Arab-Israel negotiations a chance to get started in as unclouded a political atmosphere as possible." In reality, the only linkage that has been put forth has been that of the Administration. The loan guarantees must be understood to be a request to borrow $10 billion from commercial banks to assist Israel in its absorption and resettlement of nearly 1 million Soviet and Ethiopian Jews.

WASHINGTON — Urging Republicans to reauthorize funding of the Export-Import Bank, Commerce Secretary John Bryson said that losing the institution and its vital role in the economy would be "unacceptable. " Many in the GOP have been blocking the Obama administration's proposed reauthorization, under which the bank's total lending authority would increase to $140 billion by 2015 from the current $100-billion cap. "Reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank should be a straightforward, sound and simple decision," Bryson said Friday.

Reporting from Washington Shifting its position on Energy Department loan guarantees, the White House said it would review all pledges to avoid such ill-fated decisions as the much-publicized $535-million loan guarantee for California solar equipment maker Solyndra, which fell into bankruptcy early last month. The step aims to defuse the embarrassing Solyndra episode, which has given rise to criticism that the Obama administration has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in public money.

WASHINGTON -- With many Republicans blocking re-authorization of the Export-Import Bank, Commerce Secretary John Bryson called the institution an example of good government that plays a vital role in the economy. "Reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank should be a straightforward, sound, and simple decision," Bryson said Friday.  "Or put another way, losing Ex-Im at a time when America's businesses and workers are just getting back on their feet, would be unacceptable. " Bryson made the comments in prepared remarks before a receptive audience -- the bank's annual conference in Washington.

Hollywood has been dragged into the dispute over the fate of the Export-Import Bank, with a leading foe of the institution criticizing past loan guarantees for Hollywood movies. The fiscally conservative Club for Growth, which has been pushing lawmakers to oppose the bank's re-authorization, took aim Thursday at four independent films that received loan guarantees in 2002 for foreign distribution under a program that ended a year later. The movies included "The United States of Leland," starring Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling and Kevin Spacey, about a troubled youth's experiences in a juvenile detention center, and "High Voltage," about "a military solar energy project gone awry," according to a 2002 news release from the bank.

The Department of Energy granted final approval to three new loan guarantees for green energy projects, even as it faced continued scrutiny over $528 million in government loan assurances to solar panel maker Solyndra, which went bankrupt. The new guarantees were announced Friday after executives of Solyndra invoked their 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination before a congressional subcommittee investigating the loan guarantee process. Meanwhile, two other solar companies said they would probably not get funding under the same program, despite earlier promises from the government.

With all the speculation over the Bush Administration's motivations in denying Israel $10 billion in loan guarantees, perhaps the pundits are overlooking the simple, obvious reason: It is wrong to support the usurpation and dispossession of one people over another. We are reminded frequently that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East." I wonder how many countries that hold almost 2 million people under their power without any rights can claim to be democratic? The Bush Administration should be commended for taking a moral stand.

In an effort to increase the number of black-owned businesses, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced a plan this month to double the annual level of loan guarantees to African American entrepreneurs over the next three years. Blacks own only 3.6% of the small enterprises in the country, but make up 12.6% of the population. In order to get the word out, the SBA will use banks and black organizations such as the National Urban League and the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

Hollywood has been dragged into the dispute over the fate of the Export-Import Bank, with a leading foe of the institution criticizing past loan guarantees for Hollywood movies. The fiscally conservative Club for Growth, which has been pushing lawmakers to oppose the bank's re-authorization, took aim Thursday at four independent films that received loan guarantees in 2002 for foreign distribution under a program that ended a year later. The movies included "The United States of Leland," starring Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling and Kevin Spacey, about a troubled youth's experiences in a juvenile detention center, and "High Voltage," about "a military solar energy project gone awry," according to a 2002 news release from the bank.

Remember Solyndra, the solar panel maker that got $535-million government loan guarantees, only to file for bankruptcy less than two years later?    Well, some of its remaining employees could get bonuses of up to $30,000 apiece, even though the company is being liquidated. The judge overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings has OK'd paying a total of nearly $370,000 in bonuses if certain landmarks are reached, including the timely auction of some Solyndra assets, according to a Bloomberg News report.

An independent audit of federal loan guarantees that backed such alternative energy projects as now-failed solar equipment maker Solyndra failed to turn up the waste and incompetence that critics said riddled the programs. But the audit showed that laws establishing the Energy Department programs lacked adequate provisions for thorough monitoring and oversight of the loan guarantees once they were approved. One program created in 2007 did not "provide any requirements regarding governance and monitoring of loans after closing," the report said.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is a physicist, not a politician, but he was unflappable under attack from Republicans and refused to apologize for a $535-million loan guarantee given to now-bankrupt solar equipment maker Solyndra. In his first appearance before Congress since the Solyndra controversy broke nearly three months ago, Chu firmly pushed back against allegations that political favoritism and bureaucratic incompetence led his agency to approve the Solyndra loan guarantee. "Was there incompetence?"

The Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to issue a broad subpoena demanding more documents from the White House as part of the committee's investigation into a government loan guarantee for the failed solar equipment maker Solyndra. In a vote along party lines, the committee's subcommittee on oversight approved a draft subpoena that calls for all "internal communications" among top White House staff during the period in 2009 when Solyndra sought a $535-million loan guarantee from the government, through its financial troubles in 2010 and, ultimately, during its move toward bankruptcy protection two months ago. "The committee still hopes to work with the White House to obtain relevant communications from key personnel such as former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, former National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and Ron Klain, former chief of staff to Vice President [Joe]

Reporting from Washington Shifting its position on Energy Department loan guarantees, the White House said it would review all pledges to avoid such ill-fated decisions as the much-publicized $535-million loan guarantee for California solar equipment maker Solyndra, which fell into bankruptcy early last month. The step aims to defuse the embarrassing Solyndra episode, which has given rise to criticism that the Obama administration has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in public money.

First Solar surprised investors for the second time in as many days Wednesday, releasing its third-quarter earnings a week early after the sudden departure of its CEO sent the company's stock plunging 24 percent Tuesday. If the early release was intended to halt the stock's slide, it was a shrewd decision. In the first hour of trading, shares rose 14 percent, cutting the previous day's losses in half even though the results from the third quarter demonstrated mostly how tough the market has become for U.S. solar companies.