In the wake of the most recent and most expensive collapse of a stimulus-funded 'green jobs' boondoggle Solyndra, President Obama will reportedly tempt fate, and the loyalty of his enablers in the media, by daring to feature more of the same in Thursday's high-profile “jobs” speech before Congress.
They've optimistically crafted a new euphemism in hopes of avoiding mockery, targeted infrastructure investment for clean energy projects.
The president offering more of a failed idea indicates a stroll down memory lane is in order.
"Think about what's happening in countries like Spain", he said, in one form or another on no fewer than eight occasions. But he no longer gives that speech. His spokesman being asked to stand by the example didn't go too well.
But then there came this:
"Spain admits green economy sold to Obama is a disaster," which appeared in Spain’s La Gazetta on May 21, 2010.
This headline ran five days before Obama's May 26, 2010, visit to champion Solyndra as "the future," which was also two weeks after this enlightening gem, "Obama calls for 'resolute' spending cuts in Spain," was published by the EU Observer, reporting on the president’s late-evening telephone call to Socialist Prime Minister Zapatero telling him to cut it out or we'd all be Greece.
But, if Obama was willing to call Zapatero and demand that he stop Spain's very deliberate incurring of massive public debt, and Zapatero complied by trying first to re-cage the green jobs beast, why was Obama's only lesson to stop telling people to look at what's happening in Spain? Why couldn't he simply stop pushing for more of Spain's disastrous policies here?
That's very troubling. And with the leaked content of Thursday's speech, it is only becoming more so.
Like Obama, Zapatero told his now-disillusioned countrymen that creating a “clean energy economy” would get them out of their financial crisis. Not quite.
The debt soon ballooned from an estimated 30 billion euros two short years ago to 126 billion such that, if Spain could pull the plug today (which they cannot as that would precipitate a banking crisis, the banks having underwritten the boondoggles on a government guarantee a la Fannie and Freddie here), the bill would equal about 11% of Spain's GDP.
That's according to the professor whose study blew the lid off Obama's plan, Dr. Gabriel Calzada. And further, Spain has concluded that it has no idea how to unwind the scheme but, facing the gambler's dilemma, continues to keep digging the hole deeper waiting for a miracle to get it out.
Also per Calzada using EuroStat figures, in the past decade erstwhile Obama model Germany spent more money just on solar trying to “jump-start” that industry than it has spent to date bailing out Greece, Portugal and Ireland, combined.
Both efforts failed, leaving Germany no idea how to end either of them. And Obama's response is to promote more of it here.
So, remember his is the same economic mind who gave us, to no critical media treatment, a vow that “we will hire young people who don’t have a trade and give them a trade making homes more energy efficient, insulating homes, changing light bulbs.”
He paired this with “we are going to spend billions of dollars on solar, wind, and biodiesel.” Yes. It’s just criminal that we haven’t done that yet. Except for the $100 billion or so already squandered over decades of futility.
This is madness. Existing mid- to high-tech industries, making products responding to actual demand, cannot fill their openings. For real jobs. And our president wants to blow billions more on unsustainable, unconscionably expensive politically correct make-work.
These positions are certainly not “of the future” because, as even apologists for the Solyndra bankruptcy implicitly acknowledge, they only exist if politicians command money be spent on them.
But with governments going broke, these phony jobs are disappearing, just as they never would have existed in the first place, only leaving us more in debt.
Calling more green jobs stimulus "targeted infrastructure investment on clean energy" reflects a dogmatic refusal to learn and change course. It assumes the president doesn't think much of the public, while revealing much that is unpleasant about himself.
This situation calls for an open, candid discussion to resolve the claims about “green energy” and a centrally designed “clean energy econom.” Until then, we will continue reliving the terrible experience of countries Obama used to tell us to examine if we wanted to see his ideal, but about which he only learned not to tip you off any further.
Christopher C. Horner is director of litigation for the American Tradition Institute's Environmental Law Center, which is suing the University of Virginia.
