Quote:
Originally Posted by Fager Fan
Actually, Phony Defense debunked.
$30b profit? No way, I thought, so did some searching. As expected, you're so far off the mark that it's comical. Did you mean $30m? Even that isn't correct, though, given the interest the gov has to pay on the loan to international investors.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.82527bb119c8
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Yes, $30,000,000 is correct. My Mistake on the $30B.
The same article says this; Relative to the massive scale of the loans, the program is close to breaking even either way, but there's still a difference between profit and loss.
Dawn Selak, an Energy Department spokeswoman, said the goal of the agency's loan program was "not to make a profit," but that officials were managing the program in a fiscally responsible way.
and:
While Marron rejects what he calls the agency's "spin," he essentially agrees. He says the loans were intended to encourage private-sector research into clean technology. By the government's reckoning, the loan program has prevented some 14 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The fact that the loans are losing money is, in itself, "not an indictment" of the program, he said in an interview.
The fact is there were a few loans which went bad-particularly Solyndra-but there were many more which have been paid off with interest. If we lose a few million dollars, that is nothing compared to the benefits of a clean energy program.