Biden Flashback: 'Recovery Act Has Had an Unprecedentedly Low Level of Fraud'

Care to take that one back, Sheriff Joe?

“Sheriff” Joe Biden’s remarks could come back to haunt him when it comes to Solyndra, the solar company that went bankrupt after winning a $535 million loan guarantee from 2009’s economic stimulus package.

President Obama named his vice president the sheriff of the stimulus, and Biden’s duties were to ensure that no money was wasted in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Biden, a key figure in any White House negotiation with leaders on Capitol Hill, has boasted of his success in limiting fraud and waste in the stimulus.

“Now, there were a lot of naysayers back then who said that there was no way we could implement the Recovery Act without massive waste, fraud and abuse,” Biden said in a June 13 post on the White House blog announcing the new “Campaign to Cut Waste,” which was to root out wasteful government spending at every agency and department.

“You know what? They were wrong. Thanks to our diligence (and some help from advanced computer models and sophisticated data analysis), the Recovery Act has had an unprecedentedly low level of fraud, with less than 0.6 percent of all awards experiencing any waste or abuse.”

Obama asked Biden to reprise his sheriff role Wednesday, appointing him to lead a review of how agencies spend taxpayer dollars following a Justice Department report that found “extravagant” spending on conferences, including $16 muffins.

The Solyndra controversy represents a small portion of the total stimulus funds, but it still strikes at the administration’s promise to prevent fraud and waste. And Biden finds himself in the middle of the controversy.

Republicans argue the White House rushed the loan to Solyndra so that Biden could announce it at a company event in 2009, when the administration was pushing green energy as a way to create jobs.

According to Obama flunky Jay Carney, this was merely an "investment" that didn't pan out. Nothing to see here, move along.

"The reason why fledgling, cutting-edge industries need this kind of assistance is because they can be high risk as well as high reward," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. He also observed that "what happened here is an investment did not pan out."

Um, so why not let everything out in the open rather that running for cover and stonewalling investigators?

Meanwhile, to no surprise we've got an apparent Soros stench emanating from another Obama scandal. Imagine our surprise.

As Republican lawmakers begin to dig into the White House's cozy relationship with a startup wireless company and the wealthy Democratic donor who owns it, a new character has appeared on the story's edges: liberal superdonor, conservative bete noire and controversial investor George Soros.

Soros reportedly invested in the telecom company LightSquared through a hedge fund, and many of the nonprofits he finances have backed LightSquared in regulatory and policy disputes.

Drip Drip Drip: Another Obama Fundraiser Mired in Solyndra Scandal

The cover-up threatening to consume Obama continues to unravel.

The White House faced mounting political complications as a second top fundraiser for President Obama was linked to a federal loan guarantee program that backed a now-bankrupt Silicon Valley solar energy company, and as two California lawmakers called for investigations of a state tax break granted to the firm.

Steve Spinner, who helped monitor the Energy Department's issuance of $25 billion in government loan guarantees to renewable energy projects, was one of Obama's top fundraisers in 2008 and is raising money for the president's 2012 reelection campaign.

Spinner did not have any role in the selection of applicants for the loan program and, in fact, was recused from the decision to grant a $535-million loan guarantee to Solyndra Inc. because his wife's law firm represented the company, administration officials said Friday.

But Spinner's role as a top official in the Energy Department program, which had not been previously revealed, is likely to spur new inquiries into whether political influence played a role in the handling of the "green" energy fund. Solyndra faces a congressional probe, a criminal investigation and separate internal inquiries at the Energy and Treasury departments.

"This will fuel more questions, and now you've got real people involved at the inspector-general level who will be turning over chairs and cabinets, asking questions," said Stanley Brand, a criminal defense and ethics lawyer in Washington who has served as general counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives.

He noted that none of the details that had emerged suggested any laws had been broken. "It's embarrassing, it's ham-handed, it looks bad, but so far all we have is the White House trying to advantage itself in a political way with a loan," he said.

The largest investments in Solyndra were funds operated on behalf of the family foundation of billionaire George Kaiser, another major fundraiser for Obama in 2008. Kaiser has denied personally investing in the solar energy company or talking to White House officials about the loan.

Read the rest.

Meanwhile, some media outlets are pretending that if you ignore this massive scandal then it apparently never happened.



This massive scandal sure looks like The Chicago Way.

This is not a new kind of politics. It's the old kind. The Chicago kind.

And now the Tribune Washington Bureau has reported that the U.S. Department of Energy employee who helped monitor the Solyndra loan guarantee was one of Obama's top fundraisers.

Fundraising? Contracts? Imagine that.

Steve Spinner was the Obama administration official in charge of handing out billions and billions of tax dollars to "green" energy deals. According to the Tribune story, Spinner the other day invited Obama's national political finance committee to a meeting in Chicago.

The name of the Obama fundraising initiative?

"Technology for Obama."

The idea of the Obama fundraisers getting together, talking "green," and perhaps offering taxpayer loan guarantees to insider businesses in the interest of helping the environment — it all seems rather fresh.

Like a mountain meadow.

Until you realize it's the same old politics, the same kind practiced in Washington and Chicago and anywhere else where appetites are satisfied by politicians. When the government picks winners and losers, who's the loser? Just look in the mirror, hold that thought, and tell me later.

Solyndra image via Cuffy Meigs

HillaryCareScam Revealed

Well, Judicial Watch got their first document dump from the Clinton library regarding the scam affectionately called Hillarycare and it paints a disturbing picture of how far and wide the Clintons and their cronies were willing to go to foist this upon the public.

Once again it was talk radio back then who spearheaded the charge just like they did recently on the Comprehensive Immigration Amnesty bill. Is there any doubt left that if either Clinton or McCain win this race one of the first pieces of legislation they would try to ramrod through would be the Fairness Doctrine to shut down that voice?

Here is one section of one of the documents that got my attention.

For this option to work best, we would recommend the following:

1. The summit would be a two day event structured similarly to
the economic summit except with Mrs. Clinton running it. The
President should come by to open or close the event, but should
not be there most of the time.

2. It should be held outside of Washington, D.C.

3. This should be an event where the average people dealing with the health crisis get their chance to speak up. Althoughindividual health care providers should be invited to speak, no one who is head of or lobbyist for a trade association or other
interest group should be asked to speak.

4. There should be at least two or three people with specific
horror stories, but there should also be several middle class
people with decent benefits who are feeling squeezed and worried.

5. Small business people should be prominently featured. There
should also be at least one Fortune 500

6. Senior citizens should be there, and should be encouraged to
talk openly about their insecurities about potential changes in
medicare and their choice of doctors.

If these fears are expressed, and we deal with them head on, we will gain
immeasurably.

Does this bring back memories of what occurred during the debate over the increase in the SCHIP program?

There are other bloggers with other sections and their analysis and I am sure more will be forthcoming.

This is just scratching the surface, but it paints a very disturbing picture particularly as other folks are pointing out, the Rockefeller memo which indicates how wiling the press was to play along with getting the administration's message out in whatever flavor they chose.

Mrs. Clinton: Hsu a "Good Friend and Trusted Associate"

Now she pretends she hardly knew the guy.

Right.

Your biggest fundraiser, who just so happened to be a fugitive running a Ponzi scheme.

And the smartest woman in the world had no idea.

We're either to believe she's incredibly naive, which should disqualify her from being President, or she was in on the scam, which should qualify her for an orange jumpsuit.

Which is it, Pantsuit?

SLIMY TRAIL OF A HSU HEEL

In the past month, Hsu's checkered past and murky business practices have come under increasing scrutiny.

He not only swindled investors but strong-armed them into donating thousands of dollars to Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign and to other Democratic candidates, authorities and lawsuits say.

He wowed one investor in Orange County, Calif., during a meeting in which he had Clinton join them "live" via videoconference. From a huge screen, the New York senator greeted Hsu warmly, and called him a "good friend and trusted associate."

Trying to impress would-be investors, he also dropped names like supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, "Spider-Man" star Toby Maguire and movie director Steven Spielberg.

Last week, federal prosecutors charged the 56-year-old Hsu with stealing $60 million from unwitting investors nationwide in various Ponzi schemes.

Now everyone and their brother is claiming absolutely no knowledge, meaning if they even had an inkling, they just didn't care so long as Hsu kept delivering the cash.

The duped investors now say Hsu gained their confidence in his business acumen by bragging that Hillary Clinton "carefully screened" her fund-raisers to ensure their integrity and credibility, the suit says.

However, they say Hsu further exploited that trust starting in 2006, when he "imposed a condition" that future investors had to donate cash to specific campaigns, including Clinton's presidential run.

"He would say, 'You had a great investment with me before. If you want another, I want you to contribute the maximum under federal election law to Hillary Clinton,' " said lawyer William Bollard, who represents the investors.

One victim hand-delivered to Hsu nearly $30,000 in checks from investors made payable to the Clinton campaign, the suit says.

Elected officials lapped up his cash, but some admit they had no idea why Hsu was so involved.

Sorry, that's just not a credible excuse. Though they'll probably get away with it, thanks to a compliant media.

"It appeared that he was very interested in politics and knew the political landscape," said Matt Paul, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). "But at the same time, he didn't really have an agenda."

Here's a partial list of where the money went.

Do you suppose the Democrats would be largely silent on this issue if Hsu were donating all this illicit money to the GOP?

Another Hsu Drops on Mrs. Clinton

Any other presidential candidate with such shady fundraisers would be history by now, but slowly Mrs. Clinton is being justifiably subjected to scrutiny over mystery bagman Norman Hsu.

It's obvious Mrs. Clinton and her people lied about this scandal from the beginning and are desperately trying to cover their tracks. What did they know, when did they know it, and when are the other cowardly Democrats going to use it against her?

Perhaps all of them are also entanled in this mess and they'd rather dummy up?

Team Clinton can't explain ignoring warnings on Hsu

WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton's campaign couldn't explain yesterday why it blew off warnings about felon-turned-fund-raiser Norman Hsu - and the Daily News learned FBI agents are collecting e-mail evidence in the widening scandal.

Clinton was forced Monday to give back a whopping $850,000 raised by convicted scam artist Hsu after learning his investment ventures were being probed by the FBI as a potential Ponzi scheme.

She earlier gave to charity $23,000 Hsu donated himself after reports revealed he fled sentencing for a $1 million scam in California in 1992.

Yesterday, the campaign insisted it did all it should to vet Hsu after California businessman Jack Cassidy warned in June that Hsu's investment operation was fishy. Cassidy e-mailed his tips to the California Democratic Party, which forwarded them to the Clinton campaign.

Cassidy did not want to talk about the case, saying he doesn't want to jeopardize the FBI's efforts. But he wants Hsu prosecuted. He told The News that Hsu was a reverse Robin Hood - "a hood robbin' the poor to give to the rich."

His warning "prompted a search of publicly available information, which did not reveal Mr. Hsu's decade-plus-old warrant," said Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson. He would not say why the campaign didn't follow up on specifics Cassidy included to explain his suspicions.

"They knew [about Hsu], and they knew back in June," a source told The News.

More from Michelle Malkin, See-Dubya at Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, Wizbang, Don Surber.

Mrs. Clinton to Attend Fundraiser at Ex-Con's House

Apparently her greed outweighs any semblance of common sense, though we're still waiting patiently for one of her Democrat opponents to mention this scandal.

Are they so afraid of her they don't have the onions to bring this up?

John Hawkins has the latest.

Expect a last minute "scheduling conflict" once word spreads on this.

Fugitive Clinton Bagman Nabbed in Colorado

Well, knock me over with a straw.

Remarkably, he didn't turn up in a carpet somewhere having committed Hsu-icide.

Fugitive fundraiser Hsu captured in Colorado

Fugitive political fundraiser Norman Hsu, who skipped out on San Mateo County authorities this week rather than face sentencing for a 1992 fraud conviction, was apprehended Thursday night by federal and local lawmen in Grand Junction, Colo.

Authorities said Hsu was taken into custody at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction at 7 p.m. local time. He had been on the lam for almost two days after failing to appear in a Redwood City courtroom Wednesday to surrender his passport.

Hsu was taken off a passenger train at the Grand Junction train station earlier in the day by paramedics who requested a backboard to move him, said Sgt. Lonnie Chavez with the Grand Junction Police Department.

Authorities received a request for medical assistance at the train station at about 11:15 a.m., but the exact nature of Hsu's condition was unclear, Chavez said. Staff at St. Mary's Hospital declined to comment.

FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said Hsu will be returned to California on the 1992 conviction once released from the hospital.

Hsu's attorney told state prosecutors that Hsu had been on a charter flight that arrived at Oakland International Airport at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday and then dropped out of sight, said Gareth Lacy, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office.

Amtrak's California Zephyr train offers service from nearby Emeryville to Grand Junction before heading to Denver and Chicago. The Zephyr left Emeryville at about 7:10 a.m. Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive in Grand Junction before noon Thursday.

Hsu's disappearing act seemed to be a reprise of a move he pulled 15 years ago, when he failed to show up for sentencing in the same grand theft case. Hsu was facing up to three years in state prison, a $10,000 fine and restitution payments after pleading no contest to a single count of grand theft in what prosecutors described as a $1 million fraud scheme.

If you stay with the story long enough, they mention the word "Democrat" in the ninth paragraph.

Were he a Republican, it would have been mentioned in the first sentence.

More from Michelle Malkin, Suitably Flip, Wizbang, Gateway Pundit.

In a shocking development, the leftwing blogs are totally silent.

Democrat Bagman Hsu Skips Bail Hearing

I'm sure he'll turn up at a fundraiser soon.

Or in Hong Kong.

BREAKING NEWS: Fugitive Dem fundraiser disappears, again

Norman Hsu, the bigtime Democratic Party fundraiser who was a fugitive from a pending prison term for years while raising money for prominent Democrats including Sen. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, failed to appear for a bail hearing in Redwood City, Calif. this morning.

His lawyer says he has no idea where his client is. And Hsu did not turn in his passport as required.

An arrest warrant was issued.

Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he'd defrauded investors of $1 million in a bogus investment scam. Prosecutors say he was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before being sentenced.

Federal Election Commission records show Hsu donated more than a quarter-million dollars to Democrats and their party since 2004.

By not appearing, Hsu forfeits his request to cut his $2 million bond in half.

More from WSJ.

Patches Kennedy was unavailable for comment.

Shocking how a shady Clinton operative would just disappear, isn't it?

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has the APB out. More from Dan Riehl and Allahpundit, Stop the ACLU, A Blog For All, Wizbang, Captain's Quarters, Don Surber, Suitably Flip, Gateway Pundit, Sweetness & Light.

UPDATE II: Patches decides to give the money back.

I question the timing.

Dems Flee From Fugitive Clinton Donor

As troubles mount for The Pantsuit and fugitive donor Norman Hsu, Democrats are running for the tall grass and are rushing to return possibly suspect donations.

Democrats Give Away Fundraiser's Cash

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats began distancing themselves Wednesday from a fundraiser who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge.

Al Franken, a Senate candidate in Minnesota, Rep. Michael Honda of California and Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania said they would divest their campaigns of donations from Norman Hsu, whose legal encounters and links to other Democratic donors have drawn public scrutiny in the past two days.

Hsu is a fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and is described as a devoted fan of the presidential candidate and New York senator. He planned to co-host a money event for Clinton on Sept. 30. In a statement Wednesday, Hsu said he believed he had resolved his legal issues and was unaware that he faced a warrant.

Reports in The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times this week have caused numerous Democratic candidates and organization who have benefited from Hsu's contributions to reconsider the donations.

Franken's campaign received $2,300 from Hsu and Sestak and Honda each received $1,000 for their re-election efforts.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately comment on Hsu's legal situation. But in a statement issued Tuesday, the campaign defended Hsu in response to the Journal report about a San Francisco family whose contribution patterns tracked Hsu's.

``Norman Hsu is a longtime and generous supporter of the Democratic Party and its candidates, including Senator Clinton,'' Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement Tuesday. ``During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question or to return them.''

Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu has donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. Though a fundraiser for Clinton, he also donated to Sen. Barack Obama's Senate campaign in 2004 and to Obama's political action committee.

In 1991, Hsu pleaded no contest to a single felony count of grand theft but failed to show up in court for sentencing, according to Ronald Smetana, a California deputy attorney general who prosecuted the case.

Smetana said there is an outstanding warrant for Hsu's arrest. A clerk at the San Mateo County courthouse where Hsu was prosecuted said the warrant was issued in 1992 and orders were for $2 million bail for Hsu if he were arrested.

Smetana said Hsu collected about $1 million from investors by falsely claiming he had a contract to import latex gloves. Smetana said he planned to ask a judge to sentence Smetana to prison.

Smetana said he figured Hsu, a Hong Kong native, had fled the country.

``We would obviously like Mr. Hsu to return and face justice,'' said Smetana, who said he had assumed Hsu, a Hong Kong native, had fled the country.

Showing how feckless and pathetic they are, not a single Democrat presidential candidate has even dared mention this brewing scandal, nor does much of the media have interest in it.

UPDATE: Well, what do you know, now Mrs. Clinton is, ahem, giving the money back. Or playing cute, actually, by donating it to charity.

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton will give to charity the $23,000 in donations she has received from a fundraiser who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge.

The decision came Wednesday as other Democrats began distancing themselves from Norman Hsu, whose legal encounters and links to other Democratic donors have drawn public scrutiny in the past two days.

This is a woman who itemized Bill's underwear when last seen "donating" to charity.

Next time anyone mentions this, we'll be told it's old news.