By Pete the Banker Recently Obama in his Recovery Summer/Job Fest has made prominent appearances at several manufacturing plants trumpeting the success of the Administration’s Stimulus program and its impact in promoting economic recovery and generating jobs. One can easily dispute Obama’s assertion of a “Recovery Summer”, but there is little denying the expansion of the Administration’s Green Energy Initiative. However, the recent selection of the companies at which Obama has made his appearances has demonstrated another commonality, they are not American Companies.
On July 8, Obama chose Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City to make a major jobs announcement. Smith Electric Vehicles is a subsidiary of Smith Electric Vehicles, UK a British Company. Smith received a $32 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Federal grant and plans to double its current the number of fifty employees in Kansas City plant by year end. One might think that $32 million is extravagant amount for only an additional 50 employees, but the firm has announced aggressive expansion plans despite having sold only fifty of its costly $100,000 trucks to date. And the American Subsidiary with its newly acquired wealth has also recently announced plans to buy its English parent company?! All thanks to the benevolence of the American taxpayer (here and here).
President Barack Obama appeared for the July 15 groundbreaking of a new Compact Power Inc. factory, which received $151 Million from a federal stimulus grants to construct a $300 Million plant which is expected to manufacture lithium ion cells and employ between 300 – 450 people by 2013. Compact Power is the American Subsidiary of LG Chem Ltd, a $14 Billion Korean Company a leading supplier of Lithium Ion Batteries (here).
In early July, Obama announced that the Department of Energy approved $1.85 Billion of loan guarantees under the Stimulus plan in order to accelerate “the transition to a clean energy economy and doubling our use of renewable energy sources…”. He used the occasion to announce $1.45 Billion in DOE loan guarantees to Abengoa Solar, to spur development of a proposed solar farm near Gila Bend , Arizona . Once complete the Spanish Company announced the solar facility will employ 85 workers on a permanent basis (here).
An ABC News investigation found that 79% of the Stimulus Program’s funds have ended up going to foreign companies (here). Some $450 Million stimulus was granted to A-Power, a Chinese Company for a West Texas wind farm project highlighted by ABC that uses turbines manufactured in China and whose San Diego “office” was found to be empty. While some 300 American Construction jobs were to be involved, there were also some 2,000 Chinese based manufacturing jobs planned (here).
Welcome to the green economy; apparently the new euphemism for “foreign aid”. Is it any wonder that the Stimulus Program has had such a muted impact on the growth of the American economy? Is this another reason that job growth has been so tepid?
Tell ’em where you saw it. Http://www.victoriataft.com
