Gore-Backed Car Firm Gets Large U.S. Loan

R

RockX

Banned
Gore-Backed Car Firm Gets Large U.S. Loan


By JOSH MITCHELL and STEPHEN POWER

WASHINGTON -- A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster. Tesla, like Fisker, is a California startup focusing on high-end hybrids, with a number of celebrity endorsements that is backed by investors that have contributed to Democratic campaigns.

The awards to Fisker and Tesla have prompted concern from companies that have had their bids for loans rejected, and criticism from groups that question why vehicles aimed at the wealthiest customers are getting loans subsidized by taxpayers.

"This is not for average Americans," said Leslie Paige, a spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste, an anti-tax group in Washington. "This is for people to put something in their driveway that is a conversation piece. It's status symbol thing."

DOE officials spent months working with Fisker on its application, touring its Irvine, Calif., and Pontiac, Mich., facilities and test-driving prototypes.

Matt Rogers, who oversees the department's loan programs as a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, said Fisker was awarded the loan after a "detailed technical review" that concluded the company could eventually deliver a highly fuel-efficient hybrid car to a mass audience. Fisker said most of its DOE loan will be used to finance U.S. production of a $40,000 family sedan that has yet to be designed.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125383160812639013.html


A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

There are so many things wrong with that sentence.

Al Gore? US taxpayer funded government loan? building cars in Finland? That sell for $89k? :mad:
 
Fisker said most of its DOE loan will be used to finance U.S. production of a $40,000 family sedan that has yet to be designed.
 
Come on Webb, it's the libs turn to flush billions down the toilet. Are you saying republican operatives didn't make billions on the wars.
 
The Tesla Roadster is a sports car aimed at the wealthier set.

But what they are working on now is a total electric sedan. It'll be a 4 door family sort of ride. And the pricing will be in the $50k range.

I, for one, am far happier seeing my money go to this company than to the bailouts.



I think its telling that, in an attempt to discredit, these "journalists" use a connection to Gore.

Both automotive companies have been making news for several years.
 
WinterBorn said:
The Tesla Roadster is a sports car aimed at the wealthier set.

But what they are working on now is a total electric sedan. It'll be a 4 door family sort of ride. And the pricing will be in the $50k range.

I, for one, am far happier seeing my money go to this company than to the bailouts.



I think its telling that, in an attempt to discredit, these "journalists" use a connection to Gore.

Both automotive companies have been making news for several years.
Click to expand...

A connection to gore is a de facto discreditation. he's a lying jackass.

Man caused global warming is a lie.
 
AssHatZombie said:
A connection to gore is a de facto discreditation. he's a lying jackass.

Man caused global warming is a lie.
Click to expand...

Yeah yeah yeah. Old news.


The point is whether or not the money should be given to these companies.

Given what Tesla has already accomplished, and what Fisker is trying to do, it is money well spent. Far better than the cash-sucking fiasco that was GM.
 
Southern Man said:
Where's the outcry from liberals about government welfare to corporations?
Click to expand...

Perhaps they see the difference between investing in something that will help the nation, and flushing tax dollars down the drain?
 
Southern Man said:
Like a man who calls another man's wife a whore has the morality to make that judgment.
Click to expand...

You are welcome, SM. Now you get to play the "righteous indignation" game to your heart's content. Now you have way to respond when you are losing an argument.

My gift to you. :cof1:




But its not a moral judgement. Its about using our tax dollars in an effective way. We aren't going to get significantly lower taxes. The best we can hope for is to have our tax dollars spent wisely.

Development of more fuel efficient vehicles is spending it wisely. The industry certainly has done a piss-poor job of development.

And the all electric cars are a huge breakthrough. The Tesla Roadster took us from the modified golf cart to a viable high performance vehicle. And one that does not burn any fossil fuels.
 
tinfoil said:
Step 1 create supposed crisis
Step 2 offer supposed solution to supposed crisis
Step 3 Cash in on the fear
Click to expand...

Step 1 - Call a genuine problem a conspiracy
Step 2 - Ridicule any attempt to solve the problem
Step 3 - Ignore the facts.



Just a tip, our dependency on fossil fuels is not a "created crisis" or a "supposed crisis". The problem is real.
 
WinterBorn said:
You are welcome, SM. Now you get to play the "righteous indignation" game to your heart's content. Now you have way to respond when you are losing an argument.

My gift to you. :cof1:




But its not a moral judgement. Its about using our tax dollars in an effective way. We aren't going to get significantly lower taxes. The best we can hope for is to have our tax dollars spent wisely.

Development of more fuel efficient vehicles is spending it wisely. The industry certainly has done a piss-poor job of development.

And the all electric cars are a huge breakthrough. The Tesla Roadster took us from the modified golf cart to a viable high performance vehicle. And one that does not burn any fossil fuels.
Click to expand...

I've never lost an argument to you. You got pissed at constantly losing so, like any coward, attacked the innocent.
 
WinterBorn said:
Step 1 - Call a genuine problem a conspiracy
Step 2 - Ridicule any attempt to solve the problem
Step 3 - Ignore the facts.



Just a tip, our dependency on fossil fuels is not a "created crisis" or a "supposed crisis". The problem is real.
Click to expand...

then call it what it is. Don't make up scary scenarios on computer models to trick stupid people into believing they control climate.

Sun cycles, cosmic ray flux and natural planetary cycles have always changed climate. You can't attribute warming to humans when we don't even have an accurate understanding of the climate system to begin with.

People who really understand science see the flaws in the theory. you might not be included in that group.
 
Don't you know? He told the Congress that he gives every dollar he makes to a non-profit and if you think he's cashing in because he's become so rich well then you "don't know him"...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top