Gore-Backed Company Gets $529 Million for $89,000 Finnish Sports Car
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Harrison
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fisker global warming gore green cars hybrids hypocrites mercedes-benz Obama taxpayer waste tesla
Where your money is going
The pork never stops in Washington:
Former Vice President Al Gore’s campaign to save the planet from global warming has netted him a Nobel Peace Prize, an Academy Award and now $529 million in taxpayer money.
The federal government has loaned $529 million to Fisker Automotive Inc., a small car company backed by Gore to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Fisker, up to this point, takes existing vehicles like BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes and puts re-designed bodies on them and then sells them for a hefty premium.
One has to wonder a few things about this story:
#1 Would they have the money if Gore wasn’t part of the company?
#2 Are taxpayer dollars being spent wisely on an $89,000.00 sports car?
#3 If the car is to be built in Finland (all or part) why are U.S. taxpayer dollars going into it?
Right here in Kalifornia we have Tesla Motors which takes Lotus sports cars and throws electric motors in them. They, too, have received a ton of U.S. taxpayer monies:
Fisker isn’t the only automaker to reap millions from Uncle Sam. Tesla Motors Inc., which offers a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster, received a $465 million government loan. Tesla is a California startup that focuses on all-electric vehicles. It has won a number of celebrity endorsements and is backed by investors that have contributed to Democratic campaigns.
It should be noted that Daimler (owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand) just made a huge investment in that company as they seek to expand their hybrid offerings (they recently launched the $95,000.00+ S400 lithium-ion hybrid).
So between the two companies you have about $1 trillion going out.
A wise use of taxpayer dollars or Greenmail instead?
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9:00 PM
I read this earlier as well. Freakin’ ridiculous isn’t it? I thought the Obamessiah was all about the middle-class and change? psshtt.
.-= The BoBo´s last blog ..Hey, P-BO! You have a country to run, man! =-.
10:24 PM
But Harrison, it’s for the good of the environment. Don’t you mind a little in taxes to save the world? Gosh darn it, you’re such a selfish cheapskate. Global warming will bury cities all over the world…someday soon. Don’t cha care? And besides, these car will become more affordable…ummm…just like the hybrid Prius is affordable…and available right now in Toyota showrooms…if you wanted one.
.-= vulcanhammer´s last blog ..The war that punishes patients dealing with pain =-.
11:12 AM
What the government should do is create a program for the military to experiment with electric or hybrid motors in Army vehicles. Then all of the necessary research and development money to help transition our economy to electric vehicles would be buried in the Defense Department budget, and conservatives would not complain about it.
The reason that sports cars are chosen as the vehicles for implementing experiments in designing and building electric motors and batteries is that these exotic vehicles are attractive to the rich people who can afford to help the developers recoup some of the substantial costs of developing electric motors and batteries. These kinds of products are not quite ready for the mass market yet, but we need to find ways to get them there.
.-= Joe Markowitz´s last blog ..No Impact Man =-.
6:37 PM
This is very wry and very true. This was done already with Boeing (and Airbus) and the lawsuit is still going on. Personally I don’t think tanks should be hybrids but you do raise a good point. I don’t think giving $1 trillion in taxpayer money to two boutique “alternative energy” car companies is a wise use of resources, especially when other companies (like Daimler in the case of Tesla) can then piggyback on U.S. taxpayer monies to use any developed products in their Mercedes-Benzes.
6:42 PM
Let me add to my comment perhaps to make my point more clearly. When you see the picture of the sports car that taxpayers are helping to subsidize, it sure looks like all of us are paying to support an extravagance for rich people. But actually, what we are all paying for is the investment in technology that we hope will pay off for all of us in the long run. Perhaps it would be better if private industry would make that investment, but perhaps you would also agree that private industry is not always willing to do that, because the benefits accrue so widely that no company is willing to make the necessary investment when it cannot recoup enough profit to justify it.
And while it also appears that the guy who can afford to buy the subsidized sports car is also getting an unwarranted benefit, in actuality that person is also contributing to subsidizing an investment in technology that will benefit all of us in the long run. He is doing that because he is paying way more for the car than it would be worth once we have the technology in place to mass-produce such an advanced car (even though he might be paying less than the car actually cost to build), and he is willing to do that to gain the prestige and bragging rights of having such an unusual car.
.-= Joe Markowitz´s last blog ..Senate Finance Committee members tell the truth. =-.
8:53 PM
There are things known as the stock market, IPOs, angel investors, etc. There is plenty of money to be raised privately for these things. I suppose you don’t see any issue with the fact that Gore is a part of one company and the other, Tesla, is made up of people who gave heavily to the DNC?