VIDEO: RNC Chairman Priebus Responds to President Obama’s Comments on Solyndra

By Michael Short

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement responding to President Obama’s lack of regret over betting $535 million of taxpayer’s money on the failed venture Solyndra:

“This afternoon President Obama said he has ‘no regrets’ about the $535 million loan that his administration gave to the now-bankrupt company Solyndra. But what about concern for the taxpayers who ended up on the losing end of this gamble?  With no signs that the company will be able to pay back that money, the American people are stuck with the bill.

“As the President continues traveling the country to promote his second stimulus, Americans should take note: the President would rather please his liberal supporters than make wise investments with taxpayers’ money.  In a time of record deficits and high unemployment, the government should not be recklessly gambling with Americans’ hard-earned dollars.”

TRANSCRIPT

STEPHANOPOULOS: “Your White House has received a lot of questions on Solyndra, the solar panel company you paid a visit to back in 2010, you really held it up then as a model for jobs and clean energy, do you regret that?”

OBAMA:  “No, no I don’t, because if you look at the overall portfolio of loan guarantees that have been provided, overall it’s doing well. And what we always understood was that not every single business is going to succeed in clean energy but if we want to compete with China which is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into this space, if we want to compete with other countries that are heavily subsidizing the industries of the future, we’ve got to make sure that our guys here in the United States Of America, at least have a shot. Now, there’s going to be some failures…. “

STEPHANOPOULOS:  “You were getting warnings not to back that company up…. “

OBAMA: “Well, hind-sight is always twenty-twenty. It went through the regular review process and people felt like this was a good bet, but the fact of the matter is that if we don’t get behind clean energy, if we don’t get behind advanced battery manufacturing, if we’re not the ones creating the cars of the future, then we’re not going to be able to make stuff here in the United States of America. And one of the most important things that I want to do over the next several years, is restore the sense that America can manufacture, that we don’t just purchase stuff from someplace else, that we’re also exporting to other countries.”