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A123 Systems Inc. (AONE), a maker of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, filed for bankruptcy after failing to make a debt payment that was due yesterday.
A123, which received a $249.1 million federal grant in 2009 to build a U.S. factory, needed a financial lifeline after struggling with costs from a recall of batteries supplied to Fisker, the plug-in hybrid luxury carmaker. A123 announced in August that it was working on a deal with Wanxiang Group Corp., China’s largest auto-parts maker, for financing in exchange for a majority ownership stake.
Wanxiang plans to invest as much as $465 million in A123, giving the Hangzhou, China-based company a stake of as much as 80 percent, A123 said in an Aug. 16 statement. In yesterday’s filing, A123 said it was considering strategic alternatives including “one or more potential transactions” to address its liquidity problems. There is “no assurance” that A123 will be able to find a way to continue to operate its business as a going concern, the company said.
You do realize that 249.1 million is NOTHING, right? That's less than a dollar per person. It's about 8 cents a month per person. Oooh, that's horrible.
It's called investing in our future. For all the failures, there will be some successes and those successes will be worth far more than the costs in the long run. We need to get off of Arab oil. We can't keep sending our money over to OPEC when we can just as easily develop renewable energy here in the US. Investing in hi-tech AMERICAN JOBS is a good thing, not a bad thing.
Compare to the $2,500,000,000+/yr cost of keeping troops in GERMANY and you see how idiotic it is to get upset over one failed investment in a worthy technology.
If you complain about the cost of these worthy programs, you have to complain about our insanely bloated military budget. Otherwise you're just a hypocrite.
You do realize that 249.1 million is NOTHING, right? That's less than a dollar per person. It's about 8 cents a month per person. Oooh, that's horrible.
Funny how that seems to be the excuse for every Obama failure. "But, but...it's only a couple hundred million dollars".
You do realize that 249.1 million is NOTHING, right?
A quarter billion dollars is nothing?
Shall I give you my address so you can send me a check? It's nothing, right? Just drop a quarter bil in the mail for me, k? Thanks.
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Originally Posted by ThinkBeforeYouVote
Oooh, that's horrible.
Yes, it is. It's especially horrible because it didn't even get squandered in the United States - it was wasted in the country we borrowed it from in the first place, and your kids will still be paying the interest on it. How you can be so naive is beyond words.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkBeforeYouVote
It's called investing in our future. For all the failures, there will be some successes and those successes will be worth far more than the costs in the long run.
If the technology was anywhere near viable, the private sector would be dumping money into it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkBeforeYouVote
We need to get off of Arab oil.
I agree. We should start by extracting what we have at home, while letting alternative energy technologies evolve naturally. You can't force innovation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkBeforeYouVote
We can't keep sending our money over to OPEC when we can just as easily develop renewable energy here in the US.
But you're fine with sending it to China, and getting nothing in return. Wow. I sure hope you start to "Think Before You Vote."
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkBeforeYouVote
Investing in hi-tech AMERICAN JOBS is a good thing, not a bad thing.
That quarter billion dollar GRANT (not loan) was given to a CHINESE company. That same money could have bought over 2.7 million barrels of oil, which would have actually been useful, instead of wasted. Or, they could have not spent the money in the first place, which is my personal preference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkBeforeYouVote
Compare to the $2,500,000,000+/yr cost of keeping troops in GERMANY and you see how idiotic it is to get upset over one failed investment in a worthy technology.
If you complain about the cost of these worthy programs, you have to complain about our insanely bloated military budget. Otherwise you're just a hypocrite.
We can talk about how to reduce the military budget, but it's a COMPLETELY SEPARATE ISSUE. Bringing it into a discussion about failed "green" spending is a ludicrous straw man, and demonstrates that you have no real argument to make in support of your position.
You do realize that 249.1 million is NOTHING, right? That's less than a dollar per person. It's about 8 cents a month per person. Oooh, that's horrible.
And tax subsidies, which arent really subsidies, are nothign as well..
Hey, isnt that about the same exact amount of money as Romneys net worth? So what youre saying is, attacking him cause he's rich is dumb
I agree..
Shall I give you my address so you can send me a check? It's nothing, right? Just drop a quarter bil in the mail for me, k? Thanks.
In a macroeconomic sense, a quarter of a billion is nothing. The PIMCO Total Return Bond Fund (a mutual fund) has 1,000x as much money in it than that battery company. We spend more than that in a week of the idiotic drug war. It's 1/14916 of the annual US Budget, 0.0067%, the equivalent of about $3.50/yr of expenses for an Average American (making 55k, 0.0067% of 55k is just over $3.50). So yeah. It's nothing.
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Yes, it is. It's especially horrible because it didn't even get squandered in the United States - it was wasted in the country we borrowed it from in the first place, and your kids will still be paying the interest on it. How you can be so naive is beyond words.
If the technology was anywhere near viable, the private sector would be dumping money into it.
Well no. The Oil Lobby is a $150,000,000 annual business to specifically fight renewable energy and clean tech. Most politicians are in the pocket of big oil. Oil runs this country and it will take a Government push to fight that...or we can wait for the world to simply run out and then scramble to figure out how to run everything without oil. My father was Director of Energy Policy for the US Government for 2 years, he pushed for this more than 30 years ago and was rebuffed by the same lobbyists who are fighting it now. How you can be naive is beyond me.
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I agree. We should start by extracting what we have at home, while letting alternative energy technologies evolve naturally. You can't force innovation.
How do you think the Internet started? It wasn't Al Gore tinkering in his basement or Steve Jobs in the garage, it was GOVERNMENT FUNDED RESEARCH!
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But you're fine with sending it to China, and getting nothing in return. Wow. I sure hope you start to "Think Before You Vote."
I'm not, I want it in America, but at least the technology will help get us off Arab oil. Who cares if we owe the Chinese money? It's not like we'll ever pay them back.
Quote:
That quarter billion dollar GRANT (not loan) was given to a CHINESE company. That same money could have bought over 2.7 million barrels of oil, which would have actually been useful, instead of wasted. Or, they could have not spent the money in the first place, which is my personal preference.
The US uses 19.6 million barrels of oil a day. That would cover 13.8% of one day's oil usage. That doesn't seem like a lot, does it?
And again, I continue to reiterate, it should have been an American company, but the investment in clean tech is a much better use of government money than keeping troops in Germany, Japan, Italy, Guam, Canada, etc.
Quote:
We can talk about how to reduce the military budget, but it's a COMPLETELY SEPARATE ISSUE. Bringing it into a discussion about failed "green" spending is a ludicrous straw man, and demonstrates that you have no real argument to make in support of your position.
Um no. It's legitimate because you people have no concept of macroeconomics. You think that 250 million is a lot when it's actually nothing in the scheme of things. It's 0.0067% of the budget. It's like me getting worked up about the cost of an order of rolled tacos. Come on people, if you're going to complain about government waste, why not complain about the part which makes up 25% of the budget? You people are such hypocrites because you're unwilling to talk about military spending cuts (even though it's also spent abroad and with foreign contractors) but you rant and rave about a burrito-sized expense.
"Who cares if we owe the Chinese money. It's not like we are ever going to pay it back."
Wow. Just wow. If that is how you really feel, then why are you bytching about what we spend on the military? Are you not a hypocrite for nit picking what you think we shouldn't be spending money on?
Obama is the biggest, and most wasteful crony capitalist in history. His green energy agenda is more important to him then anything else, except for his reelection campaign.
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