Are You Ready For ANOTHER Solyndra, Patriots ?

Is jy gereed vir 'n ander Solyndra, patriotte?

(Translation from Afrikaans to English: Are you ready for another Solyndra, patriots ?)

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From the Export-Import Bank of The United States:

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"JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) and the Industrial Development Corp. of South Africa Ltd. (IDC) today signed a Declaration of Intent (DoI) to help advance the South African government’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and the South African Renewable Initiative (SARi). Under the agreement, Ex-Im Bank will assist in financing up to $2 billion worth of U.S. technologies, products and services to South Africa’s energy sector, with an emphasis on clean-energy development.

Signing the DOI were Fred P. Hochberg, Ex-Im Bank chairman and president; Geoffrey Quena, chief executive officer of the IDC; and Gert Gouws, chief financial officer of the IDC. The signing took place during the South Africa-United States Strategic Dialogue, which was hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

'South Africa is a dynamic market that offers enormous opportunities for American companies,' said Chairman Hochberg. 'This agreement will help ensure that Ex-Im Bank continues to provide financing to South African buyers that want to buy high-quality U.S. goods and services. This partnership will help create jobs and lasting economic opportunities for both our countries.'

Established in 1940, the IDC is a South African national development finance institution set up to promote economic growth and industrial development. It is owned by the South African government under the supervision of the Economic Development department. The IDC's primary objectives are to contribute to the creation of balanced, sustainable economic growth in South Africa and on the rest of the continent.
Ex-Im Bank is open in over 180 countries and has identified nine key markets that offer great potential for U.S. exports. South Africa was chosen as one of these markets due to the size of its economy and close trading and investment ties to the United States. South Africa is the largest economy in Africa and the 29th largest economy in the world. Its GDP growth rate is expected to be 2.2 percent in 2012 and 2.7 percent in 2013.

As the largest U.S. export market in sub-Saharan Africa with $7.3 billion of exports in 2011, South Africa is a key economic partner for the United States. Additionally, South Africa is seeking significant investments in the following sectors: power, aviation, transportation and mining, thus creating a demand for high-quality American products and services in these industries. Ex-Im Bank authorized more than $930 million in financing to support U.S. exports to South Africa in FY 2011."

http://www.exim.gov/pressrelease.cfm/1EA4777D-97F2-F40E-978564826E8D33A2/

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Before we dig into this billion dollar man-made disaster, I guess we should learn exactly what the "Export-Import of The United States" actually is.

From the good folks at the Heritage Foundation:

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"The Export-Import Bank provides taxpayer-subsidized loans to U.S. exporters. The bank’s charter will expire at the end of May. President Obama supports a four-year extension and, further, wants to increase the bank’s $100 billion loan limit by an additional $40 billion.

Speaking last week at Heritage, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) said the bank should be completely abolished. His legislation, the Export-Import Bank Termination Act, would end this form of corporate welfare.
'[The Ex-Im Bank] basically provides government-subsidized, essentially loans, low-interest payments, and all the rest to foreign corporations that receive exports from American companies,' Amash explained. 'It’s the kind of corporate welfare we should do away with. We should have a free-market system; taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for subsidized loans to anyone. I see it as just another Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac in the making and I have a bill to end it.'

Despite opposition from conservatives, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) reportedly reached an agreement to extend the bank’s lending authority.
Supporters of the extension claim there is greater demand for the bank’s services because of combined effects of the collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and 2009 and the European debt crisis. Critics, however, complain that expanding the bank’s loan limit in this environment is asking for a repeat of Fannie and Freddie. Even at its best, the bank just picks winners of a few exporters and hopes there are no losers."

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/05/04/congressman-export-import-bank-is-a-case-of-corporate-welfare/

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Give yourself a gold star, Dear Reader! You're right! This is not a good thing. In fact, it's about as good as a long term stay in a Turkish prison. The Export-Import Bank has loaned YOUR money to the likes of Pemex (the state oil company of Mexico) and Petrobras (the state oil company of Brazil). Think about that as you pay $3.80 a gallon at the pump. (Just make sure you haven't eaten in the last hour before doing so. The author bears no responsibility if you blow chunks in your car.)

But don't worry. You may be getting screwed, but at least someone is making money. That person is...wait for it...wait for it...

Yep! The Fuhrer himself, George $oros, has made a killing from this type of Crony Capitalism.

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"His New York-based hedge-fund firm, Soros Fund Management LLC, sold 22 million U.S.-listed common shares of Petrobras, as the Brazilian oil company is known, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Soros bought 5.8 million of the company’s U.S.-traded preferred shares.

Soros is taking advantage of the spread between the two types of U.S.-listed Petrobras shares, said Luis Maizel, president of LM Capital Group LLC, which manages about $4 billion. The common shares were 21 percent more expensive than preferred today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Petrobras preferred shares have also a 10 percent additional dividend, said William Landers, a senior portfolio manager for Latin America at Blackrock Inc.

'Given that there will most likely never be a change in control in the company, I see no reason to pay a higher price for the common shares.' Brazil’s government controls Petrobras and has a majority stake of voting shares."

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/18/good-news-obama-backs-off-shore-drilling/

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Angry yet ? No ? Well, I'm just gonna have to try harder. Fred Hochberg, the chairman of the Export-Import Bank is as dirty as they get.

From the Washington Compost :

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"Hochberg is a longtime Democratic Party donor and was among the overnight guests in the Clinton White House. He was a bundler for both Hillary Clinton and Obama in 2008. During the 2008 election cycle, he donated more than $108,000, almost exclusively to Democratic candidates and the party. Hochberg was appointed by Clinton as a deputy and acting administrator of the Small Business Administration and ran that agency's transition effort under Obama. He has served as dean of the New School for Management and Urban Policy and on the boards of several public agencies, charitable organizations and private companies."

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2009/federal-appointments/person/fred-p-hochberg/

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And guess what ? The openly homosexual Hochberg flew through his Imperial Senate confirmation vote to head up the Export-Import bank. In fact, it was unanimous. (Way to go, Team -R. Way to go. Your courage is inspiring. /sarc) Now, at this point, I thought we'd be done with Fuhrer $oros, but I'm loaded with caffeine, and Bing is just so darn easy to use. (Memo to the bottom feeders in the arrogant and lazy mainstream media: Give it a try one day. Maybe, just maybe, you'll outscoop me one day. I doubt it, but why not give the old college a try ?)

When he's not doing the Crony Capitalism thing, Fred Hochberg likes to be a left-wing nutjob. He was a former board member of the Human Rights Campaign, a radical LGBT "rights" group. In 2008, it received $200, 000 from the $oros funded Open Society Institute. (H/T Discover the Networks ). In fact, the Human Rights Campaign is filled with raving left-wing commie lunatics.

From Discover the Networks:

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"Meanwhile, other HRC personnel maintain close ties to all manner of leftwing political figures and activist groups:

Ty Cobb previously served as counsel to Senator Ted Kennedy.
Allison Herwitt was a former lobbyist with the National Abortion Rights Action League, now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Darrin Hurwitz served as in-house legal counsel for America Coming Together.
Terry McGuire worked with the New Mexico League of Conservation Voters on behalf of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.
Susanne Salkind was a regional field manager for NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Christine Sloane has held positions with Greenpeace USA and NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina.
David M. Smith was communications director for Senator Ted Kennedy.
Joe Solomonese (HRC president) is the former CEO of EMILY’s List. He began his career working as an aide to Democratic governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, and also assisted with Barney Frank’s 1990 congressional campaign.
David A.C. Turley worked for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008, after Hillary Clinton had dropped out of the race.
Cuc Vu worked for AFL-CIO and the SEIU alongside Eliseo Medina. She is also a founding board member of the Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and has served on the board of the National Immigration Forum. "

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/printgroupProfile.asp?grpid=7619

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Given the fact that the Export-Import Bank is infested with leftist corruption, it's no real surprise that it would bend over backwards for the communist African National Congress government that's running South Africa into the ground. (Regardless of what the lapdogs in the arrogant and lazy mainstream media would have you believe, South Africa simply traded one tyranny for another when the socialist Nationalist government, which instituted Apartheid, fell and was replaced by the ANC, who at one point had death camps---I'm sorry---"reeducation camps" in Angola. I throw up a little in my mouth every time some lib journalist calls Nelson Mandela a "civil rights activist".)

In fact, Genocide Watch (not exactly a right-wing outfit) had this to say about the deteriorating conditions in South Africa:

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"After many years when such songs were no longer sung, in 2010, prominent members of the ANC Youth League, in particular Julius Malema, President of the ANC Youth League, openly sang the 'Shoot the Boer' song at ANC Youth League rallies. Not only did revival of the song strike fear into the hearts of Boer farmers, but it has actually been sung during attacks on white farmers. It is an incitement to murder white Afrikaner farmers. Over 3000 white farmers have been murdered since 1994. The South African police have not made investigation and prosecution of these farm murders a priority, dismissing them as crimes by common criminals.

The government has disbanded the commando units of white farmers that once protected their farms, and has passed laws to confiscate the farmers’ weapons. Disarmament of a targeted group is one of the surest early warning signs of future genocidal killings. A recent outbreak of violent farm invasions has led to casualties among white South Africans. The farm invasions are direct results of calls by Julius Malema and his Deputy, Ronald Lamola for whites to give up their land without compensation, or face violence by angry black youths 'flooding their farms.' "

http://www.genocidewatch.org/southafrica.html

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In other words, South Africa is about to turn into Zimbabwe. Just ask South African president (and wannabe genocidal dictator) Jacob Zuma. Again, from Genocide Watch:

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"President Jacob Zuma sang 'Shoot the Boer' at the ANC Centenary Celebration event in January of 2012. He claimed that its use at the ANC Centenary was not intended as hate speech, but rather to commemorate the struggle against apartheid. Despite President Zuma’s proclaimed intent, his singing of the song may be contributing to an increasingly hostile environment that threatens the safety of white South Africans. The number of murders of Boer farmers has increased each month in 2012."

http://www.genocidewatch.org/southafrica.html

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Ladies and gentlemen, should our tax dollars be going to maniacs like this ? Would this be any different than handing billions of dollars to Idi Amin or Papa Doc ? I'll freely admit that I'm somewhat biased since I have some Afrikaner bloed in me, but c'mon! How much more blatant does this need to be ? (I'm also a proud Zionist Jew in addition to being a natural born American Conservative. Needless to say, I'm probably the most politically unacceptable human being on God's green and cooling Earth. Oh, how I relish it!)

Aside from the fact that "green" energy is nothing more than commie snake oil and that there's a very good chance the loan will never be repaid since South Africa is drifting closer and closer to civil war, South Africa doesn't even need the money. If it wanted to waste billions on solar panels, it could use its own money. South Africa is the fourth largest gold producer in the world and its fifth largest diamond producer. The only reason South Africa is "poor" (compared to the United States, but certainly not when compared to the rest of Africa) is its government. The Apartheid Nationalist government was a collectivist nightmare and the African National Congress is even worse. South Africa has never had a true free market economic system and the end result of that is its current societal anarchy. This is why We the People have to fight tooth and nail to preserve it.

Back to our original question: Is jy gereed vir 'n ander Solyndra, patriotte? (Translation from Afrikaans to English: Are you ready for another Solyndra, patriots ?) Answer: Nope, especially when it involves money taken from me by force, using it to enrich Crony Capitalists, and handed to genocidal maniacs.