Another Obama 'green energy' company collapses
Government-funded battery maker files for bankruptcy
This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," October 16, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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BILL O'REILLY, FNC HOST: "Barack and Hard Place" segment tonight, another green business collapses. A123 Systems a lithium battery maker has filed for bankruptcy. That company received about $250 million taxpayer dollars and President Obama was once very bullish on it because he likes non-fossil fuel energy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: These standards aren't just about the bad things it will prevent it's about the good things that it will build. There is a A123, a clean energy manufacturer in Michigan that just hired its 1,000th worker as demand has soared for its vehicle components. Companies like these are taking root and putting people to work in every corner of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Not exactly. That company has now laid off at least 350 workers. Joining Solyndra and other green companies in bankruptcy hell.
Joining us now from Hofstra University where he's prepping for the debate Alan Colmes and here in the studio Monica Crowley.
So Monica, no gloating all right? No gloating zone. No gloating.
MONICA CROWLEY, FOX NEWS ANALYST: No gloating.
O'REILLY: We don't want to see any American business collapse, all right?
CROWLEY: Right.
O'REILLY: But when you invest, you being President Obama and the Obama administration $250 million of our money, the one percenters paying a lot of those taxes, this is another tee up for Mitt Romney and he goes on - - I mean, how many more of these businesses are going to go down the drain? This is crazy.
CROWLEY: Right. And -- and the timing on this because it happened today where this company went belly up hours before the presidential debate does give Mitt Romney another piece of ammo to use against President Obama.
Remember, when you use the word "invest" or the President and his team uses the word "invest", what they mean by that is not private investment. They are talking about taxpayer dollars. And this is what happens when you have direct government intervention in what should be the private sector.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: Yes in the private sector.
CROWLEY: It works -- right.
O'REILLY: Dart board. We will throw money at this country.
CROWLEY: Correct. And it tries to create a marketplace where it doesn't exist.
O'REILLY: Well I'm not sure about that. I actually agree with Colmes on something. I think the planet is better if you have non-fossil fuel energy. And I would love to have wind mills and I'd love to have lithium batteries and everything like that but the technology simply isn't there yet. And the government is just pumping all of this money into it to try to prop the industry up and create jobs and it's turning into a disaster, Colmes. Right?
ALAN COLMES, FOX NEWS ANALYST: Actually not. There have been about a million jobs created because of this energy investment program. And by the way this particular company was supported by Republicans, by Pete Hoekstra.
Furthermore, in this program of investment in energy companies.
O'REILLY: Yes.
COLMES: About $2.87 billion is set aside for companies that default out of $16 billion that go to invest in these companies. And they are probably going to come in about $800 million in what they're going to have to pay in default.
So it's actually making money and dozens of companies are successful, pardon me, and you know the detractors of Obama are cherry picking companies like Beacon, like Solyndra and like this one ignoring all the ones that are successful.
O'REILLY: I don't know any companies that are successful on the level that Monica Crowley and Bill O'Reilly are benefiting. Can you give me one?
COLMES: Well, we are all benefiting, for example.
O'REILLY: No, no. We are not all benefiting. Give me one -- Colmes, Colmes --
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: Ok, yes.
O'REILLY: -- take a deep breath now, air in, let it out. One company.
COLMES: You want to meditate, ok. All right.
O'REILLY: One company, one that benefits Monica and Bill? One?
COLMES: Diamond Green Diesel -- Diamond Green Diesel in New Orleans, a biodiesel project which will triple the amount of domestically-produced renewable diesel.
O'REILLY: Diesel?
COLMES: This is the kind of investment -- yes.
O'REILLY: And how am I going to use that?
COLMES: Well, it helps truckers, it helps people deliver goods.
O'REILLY: Truckers?
COLMES: Yes, when you bring down cost of delivering products around the country. That's one of many that are successful.
O'REILLY: All right, are you -- are you buying this?
CROWLEY: I'm not buying this. Look, there is a basic philosophical argument here that the government should not be involved in any kind of social engineering in the economy. That's what got us in trouble with the housing prices.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: No but the government -- doesn't the government have an obligation though to get us away from oil, which is killing us, from coal which pollutes the air? If they could find something better. The problem is they are spending all of this money and we don't have any --
CROWLEY: This -- this is what the market place is for. Bill this is what the market --
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: I agree I want to do it the private way.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: This is why -- this is why we should unleash the private sector to create these things where there is a marketplace. And there is reward and there is -- by the way, this is all crony socialism. You had Solyndra, major investor in Solyndra was a major Obama donor and with A123 --
O'REILLY: Yes.
CROWLEY: You had the CEO David Vieau (ph) who is also a major Obama donor. And a board member of A123 was actually invited to sit on the White House advisory board on technology.
O'REILLY: That's not good, Colmes, that crony stuff.
CROWLEY: Come on.
O'REILLY: That's not good. All right, I've got to -- I've got to go. I've got to move on to another topic. Colmes it's not good.
COLMES: Ok.
COLMES: You can't call it socialism though because we give all these breaks to oil companies to the tune of $110 billion over 10 years.
O'REILLY: I don't like the oil companies -- you are speaking to the choir here.
COLMES: Ok.
O'REILLY: Ok now Libya, it's a mess. You know we have Hunt coming up behind you guys.
COLMES: Right.
O'REILLY: And he is furious. The State Department says they were listening in on the attacks. So if -- if I'm Mitt Romney, I look at the President and I say with all due respect, I need an answer to this question who told you U.N. Ambassador mislead the American public? Legitimate question?
COLMES: Yes. And I would turn to -- I would turn to Romney and say why did you jump to conclusions and say that we were supporting the people who were attacking us.
O'REILLY: Ok so you would evade the question and attack Romney for asking it.
COLMES: I would turn it around, I would turn it around and point out to Mitt Romney.
O'REILLY: You would turn, but you would evade it, you wouldn't answer it?
COLMES: I would jump to -- I would go back at Romney for jumping to conclusion and speaking before he should have on the whole issue.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: Ok so you would -- you would evade it. All right, but you do that all the time on THE FACTOR. All right, so Colmes would evade the question.
CROWLEY: Yes, yes.
O'REILLY: But I think that would be pretty obvious to the millions of people watching the debate if the President doesn't answer that question.
CROWLEY: Correct. Here's the problem with that strategy, Alan. We have a sitting commander-in- chief, his name is Barack Obama. Mitt Romney is not the commander-in-chief yet.
O'REILLY: I don't think you are going to be able to pettifog that, Colmes.
CROWLEY: You've got to have the sitting commander-in-chief answer why we have four dead Americans including a U.S. Ambassador and two Navy SEALs. What broke down and why is there a cover up? And by the way --
O'REILLY: That's too general though.
CROWLEY: -- what are they covering up?
O'REILLY: You can't do that. If you accuse the President of a cover up or a lie, you're going to lose with the American people.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: You can state it more diplomatically. You can state it more diplomatically.
O'REILLY: All you have to say, all you have to say is why did your U.N. Ambassador mislead the world for seven days?
CROWLEY: And why? Who ordered it and why?
COLMES: You have a -- you have a double standard here.
O'REILLY: Of course Colmes of course.
COLMES: During the -- during the Bush administration there were nine attacks.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: Bush administration?
CROWLEY: Oh my God.
O'REILLY: Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for the next president, let's go right back there.
COLMES: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, well, you can't -- you can laugh all you want, like Biden laughed you can't have a double standard. You can't have a double standard.
O'REILLY: You know what? We'll have him run over by a diesel truck if we have double standard Colmes.
COLMES: At least the price will be down because the investment we are making pump gas to run me over.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: All right somebody drag Colmes off the stage. And I hope you are not going to frighten these people out there, Colmes.
And we would like to remind you that Alan's new book "Thank the Liberal for saving Americans" is on sale, as is Monica's tome "What the (Bleep) Just Happened?"
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