Q: When would the U.S. government subsidize a U.S. export that had happened in the previous year and that was estimated to create zero jobs?
A: When the U.S. exporter was politically connected Solyndra, and the subsidizing agency is the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Ex-Im in 2011 approved a $10.3 million loan guarantee to subsidize the construction of a solar farm in Belgium that was using panels made by Solyndra.
Solyndra had manufactured and shipped the panels to Europe months before Ex-Im even received an application for the taxpayer-backed financing. Installation was completed before the guarantee was approved. At least one internal Ex-Im document estimated that the deal created zero U.S. jobs. The press release announcing the deal didn't provide any number of "jobs supported."
But Ex-Im provided the taxpayer-backed financing for Solyndra's sale after communications with the Department of Energy, which was already exposed to Solyndra's debt. As Solyndra began to crumble and look bad for the Obama administration, Ex-Im rushed in with the subsidy for the already-installed panels.
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