How Oversight Works, and Didn't Work in the Case of Solyndra - Eric Thorson

Climate Money Watchdog

Eric Thorson has extensive experience exercising federal government oversight, including as Treasury IG for 11 years, a Congressional oversight Investigator serving on 3 different committees over 10 years. His perspective is also deepened by having been a successful entrepreneur. He is now lecturer at College of William & Mary.
We discuss the importance of oversight in the context of government spending anticipated with the Biden administration's infrastructure bills, and how things can go wrong quickly when safeguards are bypassed, as they appear to have been in the case of Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer that was given a $1/2 billion loan guarantee as part of the Obama administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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Capítulos

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. $600 Toilet Seats and The Complexity of Government Inefficiency (00:05:37)

3. The Cautionary Tale of Solyndra (00:10:32)

4. Who Does Oversight When Spending Is Spread Among Federal, State and Local Governments? (00:13:57)

5. How Federal Loan Guarantees Work (00:15:35)

6. The Danger of Rushing to Get Money Spent (00:20:39)

7. The Difference Between Fraud and Waste (00:28:54)

8. Properly Staffed Federal Agencies Are Our First Line of Defense Against Waste (00:32:59)

9. Normally, More Spending Means More Oversight Staff - Not This time (00:41:34)

10. Why It's Better to Prevent Waste Than Recover It (00:50:28)

11. Department of Energy's Use of Loans / Guarantees (00:53:08)

12. Federal Oversight Ends When Grants Are Made to States (00:55:39)

13. Conclusion (01:00:36)