Gore Motors

Because Cash for Clunker Didn't Waste Enough of Your Tax Dollars

A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

Just let that sink in for a moment and consider all that is hypocritical and just plain wrong. H/T to the WSJ for highlighting this travesty, even if buried in the corporate news section of the print edition.

1. The car will be built in Finland. What hypocrisy considering the hue and cry to include "Buy American" in the porkulus.

2. It will subsidize development of an $89,000 vehicle, so some rich lefty can gorge him or herself on recycled self-righteousness. While the left complains of how corporations are raping America.

3. Backed by former Vice President Al Gore. Do you think this would have gotten off the ground without the blessing of the Goracle? What does Al Gore get from Fisker Automotive? How much is he paid? What expertise does he bring? Well, we know the answer to that. (Of course we also saw this with the selection of the GM CEO.)

And the business model? Automotive analyst, Aaron Bragman at IHS Global Insight had this to say (only in the print edition, curiously):

It's a bit controversial to give half a billion to what is basically a start-up company that's never produced a car. Who is going to buy an unknown brand in a questionable dealer network?

But here's the money quote, literally as it turns out:

Fisker's top investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a veteran Silicon Valley venture-capital firm of which Gore is a partner. Employees of KPCB have donated more than $2.2 million to political campaigns, mostly for Democrats, including President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions.

Sweeeeeet! For those who don't like to do math in public, that is a sweet 21,100% return on investment, more or less. Beat that with good stock picking, suckers. Although she might be able to beat that in cattle futures.