You're watching...
National Legal & Policy Center Associate Fellow Paul Chesser on A123 Systems looking to pay bonuses to executives despite receiving government aid...
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
Its hands on the exact who helped drive electric car battery maker 123 systems into the ground.
Now want to over four million dollars with a bonuses this despite them doing -- eighty million dollars in government grants they already wasted.
I -- -- break it all down all -- Chester associate fellow at the national legal and policy center.
While.
Egregious is putting it lately if you asked me but let's -- we gotta set this up right.
So.
249.
Million dollar grant from the Department of Energy in 2009.
And then -- -- up -- the bankruptcy.
Right they.
They got the stimulus grant to -- two plants in Michigan.
That hired I don't know a few hundred people all lay off a few hundred people all.
And they've been a failure ever since they've had to recalls of their batteries which have affected other stimulus recipients like -- or automotive and hand Smith electric vehicles so that -- kind of been a domino effect.
And these.
These executives have run the company into the ground they've taken you know.
Beyond the 249 million for those -- -- they have thirty million for another.
Stimulus project and a couple other smaller ones.
And what have they -- -- the money is you know they've run the company into the ground it's it's been it's been a big failure.
Now this stock and wasn't actually that does is now trading -- eleven cents is.
About to be delisted by the NASDAQ but leaving getting bonuses it seems -- about two years now and the president and CEO he we're looking at 60000 dollar bonuses.
You know 25000 dollar bonus for the CFO.
And and there's still looking for more money aren't -- Well what happened you know I think the -- after the first recall -- -- here.
They started having seen their stocks dropped precipitously earlier this year candidate but -- an IPO back in 09 it was it.
Went up to as high as 26 dollars and and downward ever sense.
And what that it look like what was an emergency meeting of the executives and they boosted their parachutes.
From payouts of of twelve months' worth -- salaried eighteen months were so it's.
Worth -- salary.
In getting the bonuses immediately paid out if the company changed hands.
Which is on the verge of happening -- this bankruptcy filing with probably Johnson Controls.
Taking over the company.
As this is totally premeditated then these guys don't like basically Milken and how strong they could until it went down under the -- this is taxpayer dollars that there Milken now.
Yeah how these are topping you know everyone of these green companies that are in business because of government right.
Taxpayer help.
What wind energy companies you know they're saying that they can't exist without -- -- production tax credit.
There lobbying hard for but we're also go out of business the electric vehicle companies is.
In other Detroit Free Press a few months ago reported that the battery industry was over stimulated even with the cars that were were coming out.
The cars aren't selling the batteries are not needed.
And so therefore you've got companies like another one like LG -- where -- worthy employees -- -- around playing cards right.
Instead of doing working on manufacturing batteries and you have even and.
Ener1 but a 118 million dollars in grants from the DO we -- they filed for bankruptcy is well so what does this mean for the future of green I mean.
It's very hard for these companies to compete with China.
We continue to subsidize.
They're never gonna they're never gonna make it on our own.
Well yeah China's an excuse stated they yeah.
If if this company if they -- Q3 can abated on the hundreds of the millions of dollars it were given to them and you know which also helped attract private investment.
You know that that's that's their problem and now there are looking to China there was a Chinese company that wanted to -- -- Q3 as well.
But you know green is no matter how much it's obvious -- how much no matter how much money the government pours into it it's not gonna work especially -- electric vehicles the -- not selling the Nissan -- not selling.
The battery companies are are suffering.
And all these employees who have been given new hope that you -- in the auto industry and they've moved over here and would would need hope that they would have -- jobs for the foreseeable future they're being left disappointed it's really really sad.
Actually -- the result of all this.
Right until you find -- -- the plug the thing an omnimedia girl that forgets to do it overnight in homes and that means that on a car in the morning so I don't see out of nowhere else has.
They'll subsidize the charges forty -- your.
Blood desert national legal and -- -- senator associate fellow thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
Going to -- it.
