Obama throws stimulus money out the window

One of Obama's favorite provisions in the stimulus bill is a $1,500 tax credit for homeowners who install energy-efficient windows. But the requirements for this credit are tight. Homeowners must choose windows with a "30/30 standard," which relates to how much solar energy the windows allow to escape. Today, The Hill reported that window manufacturers are stepping forward to oppose the 30/30 standard in the stimulus, claiming very few companies are capable of making such windows.

On Thursday, the Window & Door Manufacturers Association said the government was picking “winners and losers in our industry among manufacturers that had the technology to produce 30/30 products and those that could not.”

The association also disputes the contention that the 30/30 standard will necessarily lead to greater energy savings. Most skylights can’t comply.

So why would the Obama Administration promote windows that most companies can't even manufacture? The answer: kickbacks. One of the few companies specializing in 30/30 windows is Serious Materials. Obama is a huge fan of Serious, having held a 22-minute press conference praising the company and opened a national address by mentioning its efforts. Joe Biden has called Serious the "poster child" for a green recovery. Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace has said he's very close to both the White House as well as the Department of Energy. He isn't kidding. Robin Roy, a top executive at Serious, just happens to be married to Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi, who is responsible for overseeing the dispensation of the green windows tax credit.

Surace happens to be a huge fan of the 30/30 requirement, which he has called "just the starting point." Thanks to Obama's promotion and stimulus, business for Serious Materials has exploded.

Barack Obama gets Serious about cronyism

General Electric isn't the only company profiting from Obama's environmental nuttiness. Here's a conflict of interest so outrageous it will make your head spin.

Cathy Zoi is the Assistant Secretary for Energy. She's a first class green loony who has said the United States needs to "reorient the economy" to produce more green buildings. And if that doesn't work, then there's always "neighborhood-by-neighborhood mobilization that may be like the Peace Corps meets the military where literally SWAT teams go into neighborhoods and they retrofit every single house and every single business on Main Street."

Yes, Obama's assistant secretary of energy has actually called for a Green Gestapo to kick people's doors down. If only that were the worst of it.

Zoi is married to Robin Roy, a top executive at Serious Materials, which manufactures "sustainable green building materials." Zoi and Roy (yeah, really) own 120,000 stock options at Serious. Specifically, Serious Materials is responsible for manufacturing green windows, which are apparently all the rage in the new green economy. Obama is a huge fan of the idea, so much so that he allotted $16.8 billion in the stimulus bill for green programs, including a $1,500 tax credit for any homeowner who installs energy-efficient windows like the ones made by Serious Materials. The bureaucrat overseeing the distribution of that stimulus money? Cathy Zoi.

In fact, it looks like the Obama administration practically created Serious Materials. Prior to Obama's green binge, Serious was just a small manufacturing company in California. But with Zoi whispering in his ear, Obama gave the company front-and-center attention, holding a 22-minute press conference to praise Serious and beginning an address to the nation by mentioning the company. Joe Biden called Serious the "poster child" for a green recovery. Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious, has said that his company is "very close" to both the White House and the Department of Energy. Business for Serious has since exploded.

For more, the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota has put together a brilliant video documenting Obama's disgusting cronyism with Serious Materials.

Again, when it comes to Barack Obama, follow the money every time. For anti-capitalists, these left-wing crazies sure like to make a quick buck. Too bad it's with our tax dollars.