Another 'green' vehicle company Obama visited in trouble

Four years ago, President Obama invited the nation to, “Come see what’s going on at Smith Electric," a manufacturer of electric vehicles that was receiving government funds. A look today reveals another dodgy statement from the man who won the Lie-of-the-year award from Politifact: "I think they’re going to be hard-pressed to tell you that you’re not better off than you would be if we hadn’t made theinvestments in this plant.”

Richard Pollock reports in the Washington Examiner:

Despite $32 million in federal stimulus funds and status as one of Obama's favorite "green" companies, the firm has halted production, having built just 439 of the promised 510 vehicles.

It has also left a trail of broken promises and unpaid bills.

Smith created just a quarter of the jobs it initially promised the state of Missouri it would create in return for $1.4 million in tax credits. Meanwhile, it has also stiffed the Missouri University of Science and Technology, the state government, and a local electrical supply company, as well as its landlord, the Kansas City city government, for hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to interviews and reviews of public records by theWashington Examiner.

As of today, the company still owes $36,000 to Missouri S&T for work the university performed as a subcontractor on a U.S. Army project. (snip)

Smith failed to hire at least 100 workers over a two-year period in return for up to $1.4 million in state tax credits. At the end of two years, it had hired only 54 workers, records show.

The firm's original promise was for a minimum of 202 new jobs, but the Missouri Division of Workforce Development halved that goal — a change that division official Alicia Roling described in a 2011 internal email as an “unprecedented modification.”

Broken promises are par for the course for both Obama and his green jobs programs.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/05/another_green_vehicle_company_obama_visited_in_trouble.html