I have no problem with the federal government funding new technologies. After all, that’s how the Internet and solar power got started. But the part of Solyndra that reeks is the putting of private investors (who coincidentally happened to be big donors) first in line for loan repayment, before the government itself.
And now this crony capitalism is catching up with the White House.
White House chief of staff Jack Lew may have disregarded warnings from lower-level budget employees that the administration’s efforts to prop up Solyndra were unwise and possibly illegal, The Washington Post is reporting based on an upcoming House Energy and Commerce Committee report.
The Post’s story says the report “suggests” that Lew — in his previous role as director of the Office of Management and Budget — “let the refinancing move forward without intervening, even though some OMB analysts thought a refinancing plan that favored private investors might violate the law.”