From an investigation that dug through thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails, The Washington Post confirms what's already become painfully apparent: The Obama administration's $80 billion green-technology program was "infused with politics."
Specifically with regard to solar-panel maker Solyndra, which went bankrupt on the public's dime, the primary concern among administration insiders was purely the political fallout -- not the ramifications for taxpayers or more than a thousand Solyndra workers who lost jobs.
"What they're talking about is, 'How are we going to manage this politically?'" Ryan Alexander, of Taxpayers for Common Sense, told The Post.
The White House allowed "easy access" to venture capitalists with stakes in the energy companies backed by the administration, The Post reports. Some even took jobs in the administration and helped manage its so-called clean-energy program.
Yet the administration's damage-controllers tell The Post that the unflattering disclosures only show that they weren't trying to hide anything. And they stand by the Solyndra subsidies.
So, what's to prevent future Solyndras? Certainly not an administration that's more concerned about its own exposure than the indefensible squandering of taxpayers' dollars.
... & politics as usual (Pittsburgh Tribune)
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