Picking winners & losers in the 'new economy'

How does a solar energy company that receives a half billion dollars in loan guarantees from the government go bankrupt?

The Associated Press found that Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturing based in Fremont, Calif., was “hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars for years” before the Obama administration decided to give it a $535 million loan guarantee.

The political problem for the White House is two-fold. First, one of President Obama’s major fundraisers in 2008, George Kaiser, was financially connected with Solyndra. Second, the Obama administration reportedly “hurried Office of Management and Budget officials to finish their review of the loan.”

Producing “green jobs” is a worthwhile goal, but not if it comes at the expense of the rest of the economy. Investigations of the company have started. At first sight, it looks as if it’s a prime example of waste, fraud and abuse related to good intentions gone wrong.

AP story on News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/16/1492653/white-house-wary-of-solyndra-re.html
You can view lobbying records at OpenSecrets.com: http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000056880&year=2011