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The latest batch of e-mails documenting the Obama administration's involvement in a $535 million federal loan to bankrupt solar company Solyndra has liberals scrambling to point fingers at an array of perceived villains. Whether fairly or not, Republicans are using the flawed investment to attack the whole lot of government-led green investments. Here's what Democrats are saying to push back:
Solyndra misled us As Politico's Darren Samuelsohn notes, blaming the solar company has become a favored talking point on the Hill. "Democrats argue they were lulled into complacency by Solyndra executives who said all would be well once they restructured operations. They say they didn’t really start paying attention until this month’s FBI raid on the company and its late August bankruptcy protection filing." Daniel Weiss, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, adds "The reality is no one outside the company had any idea they were in such dire straits.”
Bush approved of Solyndra too Stephen Lacy at Climate Progress emphasizes that "the loan guarantee came together under both administrations" noting that "The Bush team tried to conditionally approve the Solyndra loan just before President Obama took office." In January 2009, Lacy notes that "in an effort to show it has done something to support renewable energy, the Bush Administration tries to take Solyndra before a DOE credit review committee before President Obama is inaugurated." Pushing back against the claim, Philip Klein at The Washington Examiner notes that a committee background memo stipulates that "a recommendation for approval" was "premature at this time.” Politico adds that "Democrats also noted that Schwarzenegger attended Solyndra’s groundbreaking."