I noted two weeks ago that the GOP bears a share of the blame for the taxpayer losses in the Solyndra bankruptcy, as the loan guarantees were made possible because of a bill passed by the GOP-controlled Congress and signed into law by President GW Bush. Over at Reason, Ira Stoll notes that origin of the legal authority and also expands on the breadth and depth of Republican connections to Solyndra.
To repeat from my original post on the topic: Solyndra is not the scandal. The scandal is the culture of crony capitalism in Washington – aided and abetted by both parties. The only difference is in which particular businesses (or business sectors) that each side throws its weight behind. I have great hopes that the Tea Party revolt maintains its ideals and changes this culture. That is why I agree with Lexington Green over at the Chicago Boyz blog, who writes today:
I am thinking more and more that the GOP presidential candidate is a distraction.
Whoever it is will be better much than Mr. Obama, so don’t worry about it. Mr. Obama makes Mitt Romney look like George Washington.
So, what does matter?
Making sure we have a Tea Party Congress in 2012 is the most important thing.
Then the 2013-15 political era will be a conflict between a corporatist Republican in the White House and a populist Congress down the street.
Some good could come of that.
Read the whole thing