The Corporate State Rolls On
In a Senate budget hearing with the Department of Energy, one would have expected a lot of questions about the loan program to avoid future Solyndras. But Al Franken uses his time to pester the DOE to give taxpayer money to a corporation in his state.
This is the answer as to why so many bone-headed loans were made despite evidence of likely disaster. You can bet that Boxer and Feinstein were all over the DOE several years ago pushing for the Solyndra loan. Franken doesn't give a rip whether the loan is smart or not, or whether the taxpayers' money is safe or not. He wants a multi-million dollar press release to get himself in the Minnesota news for a newscycle or two helping out the home state. After that, the money's purpose has been achieved and I can't imagine him caring what happens to it. Certainly that is the fate of most of these jobs-related government investments - big splashes up front with promises of hundreds of new jobs, but absolutely no scrutiny in the back end when, likely as not, these jobs don't actually materialize.
