Solyndra Deal Begins to Reek of Politics

Ruh Roh.  Turns out that ABC News has been on this story for a while, and the smell is serious.

House investigators said they have uncovered evidence that White House officials became personally involved in an Energy Department review of a hot-button $535 million loan guarantee to the now-failed California solar company Solyndra.

We mentioned the ultra-low interest rates given the Company by Treasury.

...The Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News and ABC disclosed that Energy Department officials announced the support for Solyndra even before final marketing and legal reviews were in. To government auditors, that move raised questions about just how fully the department vetted the deal -- and assessed its risk to taxpayers -- before signing off.

That's not what the White House says:

The Obama administration has said the loan to Solyndra came only after a thorough review by Energy Department analysts, and that no one from the White House exerted pressure to influence the decision to back the loan in 2009, or to restructure the financing this year after it became clear Solyndra was not thriving financially.

The connection is George Kaiser (Kaiser Family Foundation), who not only stuck Foundation money into Solyndra, but was a major-league playah for Obama during the '08 campaign.

Oh, that "business conditions" thing?  Seems that Solyndra products cost $6.00 to make; they were selling them for $3.00; and competitors were selling for $1.50 or so.

Those are "conditions" which are tough, indeed.

HT:  McCain