We’re supposed to believe everything’s fine now because one guy was thrown under the bus. As if he was the highest-ranking official who was involved in knowingly approving a bad but politically-beneficial taxpayer loan. As if the administration itself — this is, those involved in the politics — wasn’t pushing for its speedy approval.
Jonathan Silver, who was named executive director of DOE’s Loan Programs Office in November 2009, has come under fire from congressional Republicans since the solar manufacturer Solyndra declared bankruptcy Aug. 31 after receiving a $535 million federal loan guarantee. While DOE made the initial loan to Solyndra before Silver took the program’s helm — a point he made repeatedly during his congressional testimony last month — he remained the administration’s point person for the embattled initiative.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement Thursday that Silver had informed him in July, when it was clear that no significant new funds were being budgeted for the loan program, that he would leave at the end of the fiscal year.
And what a coincidence Silver is helped out the door so shortly after we learned the Energy Department was considering a second massive loan for Solyndra — despite knowing the company was bound to fail. And what’s more, the second loan was also fast-tracked.
The second loan was eventually denied, but the administration did agree to restructure the first loan. A restructuring that included allowing Kaiser — the billionaire Obama donor — to recoup his losses before taxpayers. All of this why both government and non-governmental analysts were predicting Solyndra’s collapse.
Silver’s departure is a start but nothing more. Higher-ranking officials were almost certainly involved in the loan’s fast-track and approval. This wasn’t a case of a bad decision on hindsight. Analysts knew and said the company wouldn’t survive. That it lacked viability. Yet the loan was fast-tracked anyway. This was a case of cronyism, scratching the back of a big donor. Plain and simple.
by Stephan Tawney on October 6, 2011