The Problem With No More Solyndras

So the House has now passed the exceptionally poorly named “No More Solyndras Act“.  I say poorly named because it doesn’t actually prevent more Solyndras.  As Taxpayers for Common Sense has noted, they should have called the bill the Even More Solyndras Act.

“This measure would still put taxpayers on the hook to loan out billions of dollars more to at least 50 additional shady alternative energy schemes that were submitted before January 1,” Rep. Tom McClintock, a California Republican, said on the House floor Thursday, adding that the bill should be renamed “The 50 More Solyndras and Then We’ll Stop Wasting Your Money — Really — We Promise Act.”

The bill grandfathers in 50 existing applications totaling nearly $90 BILLION dollars. For those keeping score, that is roughly 180 times as much money as Solyndra lost.  The bill is meant to be a political winner for the GOP, but actually exposes the party to huge liabilities.

Let’s assume that one of these fifty companies collapses (which is quite likely).  Now the GOP owns the failure, not Obama and the Democrats.  You see the Democrats actually pushed for an amendment that would have ended the program outright.  They argued that if the program is so bad that it needs to be ended, we should not gamble another dollar.

By letting these 50 applications proceed, the GOP is essentially gambling that none of them will fail.  Mark my words, when they do, the Democrats will trot out statement after statement that says, “See, this is why we wanted to end it all.”  The GOP, on the other hand, will be left flat footed trying to explain how “No More Solyndras” produced more failed companies and more lost taxpayer dollars.

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