Liberal Forum

GOP is running out of gas on Solyndra, but admit they will use it as a campaign issue anyway.House Republicans look like theyre running out of ammunition on Solyndra. Gone are their threats of hauling Rahm Emanuel and Carol Browner up to the Capitol to testify about how they helped the now bankrupt California solar company.The White House hopes to soon remove the GOP's threat of a contempt of Congress vote by turning over the final scraps from thousands of pages of internal documents. And one of the main GOP investigators, Rep. Cliff Stearns, is mired in his own political mess after questioning the legitimacy of President Barack Obama's birth certificate and over allegations he tried to bribe another Florida Republican to get out of their August primary race. More than a year into a probe that's extended to the Energy Department loan guarantee portfolio, Republican investigators even acknowledge they've fallen short of substantiating their allegations that the administration helped political allies like Tulsa oilman George Kaiser secure hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies through a loan guarantee to Solyndra. "Is there a criminal activity? Perhaps not," Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa told POLITICO after last Tuesdays showdown with Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "Is there a political influence and connections? Perhaps not. Did they bend the rules for an agenda, an agenda not covered within the statute? Absolutely." In some respects, Republicans have accomplished their mission. Even if no one goes to jail, they've turned Solyndra into a four-letter word, vilified the Nobel laureate Chu and left a popular DOE program in shambles. They also make no bones about how they've turned Solyndra into a campaign issue. "Ultimately, we'll stop it on Election Day, hopefully," Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told Environment & Energy Daily. "And bringing attention to these things helps the voters and citizens of the country make the kind of decision that I hope helps them as they evaluate who they are going to vote for in November." Solyndras presence can be seen on the campaign trail, from the swing state TV ads paid for by the Koch brothers-linked nonprofit group Americans for Prosperity to Mitt Romney's perpetual use of "crony capitalism" during his stump speech. Solyndras become an iconic issue much like Keystone has, said Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.). All you have to do is say those words and it raises an image, and the image is wasted tax dollars on some type of fairy tale chase of trying to create a market when one doesnt exist.Read more: http://www.politico....l#ixzz1qRQz1FKn