Solyndra, Solyndra

The Solyndra scandal keeps getting bigger and more disturbing. The now-defunct solar panel manufacturer received $535 million in taxpayer dollars from the federal government before going belly up in August.  Now the Washington Post reports: “At a number of points in its troubled history…Solyndra faced dire financial problems that threatened its survival. Yet at each crisis, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and officials at his agency failed to take steps that critics say could have limited taxpayer losses when the company collapsed last summer. Instead, Energy Department officials….stepped in with financial assistance, or worked to dispel concerns raised by industry analysts and other Obama administration staffers, according to previously confidential documents analyzed by The Washington Post.”  Solyndra was a lynchpin in President Obama’s green jobs initiative, and so was considered too important to fail.  The market begged to differ.