Picking Losers

There's a lot to be said about the evils of direct government funding of businesses - the picking-winners-and-losers meme.  One company, Solyndra, really stands out.  The USA lent it about half a billion, and after a refinance we aren't even senior.  Now they are broke and now its officers are taking the Fifth, so you know it's all going someplace bad.  Maybe even someplace really bad for the Administration, its first major scandal.


The New York Times covered Solyndra in a piece the other day that was well-positioned but seemed awfully restrained.  One point stuck out for me:  the lobbying.  I certainly think it's basically wrong for the USA to lend money to a private company.  But it seems really, really wrong for them to spend $1.8 million of that money to go and lobby for more money.  There probably were restrictions on the use of proceeds - I know there are in an analogous situation, government procurements - but borrowed dollars are fungible.

The lobbyists are $1.8 million richer, we are $1.8 million poorer, and that's it.  No other benefit.  Pretty clear who's the loser.  We got picked.