TPM: Mitt Romney’s ‘Crony Capitalism’ Attack: A Guide

[maddezmom]

All of the charges Romney cites to back up his claim have been around for months, if not years. Solyndra, for example, has been a GOP punching bag for years, and Romney personally made a big show of visiting its headquarters in May for a press conference attacking Obama. But with his surrogates dredging up old attacks, here’s a quick review of the stories Romney is using to back up his “crony capitalism” charges.

• Solyndra: This one’s been around a long time. The solar company went bankrupt after receiving over $500 million in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy, prompting an outcry and demands for an investigation into how the money was approved. Romney has accused the White House of pushing through the loan to appease green-energy investors who donated to the campaign, a charge that evidence has not supported, despite a year of investigations.

The original clean-energy program was hardly some Democratic scheme: It was created by President Bush, whose administration was already considering Solyndra’s loan application when Obama took office. Nor is Romney able to make much of an argument on pure free market grounds — he picked winners and losers using similar loan programs as governor in Massachusetts.

• Fisker: Under fire for Bain’s investments in companies that outsourced, Romney has tried to turn the tables by accusing Obama of outsourcing via stimulus funding and loan guarantees to clean-energy companies, an industry where a number of investors have donated to Obama’s campaign. Recently, Republicans have drummed up Fisker Automotive, a car company that received loan guarantees for design and engineering work in the United States.

more:http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/mitt-romneys-crony-capitalism-attack-a-guide.php