Jim Jordan Suggests Elections Drive Solyndra Investigation

From the Huffington Post:

After months of investigations into Solyndra and other Department of Energy loans failed to produce a smoking gun, one Republican lawmaker let slip why House Republicans have kept up the charge.

In an interview following yet another hearing in which Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified about the Department's loan guarantee program, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appeared to admit that Republicans' ongoing probes of the program -- from which the bankrupt California-based solar company Solyndra and others benefited -- are largely a play to win votes in November.

"Our staff will continue to dig into it and see," Jordan told Environment & Energy Daily. "But what I hope happens is we stop doing these kind of things ... this whole cronyism approach to the marketplace.

"Ultimately, we'll stop it on Election Day, hopefully. 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."

More here.

What's amazing about this is not that these full court press investigations are political, rather than sincerely being about finding evidence of governmental wrongdoing, but that there are so few of them coming out of the GOP dominated House these days. I mean, think back, if you can, to the Clinton era: it was all about hostile and politically motivated investigations of the Oval Office. From the granddaddy of them all, Whitewater, which ended up being a great big nothing, to all kinds of minor spin-offs, like the Vince Foster suicide, or the President's haircut on an airplane, or Paula Jones' sexual harassment allegations, and on and on and on ad nauseam. And let's not forget the jackpot, Monica Lewinsky, and how the Republicans turned a white lie about a blowjob into grounds for removing the President from office.

Oh yeah, those were the days.

Not so much today, though. I mean, sure, the Republicans have figured out new ways to bog down the federal government into profound impotence what with debt ceiling debates, budget standoffs, and abortion bill after abortion bill after abortion bill. But investigations? I guess the GOP finally decided that approach just made them look bad, which, of course, it did.

No, twenty first century Republicans are finding all new ways to look bad. And they're doing a pretty good job of it, too.

(Yes, yes, I know the Republicans had a budget standoff back in the 90s, which they lost, but they only did it once, so maybe they just figured if they tried harder this time...)

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