url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/Holcombe_Cronyism_web

Solyndra’s major investors, George Kaiser, contributed
$50,000 to Obama’s campaign efforts and helped to
raise another $50,000 to $100,000 in donations. 8 Emails
released by House Republicans in November 2011 show
that Kaiser, who was a regular guest at the White House
in the months before Solyndra was awarded the grant,
was optimistic about the company’s chances of securing a
loan guarantee because he had won the favor of Secretary
of Energy Steven Chu and Vice President Joe Biden.
Although the administration denied that it granted the
loan guarantee to Solyndra because of the firm’s political
connections, it is clear that the administration favored
this company as a poster child of the program and that
the firm did have personal connections to the administration—a
clear case of cronyism. Internal communications
reveal that the White House pressured the Office of
Management and Budget behind the scenes to approve
the necessary documentation for the loan guarantees in
time for scheduled public appearances at the company by
Vice President Biden and President Obama.
Although the Solyndra scandal is the most wellknown
scandal of the DOE loan guarantee program, this
instance of cronyism is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
One estimate suggests that the government awarded 70
to 80 percent of the loan guarantees to firms in which the
primary investor or top executive financially supported
Obama during his 2008 campaign. 9 A Washington Post
investigation in February 2012 found that the government
directed $3.9 billion in grants and loan guarantees
to 21 companies with political connections to the Obama
administration. 10 One former Obama fundraiser and DOE
employee used his influence to procure $2.46 billion in
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