The Obama administration engaged in a pattern of approving loans that were not qualified to receive taxpayer money, according to one Republican House chairman who says the development is as disturbing as the potential loss of billions of dollars in investments.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Sunday that the administration's approval of a loan guarantee for solar power company Solyndra -- which went belly up shortly after a half-billion dollar investment by the federal government -- is just one example of a "breach of protocol" in approving loans.


Issa said the Energy Department actually approved $4.75 billion worth of loans on the last day that the law allowed for financial backing of alternative energy firms.

"We're finding it's not just Solyndra. It's a pattern of these sorts of investments," Issa told "Fox News Sunday." "One of the questions we have for (Energy) Secretary (Steven) Chu is, tell us why that last day, somehow, you had everything you needed and you didn't have it over a period of time before?"

He said that his committee is less interested in debating the merits of "green energy" and what qualifies as jobs created in that field than at looking to see whether political connections interfered in the approval process for struggling companies, and whether that interference pushed the Obama administration to back a loan for a creditor who otherwise would have been left holding the bag after Solyndra's bankruptcy claim.

"The American people have a right to except that the rule of law will guarantee that even if we don't like the policy, that it's done properly," Issa told "Fox News Sunday."

"Remember this was a $500 million earmark, effectively, by political appointees, something you hear about with Congress you don't always hear about with the president. ... We're going to look for political interference because you have to ask -- why would we put the government at a disadvantage when we're putting in more money?"

President Obama has made no bones about his decision to invest in green energy companies. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said that his administration did due diligence, but the loss comes with the risk of doing business.

"The nature of these programs are going to be ones in which, you know, for every success, there may be one that does not work out as well. But that's exactly what the loan guarantee program was designed by Congress to do, was to take bets on these areas where we need to make sure that we're maintaining our lead," Obama said during a White House press conference.

Several of the president's biggest backers have been tied to Solyndra, including George Kaiser, a big investor in Solyndra and a big fundraiser for the president. Kaiser said he did not intervene on Solyndra's behalf.

Another presidential backer, Steve Spinner, raised about $500,000 for candidate Obama back in 2008 and got a top job in the Energy Department, where he reportedly used his post to push for Solyndra to get the $535 million loan guarantee. Spinner's wife worked for a law firm representing Solyndra at the time. Spinner has since left the Department of Energy and is at a Democratic think tank now.

"Solyndra is a story of political interference, picking winners and losers. It's salacious because, quite frankly, there were a lot of people giving to President Obama's campaign," Issa said.

Issa also defended his letters to the administration on behalf of constituent energy companies looking for backing in the way Solyndra did.

"The request was, they have a loan application and would you please give them a yes or no," he said. "There's a big difference between sending a letter in for an existing pot of money for a program I voted against and having the ability to actually pick winners or losers, which we don't have."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/09/issa-eyes-political-connections-that-drove-loan-approvals-like-solyndra/#ixzz1aJqtS500

Time to impeach his a$$!

This ... Fast and Furious..

Its going to be a long few months for these clowns..

I honestly cant wait to see whats next............. I am guessing an Obama DNA stain on an underage interns blouse or dress.

Wait until they start lookin at the Bush admin, the same thing happened under him sans a federal agent being killed. With theis knowledge the question of how much did Obama know about this becomes even more important.

What about the murder of Vincent Foster on orders of Clinton and his people?

Don't know who he is. Elected officials have this sense of security that they can do whatever they want because their boss (we the people) keep rewarding them and their cohorts with win at election time. The boss needs to start handing out term limits but are too stupid to do so.

The White House council for Bill Clinton who was going to spill the beans to a Congressional panel about all the dirty deals of the Clintons who "Committed suicide" by a long range rifle days before he was to testify and not to mention the long term affiar\relationship he was having with Hillary and the fact that his office(a federal crime scene) was wiped clean and files removed by Clintons aides BEFORE the Secret Service, Park Police and FBI searched and cleared the room.

The room was "Conviently" swept by the aides right BEFORE the body was discovered.

This is why senators and congressmen need to removed after two terms, if our government wasn't comfortable this would be far less likely to be overlooked.

AND the Attorney General should not be appointed by the President or have ANY political connections.

I don't think ANY law enforcement chief should be appointed including supreme court judges.

LMAO.,,, haliburton,, no favoritism

but this IMPEACHMENT!......too funny

Does the POTUS sign loans now?,, interesting

Close to it, he forced the skimulus package down everyone throat which proveded massive kickbacks to companies which provded substantial campaign cash to him and putting pressure to make the money go through faster then normal.

Your boy isn't coming out of this smelling like roses no matter what, but you can keep blindly running to his rescue everytime someone posts something truthful about him.

That wasn't a crime, giving guns to drug smugglers is.

LEARN THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY OF THE POTUS,,,,


thats all I have to say right now,,,it just gets old,,,

this is not impeachable as treason, or bribery(unless a direct tie can be made between him and the loan), and if congress hasnt found haliburtons contract following the push to the war on terror the slightest bit 'shady' enough to be a high crime or misdemeanor, I doubt this would classify,,,

and OBAMA gave guns or ordered that guns be given? I dont think so,,

The attorney general cant give that ok without approval of the POTUS.

if thats true, I guess they wont show that the atty general gave the ok,,

but I have no reason to blindly accept its true,,,

No agent would dare to do something like this without the approcal of the attorney general.