But wait….I thought capitalist Mitt Romney just hated when “government picks winners and losers.”
A Massachusetts solar company to which Mitt Romney personally delivered a $1.5 million loan when he was governor has gone belly up, leaving him vulnerable to the same “picking winners and losers” charges that he’s been lobbing at President Barack Obama over Solyndra.
The president’s reelection campaign wasted no time noting Romney’s support for Lowell-based Konarka Technologies, which announced Friday it had filed for bankruptcy protection with plans to lay off more than 80 workers and liquidate its assets.
The filing came on the heels of Romney’s unannounced visit last week to Solyndra’s Silicon Valley headquarters, where he accused the Obama administration of a conflict of interest and poor judgment in approving Solyndra’s $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee.
It’s worth pointing out that another Massachusetts-based solar company that then-Gov. Romney gave taxpayer funds to — Evergreen Solar — filed last year for bankruptcy protection.
Ironically, isn’t picking the winners and losers exactly what venture capitalists do as a matter of course?
Well, they don’t just pick the winners and losers; in some cases their actions determine the winners and losers.