Solyndra? What About Tesla?

Bless their silly, evil little hearts: the Right is still trying to make hay out of the failure of green tech start-up Solyndra. Having failed spectacularly at blowing it into a full-fledged “scandal”, they’re still desperate to milk it for something. So we get the spectacle of Mitt Romney trying to use Solyndra as some sort of indicator that government just can’t succeed the way “free enterprise” can.

Romney bused a gaggle of reporters out to Solyndra’s now-empty building, had his picture taken and his words uncritically reported. One wonders, though, if any of those reporters noticed another green-tech business that is practically next door: Tesla Motors.

You see, Tesla also was a recipient of a low-interest Department of Energy loan ($465 million.) But the story of Tesla is, unlike Solyndra, one of success. The company’s new model begins delivery this month, ahead of schedule, and this December the company will begin paying back that DOE loan.

One would think that someone as wise in the ways of business as Mitt Romney would understand that the success or failure of a program like DOE loans should be judged on the entire portfolio, not just a single case. There are always going to be some picks that work out and some that don’t. Romney, as much as anyone, has to know this.