The Republican inquiry has raised valid questions, but it has also unfairly tried to exploit one bad bet to discredit public investments in renewable technologies. As the investigations continue, Congress must not lose sight of the bigger picture: the need to invest in promising alternatives to fossil fuels. (NYT, 11/25/2011)
The New York Times editors conclude that the loss of one-half of one billion dollars of taxpayers' money (Solyndra) was just, gosh darn it, bad luck. And shame on those Republicans for trying to politicize it!
Eliminated
Raising revenue through tax reform is better than simply raising rates, which Democrats insist upon with near religious fervor. It is more economically efficient because it eliminates credits, carve-outs and deductions that grossly misallocate capital. And it is more fair because it is the rich who can afford not only the sharp lawyers and accountants who exploit loopholes but the lobbyists who create them in the first place.
Yet the Democrats, who flatter themselves as the party of fairness, are instead obsessed with raising tax rates on the rich as a sign of civic virtue. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 11/24/2011)
Democrats have identified their weapon of choice - tax hikes on the rich - and they are determined to ride it all the way through the 2012 elections. We'll see where it gets them. Meanwhile they ignore the two levers which really can have an impact: tax loopholes and entitlements.
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