The American Spectator

Speaking of Solyndra-fication, Energy Secretary Steven Chu couldn’t tell the House Energy and Commerce Committee how many federal loans have gone to companies that have gone bankrupt or are at risk of going under. According to the Washington Examiner, Chu replied, “I don’t, again, recall the exact number.” The secretary did concede, “The American taxpayer has every right to expect that there is a reasonable chance of repayment for every loan that we give out.”

For example, A123 Systems, a federal subsidy recipient I mentioned in my column earlier this week, has just reported an $85 million loss for the fourth quarter of 2011. This nonresponsiveness is becoming a pattern in the Obama administration. In recent testimony, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius couldn’t answer questions about the cost of Obamacare or the number of companies that would drop existing insurance coverage for their employees.