In the second “Red Scare” in the Fifties, Senator Joe McCarthy often badgered witnesses who, on the advice of their attorneys, “took the Fifth” at Congressional hearings. It was good advice. Any statements that would later found to be less than 100% accurate were subject to perjury convictions; the smart legal strategy was not to answer anything.
McCarthy, of course, saw this as evidence of guilt. If the witnesses weren’t guilty, why not answer? I thought of McCarthy when the executives from Solyndra invoked the Fifth Amendment at a House hearing yesterday. The interrogators were not interested in solar panels or saving federal money. They were interested in attacking the Obama administration that made a $535 million guaranteed loan to Solyndra, which has now filed for bankruptcy.
Why was the loan made? it was an attempt to invigorate an American company to compete successfully with the Chinese. Over half the solar panels in the world are now made in China, and the Chinese share of the market grows every year. When we put solar panels on our shed roof next year, they will no doubt be made in China, not Fremont, California, where Solyndra was located.
China has an industrial policy. The government invests in high tech industries and innovative technologies. We also have an industrial policy, supported by the Republican Party. That policy is to ship industries and jobs to China.
Tomorrow: Moroccan college students hold a conference on the Holocaust
Not every start up will succeed. Although we must keep trying. Chinese companies subsidize these new companies as an investment in the future. Its a gamble with some, but when they succeed they then dominate that industry with a lock on it sa usually the prime source.
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