Foundation funded by Solyndra backer knocks Ryan Medicare idea

James Capretta:

It’s a pattern of course. At critical moments in the campaign, a reliably liberal research organization releases a faux “study” that is quickly picked up by the Obama campaign and turned into negative attack ads. In the last two months we have seen “studies” of this type from the Brookings–Urban Institute Tax Policy Center, the Commonwealth Fund, and researchers at Harvard. All magically found their way into Obama campaign talking points, ads, and other material. And all accused the Romney campaign of harboring secret plans to pile thousands of dollars in new costs onto America’s struggling middle class.

Today’s in-kind donation to the Obama campaign came from the supposedly nonpartisan, but reliably liberal, Kaiser Foundation. The Kaiser study claims that a Medicare “premium support” plan — that the authors claim resembles the plan offered by Representative Paul Ryan and Democratic senator Ron Wyden — would drive up costs on seniors by hundreds of dollars per month. Conveniently, the Kaiser release provides helpful state-by-state numbers so reporters can pull out premium-hike estimates in critical swing states.

There are three problems with the study. First, it doesn’t analyze anything close to the Ryan-Wyden plan. Second, its methodology is biased against the benefits of competition and consumer choice. And, third, if there were any conclusion to be drawn from the data used to produce the study, it’s that Representative Ryan has been right all along in saying that private plans have the capacity to dramatically reduce costs for Medicare – without shifting costs onto any seniors.

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There is much more.

Capretta describes this study as an in kind contribution to the Obama campaign.  This post from the Energy Collective a little over a year ago puts the political connections in perspective.

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According to the Washington Post, "a House investigation is looking at possible White House involvement in Solyndra winning the loan, and said it has found evidence that White House officials were monitoring Solyndra’s status in the application process. The Department of Energy has asserted that it chose Solyndra through a competitive, non-political process." 

One of Solyndra's leading investors, The George Kaiser Family Foundation, is the foundation of Obama fundraiser and supporter George Kaiser.

As reported by Bloomberg this afternoon, the foundation, "a charitable organization based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and backed by donations from Kaiser, holds about 35.7 percent of Solyndra, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

"A Government Accountability Office audit last year found Solyndra was among a handful of companies that the agency awarded billions in loan guarantees before completing required reviews of their applications," reports the Post.

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Why would anyone suggest that a Foundation funded and run by a major Obama donor was "non partisan"? That designation does not pass the giggle test.  I think these are the same investors who moved ahead of the government when Solyndra defaulted.  Capretta challenges many of the findings of the study, but the Solyndra context removes all doubt about those responsible for the study/hit job.