By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Democratic and Republican politicians alike hailed the news in 2009 that U.S. battery maker A123 Systems had won a quarter-billion-dollar federal grant, but just three years later, the company finds itself bankrupt and the target of a buyout by a Chinese competitor.
The office nameplates are posted, key committee assignments doled out and the staff members are - more or less - in place. For the history-making class of freshmen who flipped the House from Democratic to Republican control, now comes the hard part: governing in opposition to a president intent on his own re-election.
Rep. Bill Huizenga, Michigan Republican, said taxpayers shouldn't be funding technology that, in turn, can be used in competition against U.S. companies.
Chinese firm gets U.S. OK to take over troubled high-tech battery firm →
"This proposed transaction raises significant national security and public policy considerations that, if not appropriately addressed, would impair U.S. national security and threaten America's innovation leadership and job creation," said Rep. Bill Huizenga, Michigan Republican.
