Free | 23/6
Posted: 5/31/2012
FREMONT, Calif. Mitt Romney is assailing President Barack Obama's green energy record, standing outside the shuttered offices of a solar energy company that went bankrupt after receiving government loans.Romney says a $535 million loan to Solyndra represented a conflict of interest because it benefited some of Obama's campaign contributors. He says the loan also discouraged others from starting similar companies.Meanwhile, in Boston, Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said at a news conference that Romney ushered in slow job growth, higher debt and more fees as governor of Massachusetts.Axelrod was heckled by Romney supporters, who chanted, 'Solyndra, Solyndra.'Romney defended his gubernatorial record, saying the state's unemployment rate dropped during his tenure.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.President Barack Obama's campaign is ramping up criticism of Republican Mitt Romney's record in Massachusetts, while the Republican nominee is contrasting his record in the private sector with the Obama administration's support for green energy companies.Romney on Wednesday night regaled California donors with the story of Staples, one of the companies backed by the private equity firm he used to run. Bain Capital started by investing a few million dollars, Romney said, while Staples executives worked out of Spartan offices furnished with old Naugahyde chairs.It looked a lot different, Romney said, than the glass-walled headquarters the green energy company Solyndra built and maintained with the help of federal loan guarantees before it went bankrupt last year.'This was real people's money,' Romney said of the Staples investment. 'It wasn't taxpayers' money.'Romney planned a campaign appearance in northern California Thursday morning.Obama's campaign released a web video Thursday highlighting local Massachusetts offi