CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Liberal firebrand Alan Grayson has made a career of disagreeing with Republicans, so it's notable when the former, and possibly future, congressman from Florida strays into the realm of GOP talking points.

Such was the case last night when Grayson was asked about the failed Solyndra solar energy company that Republicans have held up as the poster child of President Obama's green energy failures.

Since Solyndra filed for bankruptcy Sept. 6, 2011, Republicans have pointed to the company as a prime example of a green energy plan that "picks winners and losers" and have called for an end to the Department of Energy renewable energy loan program that funded the company with some $535 million in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees.

As he walked through the media hall at the Democratic convention last night, Grayson, who is running this fall in Florida's open 9th District after being ousted in 2010, said he is not a fan of the government financing private companies, either.

"You could be for or against financing loans for the Department of Energy for this purpose," said Grayson, who before his one-term stint on Capitol Hill made his fortune founding a discount telecommunications business. "I'm generally against government financing of private enterprise."

Grayson said he believes companies should have to come up with their own financing if they want to compete and succeed in the market. It is a view that's consistent with his many concerns over bank bailouts while he was in Congress.

But before Republicans try to recruit him for their next Solyndra ad campaign, Grayson made it clear that he understands the economic rationale behind the loan guarantee program.

"In this particular case, the federal government has made a decision that private finance is not going to provide the capital quickly enough to get to the technological change that we're trying to accomplish here," he said.

"So for the same reason, for instance, that the government financed the space program in order to land a man on the moon in 10 years or less as John Kennedy asked, the government is also providing capital to solar companies and other companies that are providing alternatives to fossil fuel."

As Democrats fete Obama in Charlotte this week, Republicans are working hard to highlight the one-year anniversary of Solyndra filing for bankruptcy.

Yesterday afternoon, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which headed up the congressional investigation into Solyndra, circulated a news release highlighting Vice President Joe Biden's claim at the groundbreaking of Solyndra's California factory that the jobs the company created would be "permanent jobs" and "jobs of the future."

"Even now, a year after Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, the administration still refuses to admit any wrongdoing or take responsibility for any mistakes in choosing to invest taxpayer money where it clearly should not have been," the release stated. "The permanent jobs Vice President Biden promised never materialized, and instead, nearly 1,900 people lost their jobs as a result of Solyndra's bankruptcy."

Before adjourning for the August recess, the Energy and Commerce Committee moved on a party-line vote the "No More Solyndras Act" aimed at winding down the DOE loan program. The bill awaits a full House vote.