The Obama’s administration’s beleaguered 2009 stimulus bill took another hit last week when it was revealed that Solyndra, a California solar-energy firm that received $528 million in federal loans from the stimulus package, had filed for bankruptcy.

The failure of Solyndra is a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama, who visited the company and touted its technology as a path to a more energy-efficient future and also a powerful jobs generator.

When the company abruptly filed for bankruptcy, it also laid off 1,100 employees.

Now, the company is the target of several federal investigations. It is believed that the company misrepresented its financial health when it was applying for federal assistance. It’s also been learned that a top Solyndra investor was also a major fundraiser in the Obama presidential campaign.

The latest revelations came late last week when the House Energy and Commerce Committe released emails showing that some people in the White House had been worried about the financial health or viability of Solyndra. Still, the massive federal loans went through.

The House subcommittee is investigating whether the Energy Department or the White House conducted adequate due diligence in reviewing Solyndra’s finances and operation.

In defense of the government investment of a half-billion dollars in loan guarantees, administration officials noted that private investors also sank $1 billion into the company.

Still, the failure of Solyndra raises questions about the government’s ability to pick winners and losers in the private sector. This experience is a reminder that the government should avoid investing directly in individual companies and, instead, continue, and even increase, investment in basic scientific research, most often through universities.

Rather than invest in private companies, the federal government should stick to basic research funding, which, if successful, is often commercialized, leading to creation of companies in health care, energy and the high-technology fields.

Government-funded research is found in the roots of companies like Google, whose founders received funding support from the National Science Foundation while graduate students at Stanford University. Similar stories are behind the creation of Cisco Systems, Genentech, SAS and the more recently formed advanced battery producer, A123 Systems.

Picking individual companies to support over other competitors, as the Obama administration did with Solyndra, is riskier and also has less bang-for-the-buck for taxpayers when compared with supporting basic research being done at universities across the country. And when technology is developed at those universities that results in a company being spun off, it typically benefits the university as well as the local community through increased employment.

The investigations into Solyndra should reveal whether it was just a government bet gone bad or a politically motivated payoff for a campaign backer.

Beyond that, three reports by federal watchdogs had warned about inadquate controls at the Energy Department to the multimillion-dollar loan program. The warnings were right, and it reveals another example of the consequences of politicians spending other people’s money.

Solyndra should be a lesson for the White House, Congress and the American people. The federal government should stick to supporting basic research and avoid trying to pick winners and losers.