Stearns is not a smooth talker like Paul Ryan (R-Wis.); he tends toward Kinsley gaffes, when politicians accidentally reveal what they really believe. Recall, for instance, in November, when he said, “when somebody is successful, then you give them the subsidies and the tax credit.” Last week, he said something similar when pressed about why he won’t launch an investigation into the $8.3 billion loan guarantee to Southern Company for the Vogtle nuclear reactors: “The loan you are talking about … is for a proven industry that has been successful and has established a record.”