Posted on 03/31/2011 9:14:25 AM PDT by jazusamo
One of President Obama’s top fundraisers has been rewarded with more than half a billion dollars in stimulus money for “green” projects and a coveted adviser position at the federal agency that regulates his highly profitable business ventures.
It’s the very cycle of money, influence and access that Obama vowed to break when he came to Washington, according to the investigative journalism group that broke the story this week. Not only has the president’s money man benefited from the astounding sums of cash the administration has dedicated to “clean energy” startups, he also has extraordinary access to the White House and serves as an adviser to the cabinet official (Energy Secretary Steven Chu) who regulates his industry.
The prolific Democratic fundraiser, Steve Westly, worked in the Jimmy Carter Administration and was once a public official in California where he currently operates a lucrative “green” business (Westly Group) that’s boomed in just a few years. The Westly Group has raked in more than half a billion dollars in loans, grants or stimulus money from the Department of Energy which is doling out around $35 billion to politically-connected businesses that help reduce pollution.
A frequent White House visitor Westly is also a member of a government advisory board on energy policy, which means he actually “advises” Energy Secretary Chu, the administration official in charge of distributing the agency’s green startup cash. The money is supposed to help clean technology firms expand in order to meet Obama’s goal of lowering dependence on foreign oil.
More than 90% of the companies that apply for the federal dollars are rejected, yet Westly has easily secured the public funding for three of his firms. The government aid is important because it lends companies credibility and helps attract investors. Other Obama donors have also received big chunks of federal dollars for their clean energy endeavors, including another California billionaire who serves on the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board and an Oklahoma oil magnet who bundled tens of thousands of dollars for his 2008 campaign.
Obama must keep his top fundraisers happy because he will need their services—and cash—in 2012. Westly is one of about 50 “bundlers” who raised more than half a million dollars for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Undoubtedly, Westly is expected to step up to the plate in 2012 so Uncle Sam will likely continue filling his coffers with cash for innovative “green” projects.
I hope the next aaAG can bust a lot of these crooks.
That Steven Chu is one CA-Reepy dude. He seems like a gay Satan to me.
Absolutely, and so is his boss.
I wonder why the press doesn’t see, or remark about, how effeminate the president is?
I’ll bet if president ego gets touched in one his supposedly epic pickup basketball games its an automatic intentional foul. What a sissy.
Let’s hear it one more time about that “Republican Culture of Corruption.” When Democrats point a finger it is a signal to look for the man behind the curtain.
Pelosi sure shut up about that culture of corruption, the last two or three years her fellow Dems in the House were and still are being nailed.
Even conservative sources need correcting.
The money is supposed to help waste tax dollars on expensive and useless projects while Obama continues to appoint regulators who are instructed to stop all drilling, nuclear power, coal, and natural gas.
Thus anything that his cronies don't actually pocket is completely wasted anyway.
Your correction is dead on the mark.
That is quite a slush fund Congress passed for Obama to keep all his fellow crooks happy. Things like this article point out the blatant thievery by Obama and his Dem cohorts.
ping
/s
Former Organizing for America staffer interfered with FOIA requests at Department of Homeland Security
According to emails obtained by The Daily Caller, Carte wanted to redact information from a FOIA request filed by the conservative group Judicial Watch.
Also, this is a bipartisan problem. Donors to Democrats and Republicans expect a substantial return from their investment in the campaigns of our elected officials. Therefore, the most effective solution to this problem is to dramatically reduce the size and scope of the federal government. The less the government does, the smaller the opportunity for the kind of corruption described in the posted article.
Thanks for the link. The failure of the Obama administration to provide info on FOIA requests is pathetic throughout the many departments, DHS, DOJ and EPA are examples of the worst.
When info is requested by Dems or liberal groups they are acted on promptly but when Repubs or conservative groups inquire it takes months and years.
You’re correct, this is not new and both party’s do it.
I believe what makes Obama’s administration stand out with the corruption are the amounts involved. He was handed this stimulus money in the hundreds of billions and he and his thugs are like kids in a candy store with plenty of money.
bm
And let’s not forget the Obamacare exemptions being handed out primarily to unions and the gutting of the GM bondholders to the benefit of the UAW. Without doing a comprehensive comparison to previous administrations, it does appear that Obama seems to be particularly solicitous of the financial well being of his friends.
Well connected people with their hands in the treasury.
Welcome to Obama’s America.
Now pay your taxes - we’re going broke. :)
sarc aside, it would seem to me that those who have no problem with GE paying zero taxes, nor with Trump giving large donations to Chicago Dems because he hopes to build in Chicago; would also have no problem with this.
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