Top Obama Bundler Given Half a Billion in Stimulus Cash For His Green Energy Ventures

Is this the hope or the change?

(Politico)

A top Obama bundler Steve Westly was given half a billion dollars in stimulus cash to fund his green energy ventures. Westly raised over $500,000 for Obama during the election. Not a bad investment.
Mercury News reported:

Steve Westly’s career has long straddled the worlds of progressive politics and alternative energy.

Now Westly’s roles bankrolling green-energy-firms such as Tesla Motors (TSLA) and alternative energy-friendly politicians such as President Obama have drawn questions about whether the former eBay (EBAY) executive and Democratic state controller’s investments unduly benefitted from his political connections.

An investigative report this week by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C., and ABC News suggested that after Westly raised $500,000 for Obama’s presidential bid, cleantech firms backed by his Menlo Park venture capital firm clinched more than a half-billion dollars in federal aid.

Both Westly and the White House denied any impropriety…

…The news report noted that since Westly raised the money for Obama four companies in portfolio of the The Westly Group, his venture capital firm, received $510 million in loans, grants and stimulus money from the U.S. Department of Energy. And, the report added, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, on the White House’s recommendation, appointed Westly in August to the 12-member Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board.

The report offered no evidence that Westly had steered federal money to green-tech companies backed by his venture capital firm. And it pointed out that the White House and Energy Department insist that federal aid was awarded based on applicants’ merit and not connections to campaign contributors.

The left can pretend there is nothing scandalous about this revelation. However, we all know that green energy companies cannot survive without government donations. Westly knew this, too.

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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