◼ How Nancy Pelosi Helped This Top Democrat Donor Nab Millions in Taxpayer Money - Daily Signal
Democrat billionaire Tom Steyer has donated more than $20 million to candidates and outside groups to influence this year’s election, making him the top individual contributor in 2014. And that’s just a fraction of the $50 million Steyer has said he’s willing to spend.
The San Francisco-based environmental activist built his fortune through the Farallon Capital hedge fund he founded in 1986. As he was amassing his warchest, Steyer enjoyed close ties to the Democratic Party and one particular influential Californian: Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi, the former House speaker who currently serves as Democratic leader, has used her Washington perch to boost some of Steyer’s projects with government aid.
In total, Steyer has benefited from more than $1 billion in taxpayer money. According to her own press releases, Pelosi is responsible for a share of that total....
in November 2004, Farallon bought undeveloped real estate at Mission Bay in San Francisco from Catellus Group for $343 million. This purchase also included properties in Southern California.
The deal provided Farallon with roughly 2 million square feet of commercial space in Mission Bay, a hotel near SBC Park, where the San Francisco Giants play, and residential sites in close proximity to Mission Bay Channel....
In October 2012, Pelosi unveiled an agreement that would provide $942 million in federal funds to establish a transportation link between Mission Bay and downtown San Francisco....
This was not the first time the former House speaker stepped in on behalf of Steyer’s project.
In June 2012, Pelosi released a statement boasting about the $10 million in stimulus funds she secured for transportation infrastructure in Mission Bay’s biotech cluster and the University of California-San Francisco hospital....
Pelosi’s history with Mission Bay goes back even further.
In 2007, she earmarked $25 million for a “project for repair and removal, as appropriate, of Piers 30-32, 35, 36, 70 (including Wharves 7 and 8), and 80 in San Francisco, California, substantially in accordance with the Port’s redevelopment plan,” according to the congressional record. Parts of this project are located next to FOCIL’s Mission Bay development.
In 2006, Pelosi also announced a $24.5 million grant to expand transportation and boost development in Mission Bay....
Pelosi’s office did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
