This is NOT MY ORIGINAL WORK! I wish it had been, but alas I have a job and commitments which prevent me from taking the time to create an expose' like this. None the less it is an awesome piece of citizen journalism...
Corporation that owns Zuccotti "Protester" Park Wins $168 Million Loan Guarantee from Obama DOE!
Original Research ^ | Oct. 11, 2011 | chatteringclassof58/FightinJAG, ed.
Posted on Tue Oct 11 2011 05:51:57 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) by fightinJAG
(This info was developed and originally posted by chatteringclassof58. The original post was deleted. This is an edited version of the material.)
Occupy Wall Street protesters have been camped out in and trashing Zuccotti Park for weeks. Zuccotti Park is a very nice private park, right in the middle of Manhattan.
Zuccotti Park is owned by Brookfield Office Properties, which is part of Brookfield Asset Management, worth at least $150 billion.
Brookfield Office Properties
Mayor Bloomberg has said he can do nothing about the protest unless the park owners (Brookfield Properties) ask the protesters to be evicted. Brookfield issued a statement that it was okay with them if the protesters stayed on their private property.
NYPD: Only Landlord Can Evict Occupy Wall Street Protesters From Zuccotti Park
That’s pretty nice of a big evil corporation to let protesters sleep, smoke weed and go number one and two on its nice private park in downtown Manhattan. Especially since the protesters are protesting big evil corporations. (But then again, President Obama expressed solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protesters, Nancy Pelosi said “God Bless Them,” and Bill Ayers is writing their collective Occupy Wall Street demands. So someone loves them.)
Hmm. Wonder what that’s about.
Maybe Mayor Bloomberg has some inside track on what’s going on here? After all, Bloomberg’s longtime shack-up girlfriend, Diana L. Taylor, is on the Board of Directors of Brookfield Properties, the company that owns Zuccotti Park. (She’s also served as the CFO of the Long Island Power Authority.)
You can read about Ms. Taylor here:
Diana L. Taylor
Brookfield Office Properties Board of Directors, Diana L. Taylor
Zuccotti Park is named after John E. Zuccotti, a member of the Brookfield Properties board.
Profile of John E. Zuccotti
John Zuccotti was also a long-term member of the Board of Directors of WellPoint Health Network (also known as Blue Cross of California, Blue Cross of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Missouri and Wisconsin, HealthLink, and UNICARE.).
WellPoint Health Networks
President Obama used WellPoint as an example of the evils that would be exorcized by Obamacare. In fact, some argue that WellPoint, along with other large health insurers, willingly colluded with the Obama administration in order to save Obamacare from an otherwise certain political death.
How the Health Insurance Industry Saved Obamacare
Why?
When the dust settled and people were actually able to read Obamacare, turns out it favors WellPoint.
Forbes: Obamacare Favors WellPoint
A few years ago, Brookfield Properties became the largest client in a start-up lobbying firm called Oldaker, Biden & Belair. Yes, the same Hunter Biden who was on the Board of Amtrak while Daddy was pouring Fedgov money down that rathole.
Some of Brookfield's lobbying history here and here.
One of the big divisions of Brookfield Asset Management is Brookfield Renewable Energy. You know where this is going. This company has received hundreds of millions, if not billions, in “green” grants, stimulus money and DOE loans (a la Solyndra).
First, about Brookfield Renewable Energy:
Brookfield Asset Management is looking to merge its hydroelectric and wind power assets into the world's second-largest public renewable power company in a move designed to cash in on the growing demand for cleaner power.
With a market capitalization of $6 billion, it would rank behind Italy's ENEL GP's $10-billion equity value and ahead of EDP of France and Portugal's EDF Group.
"The renewable power generation sector is increasingly becoming a meaningful portion of the new energy supply on a global basis," Richard Legault, CEO of Brookfield's power operations, said on conference calls with analysts and bondholders.
"Brookfield continues to believe that the strong growth in renewables will be driven by widespread acceptance of the need to reduce the world's carbon footprint, challenges faced by competing technologies such as coal or nuclear generation and the desire for energy self-sufficiency pursued by many governments through various policies and incentives."
A quick search of what Brookfield is up to:
A NH Solyndra? Wind farm gets fed loan
In the name of “green energy,” the Obama administration is using taxpayer money to subsidize a New Hampshire wind farm that is a subsidiary of a hugely profitable company.
New Hampshire’s largest wind farm, the Granite Reliable Power project under construction in Coos County, is jointly owned by BAIF Granite Holdings, LLC and Freshnet Wind Energy, LLC. BAIF owns 75 percent of Granite Reliable. BAIF Granite Holdings was created earlier this year by Brookfield Renewable Power, which is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management of New York.
That company, which runs clean energy operations around the world, has deep pockets. It reported net income of $454 million in 2009 and $3.2 billion in 2010.
Brookfield Renewable Power financed the creation of BAIF Granite Holdings from its Brookfield Americas Infrastructure fund, which was reported in February to have $2.7 billion in assets.
With that kind of backing, it is curious that the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would guarantee up to 80 percent of a $168.9 million loan for the Granite Reliable wind farm project last week.
Why would a company created by a $3.2 billion company and backed by a $2.7 billion private fund need federal loan guarantees? That would be an important question at any time, but it is more pertinent after the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a solar-panel maker that got a $535 million federal loan guarantee from the Obama administration last year.
Granite Reliable’s wind farm is not proven, and Granite Reliable is a limited liability company, which provides broad investor protection if the company goes down. If the wind farm flops, and investors cut their losses, the taxpayers stand to lose $135 million.
What is the justification for risking $135 million in public money, especially on a company with access to so much private cash? Apparently, the justification is that Obama likes “green power” and wants to associate himself with it.
With the country running deficits as far as the eye can see, the Obama administration opts to spend money we don’t have to subsidize a risky venture undertaken by the subsidiary of a huge, profitable company. If that doesn’t perfectly illustrate what is wrong with crony capitalism in general and the Obama administration’s practice of it in particular, we don’t know what would.
Department of Energy Finalizes Loan Guarantee of Nearly $170 Million to Granite Reliable Power
September 23, 2011 - 3:31pm
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today the Department of Energy finalized a partial guarantee for $168.9 million loan to Granite Reliable Power, LLC. The loan guarantee will support a 99 megawatt (MW) wind generation project that will be New Hampshire’s largest wind farm. The project will be located in Coos County in northern New Hampshire, approximately 110 miles north of Concord. Project sponsors, BAIF Granite Holdings, LLC and Freshet Wind Energy, LLC, expect the project will fund nearly 200 construction jobs. [Note: BAIF owns 75 percent of Granite Reliable. BAIF Granite Holdings was created earlier this year by Brookfield Renewable Power, which is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management of New York.
So....
Still wondering why a big evil corporation might be okay with a bunch of nasty protesters trashing its private property in beautiful downtown Manhattan?
As even the protesters could tell you, corporations don’t do stuff out of the goodness of their hearts.
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