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Tue 20 Jun, 2006 11:30 am
Denny recently made a big stink of the FBI raiding the offices of Cong. William Jefferson, citing the separation of powers. I wonder whether he had a hidden motive.
CORRUPTION
Hastert's Corruption Junction
Your hard-earned tax dollars may be funding pork-barrel projects that personally enrich House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL). In August 2002, Hastert and his wife purchased 195 acres of isolated farmland -- much of it with no access to roads -- located in his home district (IL-14). A year and a half later, with the help of two partners, he purchased another 70 adjacent acres. At the same time, Hastert aggressively pushed for federal funding to build the " Prairie Parkway " through the district. (The Chicago Sun-Times described it as Hastert's "pet project.") In August 2005, Hastert succeeded. President Bush signed a transportation bill that included $207 million for the " Prairie Parkway ." Thanks to the parkway, Hastert's isolated parcels would soon have access to major cities. Just four months later, Hastert sold a portion of the land to a real-estate developer, earning a profit of at least $1.5 million.
--AmericanProgressAction
Hey, that is exactly the same thing...........NOT.
I read this story in the Sunday Chicago Tribune. Frankly, I'm inclined to give Hastert the benefit of the doubt on this one. First of all, he bought the land prior to the development of this project (although plans for an exurban loop highway have been floated for years around here), so the fact that the land is near the planned route of the "Prairie Parkway" may be just a happy coincidence. Secondly, it doesn't take political chicanery (or even financial acumen) to make money investing in exurban real estate in the Chicago area. It would have been much more surprising if Hastert had lost money on his investment. Finally, the highway project has not been approved: he'd probably get a higher price if he was selling land near the path of an actual highway rather than a proposed one. On the other hand, if the project is shelved in the next few months, that might suggest that Hastert had some inside information and was selling before real estate prices in the area dropped.
Joe, the problem with your points is that all this transpired during a couple of years. Further, had the land been close to an actual highway, the cost would have been astronomical, eliminating the chance for a quick, big, profit.
Advocate wrote:Joe, the problem with your points is that all this transpired during a couple of years. Further, had the land been close to an actual highway, the cost would have been astronomical, eliminating the chance for a quick, big, profit.
You misunderstand. I know Hastert bought the property years ago. My point is that he would have commanded an even greater price
today had the highway project already been approved. As it is, the only premium that he got for the property was on the basis of a
proposed highway. There have been plenty of proposals for an exurban bypass in the western Chicago suburbs, and most have been rejected. There's a big difference between land that is located next to an actual highway and land that is located next to a possible one.
Joe, maybe it is me. I thought the highway was a done deal, not just a proposal. It is part of a federal law containing a huge number of pork projects. The law provides $207 M for this particular road project. Thus, the road is effectively paid for.
Remember that the Hasterts bought this land as recently as 2002, and that Denny inserted the project into the pork bill. Without the road, the land is little more than wasteland.
Is this all innocent to you? In my opinion, it is out and out corruption.
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