Pork Report is back. Sen Jones is leaving.
By AFP | August 21, 2008
After a week of sparse posting, the Pork Report should soon be back to full strength. What’s happened since we posted last? Well, Emil Jones announced his retirement. Jones, pork broker extraordinaire and subject of a pork spending lawsuit, has announced that his son, Emil Jones III, will take his place on the fall ballot (and in all likelihood fill his Senate seat next Spring).
While the anointing of the younger Jones signals again what is wrong with Illinois politics, the race for the Senate Presidency will lay bare our state’s culture of cronyism and corruption. Look no further than the press conference held by Chicago Senator Rickey Hendon, who covets the top seat in the Senate (and all things pork). Hendon’s comments at his own press conference on Monday, held to put his name into the mix, should give the chills to any supporter of good-government. As reported by the Capitol Fax Blog:
Hendon lavished praise on Senate President Jones and said he was qualified to succeed Jones because of his position as chairman of the Rules Committee, his being “faithful” to Jones for all these years and his work on behalf of the mass transit bailout, among other stuff.
Hendon said he could work with all of the “eight or nine” other candidates for the Senate presidency, including Sen. John Cullerton, whom Hendon denied was too close to House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Hendon said he would continue to “loyally” serve Jones until he’s gone and then see what might happen.
Creepy.
Hendon, as mentioned, is chairman of the Rules Committee, and is responsible for blocking House Bill 4765 - the most significant piece of transparency legislation since the Freedom of Information Act. It will be interesting to see, next year, whether the new leadership in the Senate will continue to oppose open government. If so, then Jones will surely have established a legacy…of broken, corrupt, opaque, inefficient, wasteful, did we say corrupt, government.
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Self promoter? Sign up for state money.
By AFP | August 14, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the Day, like so, so many others, comes to us from the FIF fund. In 2005, the N’DIGO foundation received a $100,000 economic development grant from the state. One of N’DIGO’s functions is to handout college scholarships, largely to minority youths. And, while the process behind deciding whom receives FIF fund largess is extremely suspect, at least taxpayers could rest easy that their money is going towards scholarships. BUT IT DIDN’T GO TO SCHOLARSHIPS! It went to reimburse N’DIGO for the costs of a television program it had already produced, which promoted a number of the foundation’s activities.
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Orga…hmmm…Organic Food Project matching grant?!
By AFP | August 12, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the Day is this winner from Gov. Blagojevich.
The biggest draw at the Kerry Wood Strike Zone fund-raiser Wednesday night wasn’t one of the star athletes — it was Mark Cuban…
Good press hit, Governor. Bad priorities.
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Pork, corruption, mismanagement: A keepsake.
By AFP | August 8, 2008
Chicago State University has been the recipient of massive amounts of pork over the past fifteen years, despite the university’s laughable academic reputation and its chronic mismanagement. AFP has long highlighted the signs of taxpayer abuse at Chicago State:
Since Elnora Daniel was appointed to her position as President of Chicago State University (CSU), campaign contributions to Senator Emil Jones from individuals associated with CSU, including Daniel, have been on the rise. Pork-barrel spending steered to CSU by Sen. Jones has also trended up. Over the same period (1999 - 2006) Sen. Emil Jones received nearly $56,500 in campaign donations from CSU-affiliated persons[i], the Senator sponsored more than $49.2 million in grants for Chicago State University
Daniel’s leadership at CSU has consistently been questioned, but Jones support for Chicago State has been unwavering. Nevertheless, she was forced out as President under intense public scrutiny, though that didn’t stop her from sending one last “I love you” to taxpayers. This story from the Trib shows why Chicago State University, and all of its taxpayer largess, is today’s Pork Barrel Project of the Day:
Before leaving Chicago State University, embattled university president Elnora Daniel signed off on spending more than $18,000 to publish a tribute book honoring herself, a glossy coffee table publication featuring pictures of Daniel posing with lawmakers, university staff and her family.
The 52-page soft-cover book looks like a personal photo album, with minimal text and no photo captions. There are pictures of Daniel at a grant ceremony with President George W. Bush, smiling at U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and accepting state checks from Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, who funneled millions of dollars to Chicago State under Daniel’s leadership.
The last page features a photo of Daniel and five family members dressed in formal dinner attire and standing next to an elaborate staircase. Daniel’s university-financed family travel was the subject of a stinging state audit that found she spent more than $15,000 to attend a leadership conference aboard a Caribbean cruise ship in August 2006, where she was accompanied by five family members.
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In case ESPN comes to town
By AFP | August 6, 2008
Illinois lawmakers are continuing their call for a capital plan, claiming often that the state’s infrastructure is crumbling. Schools, they say, stand to benefit.
Today’s Pork Project of the Day is a $36,100 grant from the pork slush fund “The Fund For Illinois’ Future” to Rockridge Junior/Senior High School in Edgington, Illinois. The grant funds were to be used for a new sidewalk between the baseball and softball fields, and for “Improvements to existing football and track press box.”
Of course, there must have been a dire need for sports reporters on the Rockridge beat to enjoy prime seating, and not have to watch the competition from the field or in the bleachers, alongside other fans. Good thing there were capital dollars at the state’s disposal!
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Pork windows. Now, that’s better.
By AFP | August 5, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the Day is another FIF fund project. In 2006, the Parkview School in Yorkville received a $120,000 grant to replace its windows - not because the windows installed in the 1960s were deficient, but because they looked bad.
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Drew Carey on pork, and aliens
By AFP | August 5, 2008
Over at Reason.tv, Drew Carey has produced a must-see episode on earmarks:
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Pork lawsuit coverage
By AFP | August 4, 2008
Last week, the Pork Report announced that AFP-Illinois and Judicial Watch were taking our fight for transparency to the courts. A number of media outlets around the state picked up on the story. Here’s a round-up of print media coverage, so far:
Crain’s Chicago Business Journal
Not bad media coverage for a project initiated by a couple of volunteer bloggers and pork-fighters.
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Pork Project of the Day is back
By AFP | August 4, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the Day comes to us from the For for Illinois’ Future (the so-called “FIF fund”). If you’re not familiar with the FIF fund, peruse this sight. You’ll get a feel for how your tax dollars are being spent. Today’s project is a $100,000 grant given to the Christian Friendliness Association in Moline, Illinois. Click Here to check it out.
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YouWatch it: our pork lawsuit
By AFP | August 1, 2008
It turns out, filing lawsuits is involved business. After yesterday’s press conference in Springfield, the editors of the Pork Report have returned to their homes in many corners of the state, and our friends at Judicial Watch have returned to D.C.
Typically, the Pork Report will at the very least, bring you a Pork Project of the Day, every day. But today, given the attention being given to yesterday’s press conference, we figured we would just post video of yesterday’s event and call it a weekend. Enjoy:
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