06.14.06
The Republican way to invest
The Republican idea of how to invest is to pick—or make—the sure thing.
For years, Hastert has been pushing the construction of a highway called the Prairie Parkway in Illinois. He secured $207 million in earmarks to support the project. But what he didn't tell constituents was that he owned a huge plot of farmland just a few miles from where the road would run. And now that the project's gone through, the land has been tranferred to a real estate development firm with plans to build a 1,600 home community. The land has already improved in value by millions of dollars.
UPDATE: Here's the timeline.
UPDATE 2: Peculiar defense by Hastert: he says his highway provides no benefits to those living near it. Hmmmm. Why spend the $207 million, then, eh?
