Bankrupt Illinois Madness Never Stops; House Committee Wants Taxpayers to Spend $100 Million on Barack Obama Library
Article by; / Mike Shedlock | Apr 20, 2014
Illinois is broke. Its public pension plans are the most troubled in the nation.
Illinois passed massive "temporary" tax hikes to fix the pension problem, but that did not make a dent in the problem.
Nonetheless, ideas to waste more taxpayer money are always on the table. Here's a recent example.
$100 Million for Barack Obama Library
Today, the Illinois Policy Institute reports by email ...
An Illinois House Committee wants taxpayers to pay $100 million for a Barack Obama library. Somehow, House Speaker Michael Madigan thinks this is an appropriate use of funds despite the states more than $100 billion pension crisis and $6.6 billion in unpaid bills.
In accepting hefty taxpayer dollars for this venture, President Barack Obama is setting himself apart from his recent predecessors, former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Clintons library, located in Little Rock, Ark., was funded solely through private donations, according to the Clinton Foundation. Clintons $165 million facility was built entirely through private funds. Its just a fact, said Jordan Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Clinton Foundation.
Likewise, Bushs library, located at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, was also funded through private donations.
The Barack Obama Foundation, tasked with planning the development of Obamas presidential library, has yet to determine the site of the future library. In fact, the foundations board of directors is receiving proposals through June 16 and does not intend to announce its final decision until 2015. The Illinois House Committee's $100 million proposal will now go to the full House.
On its website, the Barack Obama Foundation defines its mission as developing a presidential library that reflects President Obamas values and priorities throughout his career in public service. Interestingly enough, the first value listed is expanding economic opportunity. But more than 600,000 Illinoisans woke up today and didnt have a job to go to, and thousands more face underemployment. To them and many others, its clear the president has fallen short on accomplishing his goal of expanding economic opportunity to the Land of Lincoln, where he launched his political career as a state senator 18 years ago.
Obamas staff expects the library to cost $500 million or more. And the costs wont stop there. The day-to-day operations and maintenance of the United States 13 presidential libraries cost taxpayers $75 million in fiscal year 2013 alone.
This figure strikes an interesting contrast. Illinois politicians, who are demanding that we extend the 2011 tax hike so that draconian spending cuts in public and human services do not go into effect are attempting to subsidize a monument in dedication to the legacy of the most prolific fundraiser in history on the backs of poor and middle-class families in Illinois.
Jane McEnaney
Manager of Government Affairs
Illinois Madness Never Stops
In March, House Speaker Michael Madigan proposed 3% surcharge on income over $1 million
Also this year, progressive argued for a blank check proposal for more tax hikes. For details, please see Picking-Your-Pocket Numbers: How Much More Will You Pay?
Now the legislature wants to waste $100 million for a Barack Obama Library.
In Illinois, the madness never stops.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Read more at
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/#QkY0PLXIMz5W1TbS.99End of article;
Comments;
The same thing is happening to the whole country and the libtards are too ignorant to realize it, and too obnoxious to admit it!