- Salon.com - Highway robbery
As America spirals through rapid globalization and economic upheaval, it is reassuring to discover that an enterprising member of Congress can still get rich quick in his own Midwestern district. Consider the inspirational story of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who reaped millions of dollars in a farsighted deal that would once have made him the toast of Tammany Hall.
- Washington Post - Lawmakers' Profits Are Scrutinized
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) made a $2 million profit last year on the sale of land 5 1/2 miles from a highway project that he helped to finance with targeted federal funds.
A Republican House member from California, meanwhile, received nearly double what he paid for a four-acre parcel near an Air Force base after securing $8 million for a planned freeway interchange 16 miles away. And another California GOP congressman obtained funding in last year's highway bill for street improvements near a planned residential and commercial development that he co-owns.
- The Hill - Hastert’s land deals
A series of real-estate deals adjacent to his home in Plano, Ill., yielded House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) almost $2 million last year and could provide more profit in the years to come.
- Chicago Sun-Times - Sweet Column: Hastert should have revealed secret land trust
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) last year made about $2 million in real estate deals on parcels near his Plano home in booming Kendall County and could profit from additional land sales in the future.
- The Hill - Flake strikes at earmark of Hastert’s
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) escalated his anti-earmark crusade yesterday by attempting to strip a request by Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) out of a defense appropriations bill.
- Union Leader - Robert D. Novak: GOP continues log-rolling for pork
JEFF FLAKE, a 44-year-old third-term Republican congressman from Mesa, Ariz., last Wednesday burnished his credentials as “Miss Uncongeniality” in the House of Representatives. He introduced 12 amendments to the Transportation-Treasury-HUD appropriations bill removing earmarks of individual House members, including two by chief appropriator Jerry Lewis. All of Flake’s efforts failed.
- CNN.com - The GOP's faulty moral compass
Gee, the Republicans seem to have lost their moral compass since Tom DeLay quit. Who knew it could get worse without that pillar of rectitude from Texas? What a snakes' nest of corruption and nastiness.
The latest involves Speaker Denny Hastert and a land deal.
- ABC News - Land Deal Gives Hastert 300% Profit
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) realized an estimated $2 million dollar profit last year on an Illinois land deal that included acreage near a future interstate highway Hastert pushed to build.
- Hotline - In Hastert's Defense
The day after a watchdog group questioned his $2M profit on a land deal near Prairie Parkway, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) "defended the transaction."
- Chicago Sun-Times - Hastert's $2 million land deals questioned
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert pocketed almost $2 million from real estate deals adjacent to his Plano home in booming Kendall County, one of the fastest growing areas in the nation.
- Chicago Tribune - Records reveal Hastert's hand in land deal
Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert and two partners turned a profit of more than $3 million on property they accumulated and sold in just over three years near the route of a proposed controversial freeway on the western fringe of suburban Chicago, according to land records and financial disclosure reports released Wednesday.
- The Associated Press - Speaker Hastert defends profits from land deals
House Speaker Dennis Hastert denied Thursday that he pushed for federal funding for a proposed highway in northeastern Illinois so he and his wife could reap about $1.8 million from land deals near their home in Kendall County.
The Sunlight Foundation, a newly created group whose declared aim is to inform the public about what members of Congress do, has accused Hastert of not divulging connections between the $207 million earmark he won for the highway and an investment he and his wife made in nearby land.
- Think Progress - The Pictures of Corruption: How Hastert Used Tax Dollars to Turn a $1.5 Million Profit
Here’s a graphic timeline explaining how House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) used a federal earmark to turn a $1.5 million profit:
- CongressDaily PM - CongressDaily PM
A government watchdog group questioned whether House Speaker Hastert benefited from real estate deals because of $207 million he earmarked for a proposed Prairie Parkway.
- United Press International - Hastert land profits linked to road bill
U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., reputedly shared in $3 million land deal profits linked to an Illinois highway bill, reports say.
- Hotline - ETHICS: Hastert's Road To Riches?
Chicago Sun-Times' Sweet/Herman report that Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) "pocketed" almost $2M from real estate deals "adjacent to his home" in "booming" Kendall County, "one of the fastest growing areas" in the nation.
- Captain's Quarters - Another Confluence of Pork And Influence (Update With Hastert Response, And Reader Response)
The Sunlight Foundation reports that another apparently clear linkage between pork and a politician's pocket exists in the business dealings of Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL). They report that Hastert has pushed through $207 million in earmarks for a business venture financed by a trust owned in part by Hastert himself:
- The Hill - Groups urge support for bill creating new database for OMB
Spending watchdogs and social conservatives are backing a Senate bill that would make it easier to track how the government spends taxpayer money.
- Corporate Engagement: A group blog by Trevor Cook and JWM colleagues - Watching the watchdogs
The Sunlight Foundation is a Washington-based watchdog that was created to stimulate citizens, bloggers and journalists to investigate what goes on in the US Congress.