Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (19710)	12/14/2003 1:20:25 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793640

District in Illinois Known for Its Hogs By Al Kamen Washington Post Friday, December 12, 2003; Page A35 Now that Congress has slithered out of town, various folks -- traditional deficit hawks and neo-hawks (Democrats) -- are sifting through the pork, trying to figure out where the money's going. One congressional district in the area around DeKalb, Ill., appears to be faring exceptionally well in the Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations conference report. The 14th Congressional District, one of the richest in the state, looks to get 43 percent of all the projects earmarked for Illinois, even though it has only about 5 percent of the population. Nearly one-third of the $16,445,000 headed for the district would go to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb for projects on family violence and sexual assault, a "vibration and acoustics" center, a paleontology research project, personnel and equipment and $3 million for a family health wellness and literacy center. Aurora, in the same district, picks up $4 million for the Provena Mercy Center, $55,000 for a visiting nurse association and $3.2 million for the Association for Individual Development. And the Plano Community Library District is on tap for nearly $1 million for "expenses." So why is it that so much goes to that district? Obviously, because that district has many worthwhile projects. Also, its median income is $56,314, or $14,000 above the national average, which means it deserves to get more of its tax dollars back than poorer districts. But we can be sure of one thing: The proud 14th's success has got nothing to do with who represents it in Washington. That would be House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R), who picked up a graduate degree at Northern Illinois University. washingtonpost.com