Posted on 10/02/2012 11:41:50 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Federal government to buy closed Ill. prison for $165M, vows will not house Gitmo detainees
Article by: SOPHIA TAREEN , Associated Press Updated: October 2, 2012 - 1:23 PM
CHICAGO - The federal government has agreed to buy the closed Thomson Correctional Center in western Illinois for $165 million after the sale was held up for three years, state leaders announced Tuesday.
Many Illinois leaders — including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. Pat Quinn who spoke to The Associated Press ahead of a news conference to announce the sale — supported the purchase because they said it would bring up to 1,100 jobs to Illinois. Federal officials have said it would help alleviate prison overcrowding.
"It means a prison that has been sitting here empty will be used again and create a lot of opportunity for working families in the areas," Durbin said.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Obama official, Illinois leaders confirm sale of Thomson prison
They wouldn’t break their promise, would they?
Well, that whole Death Panel thing ...
Please explain that one to me. How do they get a thousand extra jobs out of that prison?
SHEEESH what another huge waste of our money. He’s probably going to announce between now and Nov 6th that he is actually closing Gitmo, after all, which he promised would be the first thing he did when he got elected. And also, being IL, he probably had some deal promised to someone to buy the prison in exchange for something corrupt that the did or will do for him.
Meanwhile, the State of IL has the highest prison population ever, and is closing down facilities to cut budgets.
And if you believe that......................
Just another power grab by Obama to bypass the Republican controlled House and steamroll over them.
WOLF REJECTS REPROGRAMMING REQUEST TO FUND
THOMSON PRISON EARMARK, BLASTS HOLDER ON RECORD
Letter to Holder Cites Examples of Inconsistency and Unlawful Practices Within DOJ
Washington, D.C. (July 27, 2012) – Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee, today “unequivocally” rejected a reprogramming request to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., long designated by the Obama administration to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.
The Obama Administration last night made the formal request to the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees that fund the Justice Department.
In rejecting the request, Wolf, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, said that this $165 million earmark, requested by Senator Dick Durbin, “not only was never included in any bill voted upon by the Congress, but Congress has specifically denied and rescinded funding for this acquisition.”
Wolf added that the Executive Order 13457 prohibits agencies from committing, obligating, or expending funds “on the basis of earmarks included in non-statutory source.”
Wolf’s letter states that the original purpose for the acquisition of Thomson was to house terrorist detainees from the United States Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Wolf noted that despite the attorney general’s personal “commitment” not to transfer detainees to Thomson, the Congress cannot trust Holder, the Department of Justice or the administration to abide by that commitment, given its track record of repeatedly ignoring or choosing not enforce U.S. laws. Specifically, Wolf cited the 2009 effort by the Obama administration, strongly advocated by Holder, to secretly transfer and release two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Virginia.
Cooks, Guards, Maintanence, Medical Staff, Assorted Government Overseers...
I assure you with Obama, Durbin and Quinn involved its all about money in the pocket. Only name missing is Jackson Jr. and he will need more “rest” after finding out he missed a kick back.
I was born and raised in Chicago and its the worst, tax and crime is only product. I still have a place there near Obama’s house (for sale, lake shore dr. Nice lake view if anyone needs a place lol ) Don’t let my name fool you, I’m south side Irish and white as rice.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., warned his committee would oppose the purchase.
“The Obama administration has been trying for years to open Thompson prison in order to transfer terrorists from Guantanamo Bay onto U.S. soil,” Rogers said in a statement. “This back-door move by the Obama Administration to open Thompson and reject the will of Congress and the American people is dangerously irresponsible, and will be met with the full and unfettered opposition of the Appropriations Committee.”
Thomson was built in 2001, but budget troubles kept it from fully opening.
Anybody else as creeped out about the fact that THE PRESIDENT just bought the Executive Branch a prison?
The Royal Family owns the Tower of London....
By doing this Obama is bailing out one his union bases - AFSCME by providing jobs to prison guards who would have been laid off due to Illinois being bankrupt.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
AFSCME sues to keep prisons open
By Jamey Dunn
The state’s largest public employee union is suing to block Gov. Pat Quinn’s plans to shut down several correctional facilities on the grounds that the closures would create unsafe working environments for its members.
http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/afscme-sues-to-keep-prisons-open.html
Thanks for the link. This whole thing will be stopped. It’s not going to happen. I hope there is going to be a battle on this scam.
Do you mean this is where they are going to try to put Freepers comes the revolution?
THOMSON — Illinois’ top leaders say the federal government will purchase Thomson Correctional Center in western Illinois for $165 million.
The prison’s sale has been stalled for years, most recently because of opposition from a Virginia Republican who chairs a subcommittee overseeing the Bureau of Prisons.
Congressman Frank Wolf rejected the sale request because he believed terrorism suspects would be housed there. Federal officials say that’s not true.
Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. Pat Quinn announced the sale Tuesday, saying federal officials decided to go around Wolf and act on their own authority. Durbin says it’s an unusual move but not illegal.
Thomson was built in 2001. Budget troubles kept it from fully opening. It has 1,600 cells but housed fewer than 200 inmates before closing to prepare for a sale.
An Obama administration official says the federal government is going to buy a state prison in Illinois as a facility that will hold high-security inmates.
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20121002/news/710029801/
They're going to round up conservative folk like you and give them jobs making license plates and phone books. I'd say, there's probably close to 1100 conservatives left in Ill.
See? Its bipartisan too ;)
Rumors from some Illinois politicans in the know are saying that Dick Durbin will not run for another term due to health problems and the likely replacement will be IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Durbin: Feds to write $165 million check to state for unused prison
Wolf chairs a House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the prison spending. The congressman vehemently opposed the move by the administration and said the “timing of this $165 million windfall to the president’s home state of Illinois,” shortly before the Nov. 6 general election “is suspect.” The prison is expected to draw workers and business from neighboring Iowa, a swing state where Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are battling.
“President Obama’s unprecedented directive to Attorney General Holder to circumvent Congress to purchase Thomson prison is deeply troubling,” Wolf said in a statement. “It directly violates the clear objection of the House Appropriations Committee and goes against the bipartisan objections of members in the House and Senate, who have noted that approving this request would allow Thomson to take precedence over previously funded prisons in Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia and New Hampshire.”
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