Posted on 04/20/2014 7:13:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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 ...
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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 state’s 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.
Clinton’s library, located in Little Rock, Ark., was funded solely through private donations, according to the Clinton Foundation. Clinton’s “$165 million facility was built entirely through private funds. It’s just a fact,” said Jordan Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Clinton Foundation.
Likewise, Bush’s library, located at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, was also funded through private donations.
The Barack Obama Foundation, tasked with planning the development of Obama’s presidential library, has yet to determine the site of the future library. In fact, the foundation’s 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 Obama’s 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 didn’t have a job to go to, and thousands more face underemployment. To them and many others, it’s 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.
Obama’s staff expects the library to cost $500 million or more. And the costs won’t 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
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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.
I can understand that, certainly! But in my lexicon of the colloquial vernacular, it is entirely appropriate. :o)
Nice.....or as I’m thinking.....a Persian Prayer Rug in a storage unit outside of Chicago just off the interstate....
Hell.....I’d even say we put an arrow in it that points to Mecca!
Forgot to add that just one small outhouse would be an appropriate library.
If they built a Lie-Barry, I’d be all behind the expenditure.
When the ISS mission is complete, move it there.
They shouldn’t call it a “library” since most of King Barry’s acolytes can’t read.
“Temple” would be more appropriate.
Build it out of wood please
........as broke as this country is, I would say to these libraries thirty minutes after being elected President that you should start lining up your donors cuz in two years I will veto any bill that includes ANY funds for ANY Presidential Library. If you can’t find enough money to keep the doors open you will have to close.
Then, I would learn from Palin and sell ALL jets of the federal government used to haul govt. executives (an oxymoron) around including both Air Force Ones.
Then NPR would be closed one hour after the inauguration. I would put an Obama Executive Order on them.
I would defund, defund, defund all this bullshit until the income the gov’t took in (after massive tax cuts) matched what it spent.
Then, I would go all out for the Constitutional Convention which would re-organize congress similar to The Texas Congress (limited to every 2 years, $6,000 salary, 6 months limit on each Congress).
Term limits and for the Feds Lobbying becomes a federal felony.
Finally, the Feds would be prohibited from borrowing money except for war or natural disaster type emergencies and even then a 3/4 vote of both houses would be required.
Ok, enough dreaming for today but our problems are fixable if we can muster the political will.
I’m surprised they’re considering an obama library.
I thought, fer shure, it would be an obama golf course.
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The Obama Presidential Library should be a hut in Kenya.
Obama's Chicago mansion could be the presidential library! Some nice information in the entryway about the corrupt real estate deal that got the Obama's that mansion. Maybe a walking tour through the neighborhoods where Obama was a community organizer. Bring your own gun for self-protection, maybe even get the thrill of a Chicago gang shoot out.
Forget books. How about walls lined with teleprompters to read about Obama's illustrious presidency? And geegosh, the grounds could have a garden, complete with a fox or two to eat it. The cafeteria could serve Michelle-inspired school lunches.
They really should put me in charge. I'd plan a real appropriate presidential library. <^..^>
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