Tag Archives: school board

Powerful Illinois Democrats Circle Wagons to Protect Colleague After Incident at Tavern

Posted on by
Reply

If you wondered what I was doing this weekend instead of writing, I have an excuse:  Along with a handful of fellow Andrew Breitbart contributors, I spent much of the weekend trying to track down people involved in a St. Patrick’s Day incident that resulted in the resignation of Ken Snider, a man who serves as chair of the MaCoupin County Democrat Party, president of the Carlinville, Ill., school board and former head of one of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s security details.

Though the whole truth about the incident might never be made public, here’s what we do know:  The incident took place at the Anchor Inn, a tavern located on 33 Daley Street in Carlinville, a town about 60 miles north-northeast of St. Louis.  It allegedly involved racial epithets being hurled by Snider toward a group of African-American students from nearby Blackburn College, and an altercation ensued.  Beyond that, unfortunately, details are scarce as few people are talking and officials with the Carlinville Police Department have handed the investigation of the incident over to the Illinois State Police.

I’ve made numerous attempts — via their parents, girlfriends and others — to reach the college students allegedly involved in the incident, but all have been unsuccessful.  In short, they’re not talking.  To anyone.

Likewise, people inside the tavern who witnessed the incident are, understandably, making themselves scarce due to what many suspect is a great deal of pressure being applied by powerful Democrats in the “Land of Lincoln.”

When — not if — more details do surface, this story has potential to become the “Story of the Year” in Illinois.  Until then, Dan Riehl offers more about the story and the media coverage it has received to date in a piece published today at BigGovernment.com.

UPDATE 3/29/11 at 9:13 a.m. Central: Here’s a link to another piece about this controversy, published yesterday, by Dan Riehl.

FYI: If you enjoy this blog and want to keep reading stories like the one above, show your support by using the “Support Bob” tool at right. Thanks in advance for your support!

Report Highlights Worst Waste of 2008

Posted on by
3
Click to view Sen. Coburn's report (pdf).

Click to view Sen. Coburn's report (pdf).

Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, today released the oversight report, “2008: Worst Waste of the Year.”

The look back on 2008 features absurd federal spending from beltway bureaucrats and elected officials.

“As we look back on federal spending for 2008, American taxpayers will laugh, and then cry at how their elected officials spent their hard-earned dollars. Not even these tough economic times have dulled Congress’ ability to find new and creative ways to waste taxpayer dollars,” Dr. Coburn said.

Examples of waste in 2008 include:

• $188,000 for Lobster Institute in Maine, home of the “LobsterCam”

• $1 million for bike paths on Louisiana levees while levees await basic repairs

• $2.4 million for a retractable shade canopy at a park in West Virginia

• $24.6 million for the National Park Service’s 100th year birthday in 2016 – 8 years early

• $3.2 million on a blimp the Pentagon does not want

• $367,000 wasted by a Texas school board on items like an inflatable alligator and under-the-sea waterslide, among other things

• $5 million for a bridge to a zoo parking lot in St. Louis

• $9,000 for a non-functioning airplane-shaped gas station in Tennessee

• $300,000 for specialty potatoes for high-end restaurants

“The waste highlighted in this report is only a fraction of the more than $385 billion the federal government throws away every year through waste, fraud and duplication,” Senator Coburn said.  “Yet, each example in this report is a snapshot that tells a larger story, just as the Bridge to Nowhere justifiably became a symbol of the corrupting nature of earmarks.

“The story the American people already understand is that Congress’ inability to make common sense decisions about spending priorities is putting our children’s future at risk. Until Congress abandons the short-term parochialism that gives us LobsterCams and inflatable alligators, we will never get a handle on the major economic challenges facing this country.”

Read the full report and, if you find a member of Congress who deserves to be recognized for his wastefulness, nominate him — or her, as the case might be — for The Heistman Trophy.

.