Earmarks–corruption at its finest

June 16, 2007 by Leon.

The latest news from Congress:

This week some south Florida legislators were left scratching their heads and asking “why?” The reason? A recent bill in the congress set aside $40 million (or our hard earned money) to build a highway in south Florida. The earmark was quite specific as to where the highway had to be built–and it’s into a bunch of wilderness and swampland. If the local leaders want the money, they have to build this specific road in this exact area. But it really goes nowhere.

Why, you might ask?

The earmark was done by a Republican Congressman from Alaska! Huh? Alaska? Now it makes even less sense, doesn’t it?  Well, here’s the story.

The road to be built it to an area of land that is owned by a big developer. Right now the land is not worth much because there’s no road. However, the developer wisely contributed tens of thousand of dollars to this same Alaska Congressman. Now, like magic, the Alaskan Congressman throws millions or your dollars to South Florida in an attempt to force the road to be built–and it will benefit only his benefactor.

Talk about corruption! No wonder Congress’ approval rating is even lower than that of Bush! 

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