Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Prairie Porkway: Denny Hastert's Retirement Plan

TPMmuckraker reveals Rep. Denny Hastert's sure-fire investment strategy: Buy Low, Earmark Funds to Build Nearby Highway, Sell High

Over at the Sunlight Foundation, they've found Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) taking a page from Rep. Ken Calvert's (R-CA) investment playbook.

For years, Hastert has been pushing the construction of a highway called the Prairie Parkway in Illinois. He secured $207 million in earmarks to support the project. But what he didn't tell constituents was that he owned a huge plot of farmland just a few miles from where the road would run. And now that the project's gone through, the land has been tranferred to a real estate development firm with plans to build a 1,600 home community. The land has already improved in value by millions of dollars.

I wonder how much Hastert will ultimately make on the deal?

More at the Sunlight Foundation.

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