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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    If you live next to a member of Congress, you're in luck. A new Washington Post investigation shows the myriad ways lawmakers "spruce up" their neighborhoods by steering more than $300 million in earmarks to public projects that are "next to or near" their own properties. From renovating a downtown area adjacent to your own office building to replenishing a beach directly infront of your cottage to building a bike lane right by your home, 33 members of Congress have been caught red-handed. The galling exposé is well-worth reading in full. We took a closer look at the satellite imagery of a handful of public projects described in the story. Here's how three Democrats and three Republicans likely raised the value of the properties they own:

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    Bike lane

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    The almost $500,000 that Miller secured for this earmark in 2006 helped build a 14-foot-wide bike lane approximately 900 feet from her home. Way to keep your neighborhood bike-friendly, congresswoman!

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    Beach replenishment 

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    LoBiondo has reserved $4.68 million for "beach monitoring and nourishment" of the Ventor City, New Jersey shoreline since 2008. It totally has nothing to do with the fact the beach sits 850 feet from his home.

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    Transit station 

    Tierney secured $3.5 million to help pay for a 950-space parking garage and commuter rail station in Salem, Mass. It's approximately a quarter-mile from a commercial building owned by Tierney. Is finding a parking space near your building a drag? If you're a member of Congress, order up a parking garage!

    Studying the Eisenhower Expressway 

    It's the High Line but for Illinois! Davis secured $800,000 for a study of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway in Illinois. The project looks into whether a deck over the expressway can be built that would offer a green space and a bridge to cross over the busy transit area. 
     
     

    Central Subway Project

    House minority leader Pelosi helped reserve $50 million toward a fancy new light-rail project in San Francisco's Union Square and Chinatown. Her husband happens to own a four-story commercial building just blocks away from the project.

    Railroad Study

     

    Is traffic too congested? Build a rail line! Wicker helped get $1.5 million for a study about relocating railroad tracks at a busy intersection in Tupelo, Mississippi that's almost a half-mile from his home. But to be fair, it's not necessarily a win-win situation given that late-night trains will be disturbing his sweet congressional slumber. 

     

    3 comments

    • Robert
      Robert  •  3 mths ago
      $300 million? Of course this is wrong but that would barely even buy you one F35 Joint Strike Fighter. The real money is being blown on the corporations that have their tentacles deeply buried in our government. Look at defense spending. Look at Medicare. Etc...
      • Robert
        Robert 3 mths ago
        Btw, the government wants almost 2,500 F35's. Do the math...
      • UnitedWeStand
        UnitedWeStand 3 mths ago
        Lockheed Martin's jet wasn't as good as the JSF from Boeing, but politics decided it.
    • William
      William  •  Dover, New Jersey  •  3 mths ago
      Come on people aren't we fed up with this Congress full of criminals some of them should go to prison and they rest must be voted out of office.
    • Doctor Who
      Doctor Who  •  Poplar Bluff, Missouri  •  3 mths ago
      Pelosi knows all the insider information she has chosen to keep her mouth shut and use this secret info to secure what she wants, if she ever made any of this out, Capital Hill would be empty, Nancy has spies everywhere collecting information.
      • UnitedWeStand
        UnitedWeStand 3 mths ago
        Now she knows where you live.
      • Doctor Who
        Doctor Who 3 mths ago
        Read it folks, I was correct abou Pelosi, The Insider!
      • Doctor Who
        Doctor Who 3 mths ago
        My WIFI and shopping cart is always on the move all over the city
     Post a comment
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