100k to anever done project, 65k to campaign volunteer.. AG involved.

MrVicchio · 09-26-08, 11:26 AM

Quote:

A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.

The garden was never built. And now state records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood.

Obama's $100K Englewood garden grant being probed :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: The Watchdogs

If McCain or Palin had done this, they'd be toast.

Coolguy · 10-12-08, 09:34 AM

You're right, they would be toast.

Objective Voice · 10-12-08, 11:39 AM

I can understand the implication here. Sen. Obama approves a grant to one of his campaign "volunteers" who doesn't use the money for the project for which the grant was intended. Moreover, the story reads as if Sen. Obama showed favoritism towards the grant recipient. What the article doesn't say conclusively is whether or not Sen. Obama did know the campaign volunteer personally before approving the grant. I guess that's something the Illinois AG will flush out eventually.

Could it be that Sen. Obama did know of Mr. Smith and, like many politicians do, thought enough of his ideas that upon reviewing his grant proposal he thought it worthy enough for grant approval? Yes, it's possible. That line of reasoning, of course, would lend itself to fair dealings. People in business do this all the time, e.g., meet someone who has what they think is a good idea for investment, run it by that individual who happens to be a "mover-N-shaker" and said businessman either approves, denies or offers suggestions on the proposed plan. It's not uncommon.

OR

Could it be that Mrs. Smith merely misappropriated funds of which Sen. Obama happened to be the approval authority for the grant in question? Again, it's possible. And again, we'll just have to wait and see what the Illinois AG's investation turns up. One-hundred thousand dollars is far less than a few million, but it's wasted money just the same. I wouldn't say that Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin would be toast if this story were about them. It's small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. In Palin's case it would be one more figure to add to her "earmark" tally. Nonetheless, on the surface of it, the ethics of the matter has been called into question, and it's something that can't be ignored. Regardless, the oweness is on Mr. and Mrs. Smith moreso than on Sen. Obama. After all, he only approved the grant. I don't know how Illinois' grant approval process works, but perhaps he was merely on that particular committee to review the type of grant that came before him. Regardless, the Smith's moreso than Obama need to be held accountable because it was they who misused the funds awarded them.