Obama's goodie bag
As a state senator, here's who he doled out state cash to
Back when Barack Obama was a state senator, the Illinois Legislature offered this perk: You get elected, you get to give out some money.
Like his counterparts, Obama routed this state grant money to parks, libraries and schools during his eight years in the Illinois Senate.
(AP files)
He gave money to domestic-violence, job-creation and social-service programs.
He also pumped cash into St. Sabina Catholic parish, the South Side church whose pastor is the Rev. Michael Pfleger, the outspoken supporter whose comments in a May sermon about Obama's former Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, landed the priest in trouble with Cardinal Francis George. St. Sabina got $100,000 to help rebuild its community center.
And a venture capital fund linked to the Rev. Jesse Jackson -- who apologized last week after making a crude remark about the Democratic presidential hopeful -- got $200,000, thanks to Obama.
In all, Obama doled out more than $3.6 million in state grants in just the last half of his state legislative career, records show.
A proposed botanic garden in Englewood got $100,000 from Obama, but the project never was completed because an additional $1 million in funding that Obama had said he'd "work tirelessly" to help obtain never materialized, the Chicago Sun-Times reported last week. That was among the biggest chunks of cash Obama gave out during the 2000-2003 budget years. (Records from 1997 to 2000 weren't available.)
"The vast majority of grants that Senator Obama secured in the state Senate provided a direct public benefit to his constituents," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said. Obama voted in Springfield to beef up oversight of all legislative grants, but the measure didn't pass, LaBolt added.
Here's a look at who else got the biggest state grants from Obama from 2000 to 2003. For the complete list, go online to www.sun times.com/news/watchdogs.
$590,000 -- Chicago Park District, land acquisition, design and development of Renaissance Park, 79th and Ada (2000)
$500,000 -- Southwest Women Working Together, equipment for domestic-violence shelter (2002)
$450,000 -- Kennedy-King College, Opening Doors/Changing Lives and domestic-violence programs (2001)
$200,000 -- Chicago Park District, Auburn Park expansion (2000)
$200,000 -- Citizenship Education Fund/Rainbow PUSH LaSalle Street Project, "venture-capital business for underserved areas" (2000)
$100,000 -- Chicago Better Housing Association, Englewood botanical garden (2001)
$100,000 -- Chicago Park District, Jackson Park track (2000)
$100,000 -- Chicago Park District, Murray Park improvements (2000)
$100,000 -- Museum of Science and Industry, Time Museum exhibit (2001)
$100,000 -- St. Sabina parish, repairs to the Ark community center (2001)
$100,000 -- South Side YMCA, child-development center (2000)
$100,000 -- South Side YMCA, child-development center (2001)
$80,000 -- Hayes Manor Senior Center, two vans (2000)
$75,000 -- Fulfilling Our Responsibility Unto Mankind (F.O.R.U.M.), "21st Century e-family.com initiative" (2001)
$60,000 -- Chicago Park District, West Chatham Park improvements (2000)
$50,000 -- Big Buddies Youth Services, teen mentoring (2000)
$50,000 -- Black United Fund, building renovations (2001)
$50,000 -- Chicago Park District, Leland Giants Park expansion (2000)
$50,000 -- ETA Creative Arts Foundation facility expansion (2001)
$50,000 -- Southwest Youth Collaborative, Youth/Teen Activity Center (2000)
$37,500 -- Chicago Urban League, "research on technology in the public schools" (2001)
$30,000 -- Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, van (2000)
$30,000 -- Southwest Youth Collaborative, "programs for at-risk children" (2001)
$25,000 -- Big Buddies Youth Services, teen mentoring and sports (2001)
$25,000 -- Blue Gargoyle Youth Service Center, literacy and counseling (2001)
$25,000 -- Chicago Youth Centers, Rebecca Crown Center library and reading room, dance facility (2001)
$25,000 -- Christ Deliverance Center, day-care, after-school programs (2000)
$25,000 -- Harris YMCA renovations, new equipment (2001)
$25,000 -- Interventions, drug rehab program (2000)
$25,000 -- Metropolitan Family Services, Teen Resources Center (2001)
$25,000 -- South Shore Drill Team, "purchasing performance equipment, uniforms and shoes for new recruits, and paying off vehicles" (2001)
$20,000 -- Black United Fund, "writing services" to local groups (2000)
$20,000 -- Business & Economic Revitalization Association Economic Development Program (2000)
$20,000 -- Happy Companion, office space (2001)
$20,000 -- Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, senior and youth programs (2001)
$15,000 -- Holis House, renovation (2002)
$15,000 -- Hyde Park Art Center, "facility planning" (2001)
$15,000 -- Marquette Development Center, job training (2001)
$15,000 -- South Shore Planning and Preservation Coalition, "increase publication of the South Shore Directory" (2001)
$15,000 -- Woodlawn East Community and Neighbors Inc., Lekotek Learning Center (2001)
$12,000 -- South Shore Planning and Preservation Coalition, "business directory to create jobs" (2000)
$10,000 -- 15th Ward Organization Crime Stoppers, anti-gang/drug programs (2001)
$10,000 -- Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, "community-policing support and training/establishment of citizen safety patrols" (2001)
$10,000 -- South Shore Chamber of Commerce Program Development Project (2000)
$10,000 -- South Shore Chamber Inc. (2001)
$10,000 -- St. Philip Neri School, "after-school community and senior programs, and crime watch" (2001)
$10,000 -- West Englewood United Organization for the Clara Tempie Hampton Housing (2001)
$5,000 -- Chicago Public Library Blackstone Branch, poetry workshops, jazz concerts, advertising (2001)
$5,000 -- Chicago Public Library South Shore Branch, "various costs" including chess equipment, books and knitting supplies (2001)
$5,000 -- Cook County Englewood Health Center (2001)
$5,000 -- Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce Clean Streets Program (2001)
$5,000 -- James Madison Elementary School, intercom system (2001)
$5,000 -- Jazz Unites, "extending 'Project Awareness' for 2-3 weeks" (2001)
$5,000 -- Miles Davis Academy, construction (2001)
$2,500 -- Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference, Chicago Academic Games League (2001)
$2,500 -- Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference Nichols Park gardens (2001)
$2,500 -- Hyde Park Youth Symphony, community outreach (2001)
$2,500 -- Mostly Music, public school arts enrichment program (2001)
Chris Fusco