Jun 16 2008
Clyburn Caught With Hand in Cookie Jar
This year’s budget includes at least four earmarks that could benefit people close to Clyburn.
The veteran lawmaker helped secure $784,000 for the planning and design of the International African-American Museum in Charleston. Clyburn’s nephew, Derrick Ballard, is one of the lead architects on that project.
Similarly, in 2005, Clyburn earmarked $145,500 for a community center to be designed by Ballard.
He also set aside $229,000 in this year’s budget to the Charles R. Drew Wellness Center in Columbia — a facility he helped construct with a 2003 earmark of $990,000. His daughter, Angela, is the marketing and membership director there.
He got $282,000 appropriated for The South Sumter Resource Center, where his sister-in- law, Gwendolyn, is housing coordinator for the center’s community development division. He’s secured $670,000 for the resource center in past budgets.
Along with the cost of earmarks, this is the other main reason why they need to be eliminated. What you have here is pure, unadulterated corruption. James Clyburn is using his power in the Federal Government to steer our tax dollars into the pockets of his family. The man should be removed from Congress for this immediately, but that’s about as likely as Bush getting impeached. So, that leaves it up to his constituents to decide in November and they’ll most certainly keep him. Clyburn’s district has been drawn especially for him and partisans love a corrupt politician as long as he is of the same stripe.
