Well, the bigger issue here is why elected officials aren�t forthcoming about their investments.

Actually, the bigger issue here is why members of Congress have this kind of power to begin with. We have never needed a full-time Congress that can micro-manage where a state highway department (the federal government doesn't build interstates, it only funds them) puts its roads and interchanges.

EVERYBODY is talkin' these days about Tammany men growin' rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawin' the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft. There's all the difference in the world between the two. Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I have myself. I've made a big fortune out of the game, and I'm gettin' richer every day, but I've not gone in for dishonest graft - blackmailin' gamblers, saloonkeepers, disorderly people, etc. - and neither has any of the men who have made big fortunes in politics.

There's an honest graft, and I'm an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin': "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em."

Just let me explain by examples. My party's in power in the city, and it's goin' to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I'm tipped off, say, that they're going to layout a new park at a certain place. I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or that makes its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, which nobody cared particular for before.
Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my investment and foresight? of course, it is. Well, that's honest graft.

That $1.5M should of gone to the local schools which are overflowing because of all the new students (but Federal dollars for City schools in a transportation bill, I hope not)

Take a look at this map. The development, an exurb of Chicago, will be in the second-fastest growing county in the nation. The thick green line is the parkway Hastert funded with his earmark, feeding into I-80 and I-88. The Miller Road property was part of Hastert's payoff from the first deal.

It just so happens that an interchange recently added to the plans will feed into the same road as the new development, 2-1/2 miles away and 4-1/2 miles from the Miller Rd. property.

But it's all just a coinkydink, I'm sure.

So someone who purchased cattle futures and then sold them at a very good profit would also by definition be corrupt?

Pork, almost by definition, is what representatives bring home to their districts/states. I suspect every state has rules about representatives living in the districts they represent. While some districts are as bis as the state, many are much smaller. So some pork road/improvement coming in is likely to be near the representatives home.

Can this be a way for representatives to profit unduly or reward those who pay them or some other less than wonderful thing? Sure. Does it mean that every pork project is both to curry favor with the voters and to enrich the representative? no. Unless you restrict any legislator from making any commercial transaction (real estate, stocks, etc) there can be the appearance of impropriety. While it would be great to hold them to the level of Ceaser's wife, we tend to be more practical than that.

Jeffords was caught the old fashioned way. I would have no problem with the FBI noticing this sort of behavior and seeing if a bit of bait dangling would attract anyone.

This problem is in West Virginia and California.

Many highway projects create gateways to areas previously less accessible. Zoning changes that go along with the new mobility may also increase values.

Highway construction can also lead to other infrastructure improvements that cover a wider area and improve the fortunes of people many miles away.

In short, much more information must be obtained before any conclusions should result. That would include the guilt of the congressman or the risibility of the suspicions. Citizen checks such as this are a good thing and should be encourage.

Reynold's pointing out of the Post's story is not really his accusation just a notice to his readers about the story. If that is how we become wieners, by alerting others to facts, then count all of us as such.

hyping alleged windfall profits by GOP congressmen Dennis Hastert, Ken Calvert, and Gary Miller

Why do you call the profits "alleged"? Hastert invested $11,0000/acre in the Kendall County property in 2002 and sold it three years later @ $36,000. That sure sounds like a windfall to me!