The Illinois Policy Institute has partnered with Citizens Against Government Waste to put together the book that Springfield doesn’t want you to read, profiling over $350 million in wasteful spending.

Highlights include:

• $6,500 for a tub of live bass. The state paid for fishing seminars and demonstrations using a 4,000 gallon, 40-foot long tank filled with live fish.
• $353,165 for car racing. The state is funding Raceway Associates, which partners with big-time 
races like the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, as well as a massive construction grant for Atkinson 
Motorsports Park in northwestern Illinois.
• $10,000 for a Batman gala. Your tax 
dollars funded a star-studded party for “Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan.
• $1,100 for Hawaiian party props. Your 
money made its way to Island Enterprises, a company providing “everything for luaus and Hawaiian themed events from dancers to music to props and apparel.”
• $78,066 for quail promotion. The state is funding Quail Unlimited, which is “dedicated to the wise use and management of America’s wild quail, doves, upland game birds and other forms of wildlife.”

Click here to download the full 2010 Piglet Book, authored by Nicole Kurokawa. [PDF]

More at the Illinois Policy Institute

image Atkinson Motorsports Gob Hill