Marathon Pundit: Piglet Book is out: Illinois Policy Institute finds pork

Governor Pat Quinn wants to raise Illinois' income tax by 50 percent. Perhaps Quinn should download a copy of the Piglet Book. The Chicago Tribune summarizes the bacon:

Some legislators are extremely receptive and will talk about it on the floor, and will use it in some of their work with their local constituents," says John Tillman, with the Illinois Policy Institute. "We have not yet found with the Springfield leadership ... a receptivity to examining these cuts."

The "2010 Illinois Piglet Book," released Tuesday, is a 30-page guide produced by Tillman's agency in partnership with Citizens Against Government Waste.

"There's just a zillion of them that are kind of fun," Tillman said. "The state paid for fishing seminars and demonstrations using a 4,000-gallon, 4-foot-long tank of live fish.

"You know, we're going fishing, to try to find some savings for the taxpayers, but it doesn't seem like we should be ... teaching people how to fish."

Here is some more pork you can find in the book:

•$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."