($25,000) Check, please!
The Chicago Tribune does a good piece of old-fashioned reporting today on major donors to the Blagojevich campaign. The governor's $25,000 club looks at every donor who wrote a $25,000 check to Blagojevich's campaign.
Following the submission of a sworn statement by a former top member of Blagojevich's administration that he bought his job with a $25,000 campaign contribution, the Tribune looks at all 235 checks for $25,000 and what, if anything, those donors got."Of the 235 donations to Blagojevich, the Tribune found 175 came from companies, unions, trade groups or individuals who somehow benefited under his administration."
Team Blagojevich is batting .745 - those are Rookie-of-the-Year numbers.
You've got to wonder if the folks who wrote those other 60 checks are feeling cheated though. Maybe they can get a refund?
It's a lengthy piece, but well-written...go read the whole thing.
8 comments:
The Feds should investigate the companies who do business with the Illinois Tollway. Bet they'll uncover plenty!
Just start questioning Jack Hartman and Brian McPartlin.
Is it too much to ask of the Governor to do the right thing for once and just plead guilty once he's charged so that we can save the time, expense and distraction of a trial?
Dog, it's an interesting article. But, it doesn't deal with some things I think are major considerations. I've seen too many examples with this administration and previous ones where the media ignores these points.
It's really two-parted. One, since Governors (and other elected officials) fundraise year round, anyone with a job or contract who contributes will virtually always get their contract, contract renewal, etc within 6 months of making a contribution, or make a contribution within 6 months after. The timing is only a coincidental consideration in most cases, maybe all cases, but the media want to report it so that we infer that it is sinister.
Two, in MANY cases the firms are people who have been providing services to the state for years. It's not unusual for these companies to have been valued vendors back even as far as the Thompson administration, and they are doing no more or less than they've been doing for years, providing financial support to whomever is the Governor at the time.
If someone wanted to really look for unwholesomeness, they would filter these factors out and show us likely causal relationships rather than frequently coincidental ones.
Maybe Dick Mell was right about what he said? Is that even a doubt anymore.
Chris Kelly lied and his rich pimp trial lawyer muscled Dick Mell with the "law" to shut up and stop telling the truth.
Rod Blagojevich should go to jail
Bob Clifford should go to jail
Chris Kelly should go to jail
Lon Monk should go to jail
Scofield should go to jail
Rezko and Ali Ata are not alone
Excuse me, frankie, but what crimes are Blagojevich, Clifford, Monk, and Scofield convicted of? OK, indicted for?
Maybe I think you should go to jail for something, but usually here in America we expect to see court proceedings, etc before we send people to jail.
Steve,
This doesn't exactly fall in the coincidence category:
"A Chicago engineering firm and its affiliate wrote two $25,000 checks in 2006, and within months won $25.4 million in new state business. A state lawmaker got a six-figure state job, one of more than four dozen donors awarded jobs or appointments by Blagojevich. One Chicago pharmacist previously told the Tribune—and law enforcement—that his $25,000 check to the governor's campaign was the price tag for fixing a critical state audit of his drugstore,"
Anon, some well could be coincidences. Did the engineering firm have previous state contracts? Going how far back? Had they contributed to Governors in the past? The "four dozen" donors, had they contributed to Governors (or candidates in the past? Again, how far back? etc, etc
For much of this stuff, I have to know more to know what it means. Obviously, if the pharmacist story is true, either someone needs to end up in front of a judge, or maybe somebody was bulls______g the pharmacist.
The Feds should at least investigate the Mayor Daley people link to Blagojevich doing lobbying and IDOT and Toll Authority like HARTMAN and MARTIN and lobbyist VICTOR REYES and the contracts and jobs but jobs are baby stuff and the contracts are where it is at.
Steve Schnorf, you are right there should be a trial etc but that does not mean that some people should not go to jail. The wrongdoing of Blagojevich and those surroudnding him is well documented in court documents, and now trials, and in the past newspaper articles. Grand juries ahve been formed, there has been investigations--if you want to bet on the result I will take you up on that. Blago will be indicted (or plea guilty and/or cooperate like the rat he is)
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