[Rhodes22-list] Illinois Politics

[Bill Effros]

No.

Illinois politicians give much better value for money than this.

Fitzpatrick has documented how this works:

Blackwell Jr. (whose main business is computer consulting) wants a state 
contract, he learns the man to see is Rezko, (this was easy to 
learn--everyone knew it) Rezko tells him who to hire, what charity to 
donate to, what campaign to donate to, what house or airplane to lease 
for the use of someone else, and the total amount expected in 
aggregate.  The amount seems to hover around 1%--so it's a really great 
deal--and its going on everywhere--you can't get a state job any other 
way--everyone is doing it.

Now, Rezko is great at head fakes.  You want a computer contract?  Hire 
this politician to run your Ping Pong promotion.  Send the money to this 
law firm I control.  They will pass the entire amount through to the 
designated politician.  You now own the politician as well as the 
contract--2 for the price of 1!

If Blackwell Jr. got onto Blago's transition team there had to be lots 
of juice.  He pops up over and over.

Obama controlled the hospital board that doled out CONs (if you can 
believe it) -- Certificates of Need.  You couldn't expand your hospital 
without first obtaining a CON.  You couldn't get a CON without paying 
off a lot of politicians.  The only way you could get on the board was 
by going through Obama. Rezko told Obama who got on the board and who 
didn't.  Rezko told Obama who got CONs and who didn't.

So one of the hospitals that needed a CON decided to hire Obama's wife 
for $100,000 a year (increased to $300,000 when her husband became a 
Senator.)  The hospital got its CON.  When Obama became a Senator, 
doctors in the hospital sold their mansion to Obama for a fraction of 
the real price. Rezko arranged for a mortgage for Obama from other 
bribe-payers angling for different deals.

Obama inserted a million and a half dollar earmark into a completely 
unrelated senate bill for the hospital.  Fitzpatrick will start tracking 
that billion dollars worth of earmarks backwards to the various sources.

Everything works fine until a good prosecutor starts flipping people.  
They tell him where to look, and sure enough! records confirm money 
flowing in unexpected directions.  Then he flips another and another. In 
Illinois the string is endless.  You can't get into Illinois politics 
unless you play the game.  Party affiliation means nothing.

Sorry, Ed, all THESE guys ARE crooks.  And everyone in Illinois knows it.

Brad,

I don't know how long it will take to unravel the twine, but from a 
perverse journalist's point of view, the longer the better.  I had 
absolutely no idea of the level of corruption in Illinois prior to 
checking out Obama's provenance early in the campaign.  I was stunned at 
the depth and breadth of  it, and greatly saddened that the media made 
absolutely no effort to expose it prior to the election.

This is sure to be a huge distraction for Obama for as long as he 
remains in office.  The party pros will actually run the government 
while Obama and Axelrod tap dance.  It will be hugely entertaining, 
although, sadly, the country will probably slide into an economic 
situation it can't recover from in our lifetime...if ever.

Obama won't cause this, he just won't be able to do what must be done, 
even if he had the slightest idea of what that might me.

But I digress...

Even in your most cynical heart of hearts you can't imagine what these 
guys have been up to for the past 50 years.

Bill Effros



Brad Haslett wrote:
> Bill E,
>
> Here's a "blast from the past" -
>
> http://www.eki-consulting.com/APPS/EKIHP1.nsf/Content/BE14CC6D3CE4025586256D030075A471?OpenDocument
>
> Remember this guy?  He's Mr. Ping-Pong, the guy O got the $300K grant
> for and then collected $112,000 in "legal fees" over the course of the
> next year.  Based on your research, is 1/3rd about the right
> percentage for "pay to play" in Illinois?
>
> Brad
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>
>