Politics: February 2009 Archives

Gov. Pat Quinn has been in office about a month now and his biggest accomplishment so far is reopening seven state parks closed by his predecessor, Vlad the Impaler Blagojevich. Woo-hoo! Now this is progress.

Illinois is facing a $5 billion budget deficit and the governor is more concerned about reopening parks and restoring 12 jobs to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Now these are real priorities, apparently to a Democrat. If that's the case: Hey, Pat, don't forget those state historical sites that still remain closed after Blago shut them down.

Most of us are now seeing why Blago picked Quinn as his lite gov. He's easily molded and kind of folksy. Illinois doesn't need folksy now. We need a governor to lead and so far, The Hound is unimpressed. This is a guy with executive experience who apparently can't find the reins of power.

He better start moving faster than he has because by March 18 he has to deliver his budget address to the Legislature, as required by state law. The document should spell out how he's going to pay state bills and pull Illinois out of the deep red ink.

We know he still supports free mass transit rides for seniors, has reopened a few state parks and called for Sen. Roland Burris, D-Go Home, to resign. Heck, some of those state parks are dwarfed by Lake County forest preserve sites in acreage and visitors. One state park in Ogle County that Blago closed only gets 150,000 visitors a year.

Come on governor, time to step up and see what you learned at Blago's side.

Just when you think Illinois is no longer the laughingstock of the nation, along comes Sen. Roland Burris, D-Perjury, for a second round leading the state into becoming late night comic fodder. We're no longer the Land of Lincoln. We're the Land of Laughers.

Yikes, we really know how to pick 'em, don't we? But then we didn't pick Sen. Burris.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D-Indicted, did after the Democratic-controlled Illinois Legislature failed to call a special election to fill the seat once held by President Obama. And the U.S. Senate leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-No Backbone, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Egg on His Face, folded and allowed Burris to be seated in the Congress' upper chamber.

Reid and Durbin were right the first time: Blago's appointment was tainted. Now we know for sure because Burris said he was asked to raise campaign bucks for the impeached governor before Blago named the former Illinois attorney general and comptroller to the Senate.

The only one with any scruples at all in this mess, as The Hound has pointed out previously, is Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. White refused, even under extreme pressure from Chicago's black community, to certify the state's junior senator into the Senate. If Burris had any dignity, he would resign and Gov. Pat Quinn could appoint White to the seat.

And where is Sen. Durbin, the Senate's whip, when this newest twist in the Burris Follies unwinds? He's on a Mediterranean holiday, touring Greece, Cyprus and Turkey with state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who happens to be Greek-American. Apparently, phones don't operate in Europe because Durbin so far has been unable to be contacted by the state's eager reporters. Unless he's hiding in a bunker figuring out damage control for the statewide ticket next year.

With Presidents' Day on Monday The Hound thought of what President Washington said long before Illinois was admitted to the Union in 1818: "Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience." Which pol in this state has that little spark?

The stench from Illinois' rotting political corpse continues to permeate the Land of Lincoln. The latest example is Sen. Roland Burris' surprise affadavit that, in fact, he had been tapped to donate to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's retirement fund. But, the senator, maintains he didn't perjure himself when he appeared before the special legislative committee on impeachment Jan. 8. This, once again, doesn't pass the smell test.

Three weeks after Sen. Burris, D-Chicago, is sworn in he apparently remembers that the former governor's brother, Rob Blagojevich, hit him up for a $10,000 campaign donation. The affadavit was quietly filed Feb. 5. Which Democrat was holding that news hostage until the Chicago Sun-Times broke the story in its Sunday editions?

The whole Burris appointment to the Senate seat of President Obama, the one the ex-governor tried to peddle first to the highest bidder, gets curiouser and curiouser as this latest drama unfolds. Why didn't Burris tell the legislative panel he was approached by Rob Blagojevich? He had nothing to lose then. Now he makes up some story about how he actually answered lawmakers' questions when it was posed if he had contact with anybody representing the former governor. The senator's a lawyer, isn't he; an officer of the court? Didn't he have a responsibility to report this?

And to think, most Illinoisans actually originally believed Roland Burris when he said he was an honorable man. There is a difference in being honorable and conveniently overlooking an important fact. Is there no honor among Illinois pols? This is yet another stain on the Land of Lincoln.

Let's see, we just had a governor booted from office and facing criminal charges for having the audacity to bring "pay to play" politics to the dizzying height of selling to the highest bidder a U.S. Senate seat. Guess they must have missed that in Antioch. Or at least village Trustee Dennis Crosby wasn't paying attention.

Crosby went on the record at the Feb. 3 Village Board meeting seeking to shake down the developers of the Antioch Marketplace for a $1.3 million donation for a village recreation center and swimming pool. The Hound says "pay to play" politics will have a hard time dying in this state if a village the size of Antioch decides to continue the policy.

Here's what Crosby said to the developers, who were seeking a sales tax surcharge for the commercial development on Route 173, according to a News-Sun story:

"You guys are getting up to $13 million out of this. This town has enormous needs. We would like you guys to commit to supporting a recreation center and swimming pool. I don't care where the money comes from, but I want you to get this done if you want my 'yes' vote. I want to see $1.3 million for this project."

Lucky for Crosby the feds don't have a wiretap at Village Hall. Replace Rod Blagojevich's voice for Crosby's and that would be one more allegation he would be facing. Maybe Crosby can justify selling his vote for a "donation" to the village because he is doing it for Antioch.

But some Illinois politicians just never learn that "pay for play" just doesn't pay.

The Hound knows a few folks who happened to run afoul of the taxman, aka the IRS, and they certainly didn't get to write letters of apology to the U.S. Senate. They had to pay like, immediately, and if not, their pay checks were bricked by the G-men. The same should happen to former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who has been nominated by the Obama administration to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Daschle is the second Obama cabinet official to run afoul of the taxman. The first was Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who failed to file taxes for two years and owed about $30,000 in back taxes. Daschle owes more than $120,000. Whatever happened to the good scandals involving Democrats? Like Wilbert Mills and Wayne Hays and Gary Hart, you know, the ones involving women? Since when do Democrats have enough money that they don't have to pay taxes?

Seems Republicans always used to have those monetary lapses, or at least failed to report they employed illegal aliens or similar monkey business. Dems always had the sex scandals.

Ah, but this is part of the new Democrats, apparently. Seems not only that Daschle failed to pay his tax bill, but also made more than $200,000 the past two years speaking to members of the health-care industry that President Obama wants him to reform. Who's vetting these guys for the new administration?

The Hound thinks Daschle, who probably will be approved for the cabinet post, should be brought face-to-face with the taxman and have his future earnings, with interest, bricked. That should teach future cabinet secretaries that when the taxman cometh, you must payeth.