Posted on 03/07/2008 11:02:04 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The national media hasn't picked it up, but there's another scandal brewing in Chicago today involving some key political players, including Tony Rezko, Jesse Jackson, Gov. Rod Blagojevich - and who knows who else in a potential corruption case incredible even by Chicago standards. If you want to get a whiff of the cesspool Barack Obama swam in and what type of people he associated with in Chicago, give this a quick skim. All the players are there, except Obama ... for now.
I'll lay out some quick facts and links and maybe some others can help turn up even more info. Read it and weep if you pay taxes in Chicago, though you may already be reading about it locally, in that case.
A church burns down and the Governor pledges 1 million dollars to help it recover.
But in March 2007, that money instead went to a private school that leased space from Pilgrim Baptist but has no other church affiliation. No state money has come to rebuild the charred administrative and school building, as Blagojevich promised, prompting church leaders and at least one state lawmaker to question whether Blagojevich had lived up to his word.
Okay, so the million never makes it to the church. Instead, it ends up going to a school that was housed in the church - the Loop Lab School. That gets passed off as a clerical error - but the Gov. doesn't want the money back. Nah, he'll just pony up another mil of tax payer dollars. Curious decision, huh? But wait, it gets better.
The Loop Lab School, which received the money instead, used the cash to purchase a condo in downtown Chicago.
And a key administrator of the school, Chandra N. Gill, needed a pardon for a felony conviction, assault on a cop or some such thing. And on her pardon application? Well, securing the million for the school - that was a clerical error remember - is suddenly one of her claims to fame to earn a pardon from the Gov who gave her the million, allegedly by mistake, in the first place. And the school shouldn't have gotten anything under any circumstances because of a sexual harassment case.
SPRINGFIELD -- A private school that Gov. Blagojevich said errantly received $1 million from his administration failed to stop a former kindergarten teacher from being sexually harassed and unlawfully retaliated against her when she complained, a state panel ruled in 2006.
And who, among others, steps up to write a letter of recommendation on the felon's behalf? Why, the Reverend Jackson, of course.
"I perform administrative duties [at Loop Lab School] and am currently responsible for securing the necessary funds to help rebuild the school," Gill wrote, after pointing out that Loop Lab School was the school forced out by the recent fire in Pilgrim Baptist Church. After the fire, Blagojevich publicly had declared his intent to help the church recover by steering state grants in its direction.
In her request, Gill mentions her conversations with the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity over the grant. Exhibit 1 of her petition is a June 7, 2006, memorandum from DCEO that refers to the $1 million grant. Though there are several other letters written on her behalf enclosed in the petition, including one from Rev. Jesse Jackson, the DCEO reference is the only one she notes specifically as she outlines her reasons for seeking the pardon.
In separate documentation from DCEO in November, 2006—a month after Gill's pardon and expungement hearing—the $1 million grant is signed off to Loop Lab School at its new 318 W. Adams St. address in Chicago. Chandra Gill is listed as the school's administrator to receive the funds. She received her pardon Jan. 23, 2007, in between the first and second disbursements of the grant.
And what of 318 W. Adams? Well, sure, it ends up involved in a real estate deal. Again, note the new address for the Loop Lab School.
In separate documentation from DCEO in November, 2006—a month after Gill's pardon and expungement hearing—the $1 million grant is signed off to Loop Lab School at its new 318 W. Adams St. address in Chicago. Chandra Gill is listed as the school's administrator to receive the funds. She received her pardon Jan. 23, 2007, in between the first and second disbursements of the grant.
Enter John Thomas:
In the last two years, Mr. Thomas has bought and quickly resold several other office buildings, including 250 S. Wacker Drive, 105 W. Adams St. and 11 S. LaSalle St. Last year, a Thomas venture bought 318 W. Adams St., a small West Loop office building that is being marketed as office condominiums.
And who is the Mr. Thomas mentioned above? Well, he's a key figure in the Rezko trial.
For the first time, the FBI "mole" who's expected to be a key prosecution witness against indicted developer and political fund-raiser Tony Rezko is talking.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, John Thomas said his life became frantic as he amassed hundreds of hours of recorded conversations for federal investigators while trying to maintain the real estate business he built on pluck and hustle.
Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19 on the New York charges. But his sentencing is likely to be delayed, perhaps for a year, while the Justice Department has him testify in the second of two trials Rezko faces -- that one involving allegations of business fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven, a prosecutor on both the Thomas and Rezko cases, declined to comment.
Still wondering why Hillary wants to drag things out and have the media look at the Rezko trial? Just how pure could Obama stay getting re-elected in this kind of filth? Something tells me he isn't quite that naive.
Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.
But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.
A close examination of Obama's first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career: The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it.
One of the candidates he eliminated, long-shot contender Gha-is Askia, now says that Obama's petition challenges belied his image as a champion of the little guy and crusader for voter rights.
"Why say you're for a new tomorrow, then do old-style Chicago politics to remove legitimate candidates?" Askia said. "He talks about honor and democracy, but what honor is there in getting rid of every other candidate so you can run scot-free? Why not let the people decide?"
In a recent interview, Obama granted that "there's a legitimate argument to be made that you shouldn't create barriers to people getting on the ballot."
Anyone know folks around Chicago...course they may already know about this cesspool.
Where’s my Bud franchise ?
“HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-MIDDLE-NAMED” is the ObamaJesus, and immune from these attacks.
Didn’t you get this week’s MSM Memo on this?
Some familiar names are showing up as a result of the Rezko Trial...
Could we wind up with yet another Democratic president with yet another very own Whitewater? What’s Ken Starr doing these days? We may need him.
Revealing massive scale government corruption in Chicago is like calling attention to a corn stalk in a corn field. Corruption and Chicago are interchangeable terms.
Obama knows his way around a ballot
**********************EXCERPT of a long article*********************
By David Jackson and Ray Long
Tribune staff reporters
6:48 PM CDT, April 3, 2007
The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city's South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama's four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.
Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.
But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.
A close examination of Obama's first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career: The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it.
One of the candidates he eliminated, long-shot contender Gha-is Askia, now says that Obama's petition challenges belied his image as a champion of the little guy and crusader for voter rights.
"Why say you're for a new tomorrow, then do old-style Chicago politics to remove legitimate candidates?" Askia said. "He talks about honor and democracy, but what honor is there in getting rid of every other candidate so you can run scot-free? Why not let the people decide?"
In a recent interview, Obama granted that "there's a legitimate argument to be made that you shouldn't create barriers to people getting on the ballot."
But the unsparing legal tactics were justified, he said, by obvious flaws in his opponents' signature sheets. "To my mind, we were just abiding by the rules that had been set up," Obama recalled.
"I gave some thought to … should people be on the ballot even if they didn't meet the requirements," he said. "My conclusion was that if you couldn't run a successful petition drive, then that raised questions in terms of how effective a representative you were going to be."
Asked whether the district's primary voters were well-served by having only one candidate, Obama smiled and said: "I think they ended up with a very good state senator."
Well,...we should look around to see what we can find shouldn’t we....?
All of the old klintoon sins will be thrown in the "it's all been covered" bucket, and these two thieves will skate again.
They recently raised the sales tax to over 10%.
I hope all of this stays out of the news for a few months, the best thing would be if it comes up once he becomes the nominee, if it comes out now, HIllery will use it to destroy him,and if it doesnt, then when it comes up in the general the media will treat it as old news.
Prosecutors who keep poking around Chicago politics usually disappear.
"A church burns down and the Governor pledges 1 million dollars to help it recover."
When that was first reported I went frucking ballistic. That asshat governor 'of mine' has NO business giving MY TAX DOLLARS to a Church - period, end, stop.
The ACLU should have been all over this, but no. Why, because Jesse Jackass is involved with this Baptist Church.
But it gets worse. Doing a little digging, actually a lot, through all the State Websites I find that that &%^$ing Blagojevich has given milions upon millions to Jewish Synagogues across Chicago and IL.
This may be IL, but dammit to hell if that doesn't violate the Establishment Clause - NOTHING DOES. And in case anyone wonders, I couldn't find one PENNY that went to a Catholic Church or School.
Seeing this article just got me p*ssed all over again .. Argggggh!!!!!
Really? Like Jim Thompson? He became governor of the state.
Thanks for sharing with us!
**********************EXCERPT*******************
Lest anyone fail to remember the link between accused influence peddler, Antoin (Tony) Rezko, now on trial in Chicago, and Barack Obama, a new web site, rezkorama.com launched yesterday to help cement the connection.
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt claims credit for the site and offers this explanation for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.