CHICAGO: CRIME KIND OF TOWN

Crime in Chicago has been in the news lately, but it is nothing new. Historically it dates back over a hundred years. From the tale of the Gray Wolves

The 1890s Chicago City Council was notorious for corrupt political practices orchestrated by a faction of its aldermen known as the Gray Wolves. So named because they were viewed as preying upon the defenseless public, the Gray Wolves were led by First Ward aldermen “Bathhouse” John Coughlin and “Hinky Dink” Mike Kenna, and Johnny Powers of the Nineteenth Ward. These elected officials were not only skilled at trading votes for favors, but once in office they excelled in making municipal decisions to profit themselves financially.

“Please post links and information, or connections of dots to this thread. Keep chit chat to the minimum or in Freemail. THANKS!”

http://bwstlaw.net/attorneys.jsp

http://archpundit.com/blog/page/2/ (sorry to use that link)

(Sources need:)

Two Clarifications for the National Press

December 30, 2008 By: ArchPundit Category: Uncategorized

One, Roland Burris II is part of a law firm that has made significant contributions to Blagojevich as well, but Burris the elder is no longer with the firm–he was of counsel previously for RB II’s firm. Whether to include those contributions in Burris the elder’s total depends upon the dates. His current firm has given some as well–I’ll break that out in a bit.

Burris’s lobbying firm didn’t receive only $295,000 in state contracts, try $705,000 since 2003.

(no links)

Burris’ son arrested during incident outside nightclub
Daily Herald - Monday, August 21, 1995

The son of former Attorney General Roland Burris was arrested with another man about 2 a.m. Sunday for allegedly provoking a crowd outside a downtown Chicago nightclub.

Roland W. Burris II and Richard Porter, both 28, were both charged with mob action, a misdemeanor.

The two men were among about 40 people waiting to get into the Cairo nightclub.

The crowd had spilled out to the street because the club was at its maximum capacity, authorities said. The club, which has a 400-person capacity, is open until 4 a.m.

They were arrested after causing the crowd to become rowdy, Chicago police Lt. William Powers said.

When police tried to disperse the crowd, Burris and Porter yelled at police, saying, “You white coppers are picking on us because we’re black. You wouldn’t do this if we were white,” Powers said.

(snip)

Topinka says Blagojevich spends too much time reading at home
State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Thursday, June 9, 2005

EXCERPT

Burris honored

Former Attorney General ROLAND BURRIS was the guest of honor at a gathering of former employees Friday at Maldaner’s Restaurant in downtown Springfield. GARY KOCH, who oversaw patronage and government relations for Burris in the offices of comptroller and attorney general, said more than 45 people attended, and U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Ill., also stopped by.

Burris credited Koch, who is now director of communications and education for the Illinois Municipal League, and former deputy attorney general JIMMIE VOSS and former aide GLORIA SCHISLER for arranging the party marking a decade since Burris left state government.

“It was a great evening,” said Burris, who picked up the tab.

Burris now has a consulting and lobbying firm with former top staffer and campaign manager FRED LEBED and is of counsel to the law firm in which his son, ROLAND BURRIS II, is a named partner. Congratulations also are in order as the family name is being carried on by his son’s first child, born Feb. 18: ROLAND THEODORE BURRIS.

Stolen: It’s the CHicago way!
For pictures and furture discussion go to original post:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2160983/posts?page=17

>>>It will be interesting to see how well Obama’s Chicago Mafia and Hillary’s Dixie Mafia can work together.
I believe they have been. Here is Clinton. Front and Center.

ACORN’s People’s Platform

But in Little Rock, Hillary Clinton joined the male-dominated Rose Law Firm. The decision, she wrote in her memoir, was partly economic, an effort to secure the family’s finances while Bill Clinton pursued a career in politics.

Although she continued to do free legal work for some groups, her new career occasionally put her at odds with constituencies with whom she’d traditionally been aligned. In the late 1970s, a community group won a major victory with the passage of a Little Rock ballot measure regarding utility rates. The proposal aimed to make the rates more affordable by creating a fixed price for the first 400 kilowatt hours of consumption, so low-income customers could have power for their basic needs, said Wade Rathke, the founder of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the group behind the measure. The measure would have forced large utility users, such as businesses, to pay more.

(snip)

She did FREE LEGAL WORK for Wade Rathke, start up of ACORN. ACORN Started in Little Rock.

Wade Rathke, Chief Community Organizer
Obama headed up Project Vote who hires Acorn to do voter registration work on its behalf Project Vote got the Clintons INTO the White House

Obama and Clintons aren’t strangers at all.

Rezko and the Clintons

17 posted on Thursday, January 08, 2009 1:16:30 PM by Calpernia

(no link)

Our Sen. Kennedy?
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - Sunday, December 14, 2008
Author: Michael Sneed, The Chicago Sun-Times
Tipsville . . .

Is Chris Kennedy , the son of the late, great U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a possible entrant on the list to fill President elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat?

- To wit: Sneed hears Kennedy’s name has been wafted into the inner circle of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who would be the guy who chooses Obama’s replacement if Gov. Blagojevich resigns.

- Quoth Dem politico Jay Doherty , a Kennedy confidant: “It would give Pat Quinn the answer to the puzzle before him if he becomes governor.”

- The upshot: Word is Kennedy, who is also the nephew of Sen. Ted Kennedy, a major Obama supporter, is likely to accept if asked.

- Hmmm: Wouldn’t that be something: An offspring of the legendary Kennedy line as a senator from Illinois? Stay tuned.

(snip)

http://www.tomroeser.com/blogview.asp?blogID=24863

The question WHO is unasked…either because the media are too much in the tank or are too intellectually slow to perceive. Again: WHO DO THE LEADERS…PRESUMABLY DALEY AND MADIGAN…PREFER ULTIMATELY AS THE NEXT SENATOR? Lisa Madigan? Maybe but maybe not. There is every reason to suppose that she and her poppa want her to be governor which is a far better position for future eminence. My good friend and City Club President Jay Doherty proposed Chris Kennedy earlier, the son of Bobby Kennedy and the highly regarded manager of the Merchandise Mart. The sudden burst of publicity for Caroline Kennedy in New York would argue that, paired with Chris and old Teddy, it would be more than a surfeit of Kennedys in the Senate. But Caroline seems to have nearly self-destructed.

The question continues: who do the ruling Illinois Dem leaders prefer for the next governor, Pat Quinn to name? Frankly (this is a personal view) as I know Chris Kennedy I don’t think from a purely liberal Democratic perspective it would be too bad (although we would agree on virtually nothing). But I suspect there is someone else in the wings-not Chris Kennedy, not Lisa-but someone else. WHO? That must explain why the furor over Rolland Burris, a very average man but certainly not the empty suit some anti-Blago Dems and their media camp-followers maintain.

http://www.publicity.org/roundtable_6_03.htm

Jay Doherty, head of the Haymarket Group and president of Chicago’s City Club;

http://www.haymarket.net/default.aspx?pageid=11&playmovie=no&bhcp=1

Elected Officials

Haymarket provides political and governmental support to elected officials at every level of government - city, county, state and federal. Haymarket’s political client history includes:

#
# Chicago Finance Committee Chairman Edward Burke Cook County States Attorney Dick Devine
# llinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald
# Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke
# Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin
# County Commissioner Mike Quigley
# Secretary of State Jesse White
# Senator Carol Moseley Braun
# Congressman Luis Gutierrez
# Congressman Danny Davis
# Congressman Patrick Kennedy
# Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
# Senator Edward Kennedy

(snip)

(no link)

Tireless president has City Club riding high after 100 years - Jay Doherty has boosted club membership to more than 1,000 for the first time since 1954.
Chicago Sun-Times - Friday, September 26, 2003
Author: Steve Neal

(snip)

Doherty, a liberal Democrat, was the chief fund-raiser for the late Mayor Harold Washington and has close ties to the Kennedy family. Doherty is president of the Haymarket Group, a public affairs consulting firm, whose chairman is former Washington adviser Thomas P. Coffey.

(snip)

After college, Doherty got his first political job as advance man and traveling aide to 1976 Democratic presidential hopeful Sergeant Shriver. It was through this campaign that Doherty began his long association with the Kennedy family. After the Shriver campaign, Doherty was hired as director of communications for the Kennedy -owned Merchandise Mart.

In 1980, Doherty pitched in to help Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ‘s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. For the last two decades, he has coordinated Kennedy’s Midwestern fund-raising. He has also organized events for the senator’s son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), and for former Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.) and his sister, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

(snip)

(no link)

Jesse White Inspires Kids, Amazes Adults And Never Lets Up
Chicago Sun-Times - Sunday, April 24, 1994
Author: Zay N. Smith

EXCERPT

A little glory, at least, will come White’s way this November when he receives the national Robert F. Kennedy Golden Eagle Award for outstanding efforts on behalf of young people.

(no link)

38 of my law clients have city biz: Burke - Alderman held 34 stocks that each made at least $5,000
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - Saturday, May 3, 2008
Author: Fran Spielman, The Chicago Sun-Times

Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) lost eight blue-chip clients last year, but replaced them with 10 new ones and still has 38 law clients that did business with the city or other local government agencies, according to his annual ethics statement.

In addition to his booming law business, the City Council’s Finance Committee chairman also had another banner year for investments in 2007.

For the second straight year, Burke reported having stock in 34 companies that produced at least $5,000 in income last year. That’s twice as many such stocks as he held two years ago, when Burke unloaded his Wal-Mart stock just before the City Council approved the big-box minimum wage ordinance subsequently vetoed by Mayor Daley.

Several big-time players disappeared from Burke ‘s client roster as the economy turned downward. They include: Admiral Heating & Ventilating; Centrum Properties; Dominick’s; Fitzsimmons Surgical; K-Five Construction; the Pittsfield Building; Prairie Material Sales, and WBEZ Alliance.

But Burke more than made up for the loss by gaining 10 new clients that do business with the city: Albertson’s; Chicago Journeyman Plumbers Union; Imperial Realty; Marvel Group; Seaway National Bank; Standard Bank & Trust; Walgreens; Walsh Construction; William Wrigley Jr. Co., and Zemsky’s.

Burke is Chicago’s most powerful alderman and the husband of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke .

He has stated repeatedly that he does not represent any of his clients in their dealings with City Hall. His firm specializes in representing clients appealing property taxes before the county.

Eleven years ago, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a series of stories detailing the alleged conflicts between Burke ‘s position as Finance Committee chairman and his private role as a lawyer.

The newspaper disclosed how Burke used a rare parliamentary maneuver to change the record of four past Council votes involving his airline clients dating back as far as seven years.

(snip)

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/markets/news/article.asp?docKey=600-200812141302KRTRIB__BUSNEWS_43530-45T3LNSG2K4KEJLILURLS8ATI5&params=timestamp||12/14/2008%201:02%20PM%20ET||headline||EDITORIAL%3A%20Corruption%3F%20Moi%3F%20[St.%20Louis%20Post-Dispatch]||docSource||Knight%20Ridder/Tribune||provider||ACQUIREMEDIA

In November’s only Supreme Court race, Justice Ann McGlone Burke of Chicago, a Democrat, was retained. She did not face an opponent, perhaps because she is a highly rated jurist. Or perhaps because her husband, veteran Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, controls all judicial slating in Cook County.

Justice Department Briefing on Blagojevich Investigation:
Patrick Fitzgerald, United States attorney general for the Northern District of Illinois [speaking to press]:
Published: December 9, 2008

Excerpts from the transcript:

Fitzgerald: "In the governor words -- governor's words, quote, 'Fire all those bleeping people. Get them the bleep out of there. And get us some editorial support,' close quote. And the bleeps are not really bleeps."

(snip) "A month or so ago a $1.8 billion tollway project was announced. While that tollway project was being announced, Governor Blagojevich was privately seeking to have a person benefiting from that contract raise $100,000 in contributions, and privately the government (sic) said, 'I could have made a larger announcement but wanted to see how they would perform by the end of the year. If they don't perform, bleep 'em.' That's a quote. And the word 'bleep' was not the word he used."

(snip)

Fitzgerald: The governor's own words describing the Senate seat, quote, "It's a bleeping valuable thing -- thing. You just don't give it away for nothing," close quote.

Another quote, "I've got this thing, and it's bleeping golden. And I'm just not giving it up for bleeping nothing. I'm not going to do it, and I can always use it; I can parachute me there," quote. Those are his words, not our characterization, other than with regard to the bleep.

The tapes reveal that Governor Blagojevich wanted a number of things in exchange for making the appointment to the Senate seat -- an appointment as secretary of health and human services or an ambassadorship, an appointment to a private foundation, a higher paying job for his wife or campaign contributions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/us/politics/09text-illinois.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
_________________________________________________________

Regarding Blago's wife...

"Mrs. Blago, the former Patti Mell, won the hearts of old-school thugs everywhere with her f-word-filled rants captured on FBI wiretaps, some of which were colorfully detailed in the criminal complaint against her hubby..." --Michelle Malkin, December 17, 2008

http://710knus.townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2008/12/17/the_real_housewives_of_crook_county

Roland Burris and Rep. Bobby Rush (speaking)
at a Chicago news conference announcing
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appointment of
Burris to the U.S. Senate Dec. 30, 2008.
CBS
________________________________________________________

From David Horowitz's FrontPageMag.com/DiscoverTheNetworks.org:
PROFILE: BOBBY RUSH:

* Democratic Member of Congress

* Member of the radical Progressive Caucus

* In 1968, went AWOL from the U.S. Army

* Co-founder of the Illinois branch of the Black Panther Party

* In 1969, served six months in jail for an illegal weapons conviction

* Advocates reparations for African Americans

"Bobby Rush has described his involvement with the Black Panthers as part of his maturation process, as a youthful indiscretion that he abandoned immediately after Hampton's death. He described his role mostly as running the Black Panther Party's Free Breakfast for Children program.

But Bobby Rush served six months in jail for a 1969 illegal weapons conviction and, even after his release, in 1971 his comrades were still describing him as the 'Deputy Minister of Defense' for the Black Panther Party in Illinois. In 1992 the socialist magazine In These Times praised fledgling congressional candidate Rush, writing that he 'has continued to support progressive policies and has never disavowed his Panther past...."

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1198
________________________________________________________

From the Maoist Internationist Movement:
[1960s/original] Black Panther Party [BPP] Archives
From the article: REVOLUTIONARY HEROES

"On May 1st, May Day [1969], the day of the gigantic Free Huey rally, two of Alioto's top executioners vamped on the brothers from the Brown Community who were attending to their own affairs. These brothers, who are endowed with the revolutionary spirit of the Black Panther Party defended themselves from the racist pig gestapo.

Pig Joseph Brodnik received his just reward with a big hole in the chest. Pig Paul McGoran got his in the mouth which was not quite enough to off him.

The revolutionary brothers escaped the huge swarm of pigs with dogs, mace, tanks and helicopters, proving once again that "the spirit of the people is greater than the man's technology."

To these brothers the revolutionary people of racist America want to say, by your revolutionary deed you are heroes, and that you are always welcome to our camp."

Source: Maoist Internationist Movement
Article: REVOLUTIONARY HEROS (May 11, 1969):
http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/bpp/index.html

Of big claims, insiders and a sludge plant - How the Chicago sanitary district bought into a company’s dubious track recordFrom Seattle to Stickney
FROM:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/thursday/chi-black_boxsep20,0,7097866.story

Chicago Tribune (IL) - Thursday, September 20, 2007
Author: David Jackson, Tribune staff reporter

Eight stories tall and sheathed in corrugated steel, the windowless tower juts above the umber lagoons of the world’s largest sewage treatment plant, in west suburban Stickney.

Its outer walls are painted white, but Chicago sanitary district officials use a dark nickname for this structure.

They call it “the Black Box.”

(snip)

Finally, at a November 2000 district board meeting, Commissioner Patricia Young asked McMillan why Lynam’s Seattle plant was shuttered. “Can you explain what happened with that operation, why it failed?”

“It did not fail,” McMillan said. “We have representations from the owners of that facility — I’m talking about the municipal agency — that it did not fail to meet the contract requirements.”

“So why is it not operating anymore?”

“Union disputes.”

“Union disputes?”

“That’s correct,” McMillan said.

A month later, at a December 2000 board meeting, Young offered a motion that the district adopt revolving-door hiring restrictions like those enforced by the City of Chicago and Cook County.

Again, McMillan shut her down. No commissioner seconded Young’s motion, so it failed.

Days later, with Young as the lone dissenting vote, commissioners authorized the district to award Lynam’s company the Black Box contract.

FROM:
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:Iw3wEdYPidsJ:www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/thursday/chi-black_boxsep20,0,7097866.story%3Fpage%3D4+Lynam%E2%80%99s+company+%2B+corruption&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

....fertilizer pellets sometimes came out fluffy, making them difficult to truck and spread on fields. One food grower stopped taking deliveries after tractor drivers and farmworkers complained of breathing difficulties and skin rashes. “We do not wish to put our employees at risk,” John Huffman of Natural Selection Farms Inc. wrote in a May 1996 letter.

........
Lynam cites that phrase as evidence that his Seattle project “met the contract requirements.”

But Smyth gave a different explanation. “What that essentially means is that we wanted out of the deal but didn’t want to go through long and drawn-out litigation,” he said.

At the time the Seattle contract was canceled, Lynam told local reporters that his company had been blindsided. “This came as a complete shock to us,” he said. “I know what we are doing is environmentally right. This is unquestionably the best way to do it.”

To this day, many Seattle officials and activists admire Lynam’s intentions. “He’s a publicly spirited guy. He wants to make it work for all the right reasons,” said Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips.

But municipal sludge is smelly and combustible, Phillips added. “It takes time to get this perfected, and locally we just ran out of time.”

Even as his Seattle venture was being cut short, Lynam began laying the groundwork for a new future in Chicago.

Questions raised, rejected

In the months after McMillan announced his Black Box proposal, Lynam’s PCL/SMI company was one of 27 firms that sent the district expressions of interest in bidding.

On Nov. 15, 1996, two days after King County mailed Lynam its notice of termination, Chicago officials wrote Lynam to ask for “additional information” about his Seattle plant, district records show.

In his response a month later and in other bid letters, Lynam said his 1990s Seattle operation “successfully” produced 60 tons of dry fertilizer pellets per day.

http://www.bnd.com/326/story/607658.html

Ex-aide: Ill. gov showed ‘arrogance,’ ‘abuse’
By JOHN O’CONNOR - AP Political Writer

(snip)

Bob Arya, former senior adviser to the Democratic governor, told a House impeachment committee in a nine-page letter that in his view, Blagojevich “has failed the people of Illinois and needs to be removed from office by indictment, impeachment or resignation. Period.”
Click here to find out more!

The former Chicago TV journalist, who worked for Blagojevich from just after his 2006 re-election until October, said the Democrat set up a campaign to discredit his main legislative nemesis. He showed “unmitigated arrogance” in his liberal use of the state plane. And he threw aside with an expletive a letter written by a Senate Republican seeking clemency for a constituent.

“The tactics of this administration in many cases were beyond unacceptable - some were abusive, others arguably unconstitutional,” Arya wrote in the unusual missive filed with the committee investigating removing Blagojevich.

(snip)

Arya said he warned Blagojevich and chief of staff John Harris - both arrested Dec. 9 on federal corruption charges - against a concerted effort to embarrass House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, in which the goal was to “damage the Madigan brand.”

He said Blagojevich often worked from home, instead of his offices in the Capitol or Chicago’s Loop, dismissed use of the taxpayer-financed airplane by saying it “comes with the job,” rarely communicated with Cabinet members, and was uninterested in clearing a backlog of about 2,000 petitions for clemency or meeting with foreign dignitaries, damaging the state’s standing among diplomats.

(snip)

Philly/Street/ WHite Cooruption

On June 28, 2004 the federal probe of corruption at Philadelphia’s City Hall bore its first fruit, when prosecutors handed down a fifty-six count indictment. City Treasurer Corey Kemp was accused of selling his office for a handful of cash and some tickets to the Super Bowl and the Mayor’s friend Ron White for corrupting Kemp.

FOX:
The indictment alleges that in 2002 and 2003, attorney Ronald A. White made payments to then-Treasurer Corey Kemp (search) to influence which financial services companies were selected to handle bond transactions for the city.

FBI:
The recent death of political power broker Ronald White should not cause total disruption to the case of city corruption brought against him and several other associates of Mayor John Street four months ago.
White, who died last Thursday of pancreatic cancer, emerged as a central figure in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into corruption in Philadelphia’s government after the FBI placed an electronic monitoring device on his office phone. They monitored conversations in which White, a powerful attorney, and former City Treasurer Corey Kemp openly conspired to allow White to make major decisions on city business matters in exchange for monetary and other benefits.

Ron White died of fast moving pancreatic cancer before the trial. ...

JOHN CASS/ Rahm’s district History

FROM:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-09-jan09,0,6818129.column

....—you might start by learning about Emanuel’s 5th District.

It is dominated by the shadow governor of Illinois, state Sen. James DeLeo (D-How You Doin’?), the state central Democratic committeeman, the fellow who’ll decide who gets slated by the party, the guy behind the guys.

Emanuel’s district runs from the historically mob-dominated town of Melrose Park on east, through Elmwood Park into the city, to Chicago’s Viagra Triangle along Rush Street. No, how you doin’?

Jimmy’s not talking to me these days. He didn’t like the columns about his luxury car leasing deals and those trips to the casino in Aruba with that other big risk-taker, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.

Yeah, that Jesse White.

Yet there is another expert on Emanuel’s political rise, the world’s foremost authority in the field:

Don Tomczak.

Unfortunately, Mr. Tomczak, a top political operative for that other famous reformer, Mayor Richard Daley, is indisposed.

Tomczak will be indisposed until July 3, 2010, when he is scheduled to get out of federal prison, where he was sent after pleading guilty to taking $400,000 in bribes for city trucking contracts in that department Daley still doesn’t know anything about.

“Mr. Tomczak was a gentleman of the old school,” his lawyer, Patrick Cotter, said the other day. “That was the only way he was ever taught to do things. That’s not an excuse, but it is an explanation.”

Years ago, Daley put Tomczak in charge of an illegal political army of stooges on the city payroll who worked elections to get promotions and overtime to benefit Daley’s machine.

City Hall allowed Tomczak to bring the Democratic army out to Will County to elect his son Jeff as a Republican state’s attorney. But the important work was in the city, where Tomczak muscled for Emanuel in 2002.

Roland Burris: Not a Virgin in A Chicago Whorehouse
Friday, January 09, 2009 8:43:03 AM · 46 of 46
maggief to maggief

(no link)

WOOD PROPOSAL WOULD HAVE SHARPLY CUT DONATIONS
Belleville News-Democrat, The (IL) - Friday, March 8, 2002
Author: Associated Press

EXCERPT

On the Democratic side, former Attorney General Roland Burris would have been hit hardest. Nearly all of the $1.2 million he raised came from two companies controlled by Chicago-area broadcasting tycoon Joseph Stroud . Blagojevich ‘s $60,000 donation from A. Finkl & Sons Co. and Paul Vallas’ $50,000 donation from California real estate developer Angelo Tsakopoulos would have been barred.

(no link)

Where all that campaign cash comes from Democrats rely on - family and friends to fill their coffers
Daily Herald - Saturday, February 9, 2002
Author: John Patterson Daily Herald State Government Editor

(snip)

But Mell’s influence on Blagojevich ‘s political success can be counted in terms of dollars. The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform recently compiled the top 10 donors to Blagojevich ‘s political career. His father-in-law ranks third, having donated $118,166 to Blagojevich ‘s campaigns since 1992.

But the single biggest donor to Blagojevich ‘s career is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has pumped $900,000 into Blagojevich ‘s campaign since July 1. But while that campaign committee may be the biggest contributor, Blagojevich really has netted only $268,000 from it after he sent it $632,000.

That exchange was done because federal law limits how much individuals and groups can donate to federal candidates. For instance, an individual cannot donate more than $1,000 per election. Illinois law has no restrictions.

So Blagojevich , currently a member of Congress, sent $632,000 in hard-to-raise federal funds to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. That money can be used to help fund Democratic candidates for Congress throughout the nation.

In return, the Democratic committee gave Blagojevich ‘s governor’s fund back the $632,000 plus another $268,000 for a total contribution on paper of $900,000. None of those funds are subject to the strict federal campaign contribution limits.

The financial exchange between committees also means there is no way to track the initial source of a significant portion of Blagojevich ‘s campaign contributions.

“You can think of it as a currency exchange,” said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois’ Springfield campus who tracks campaign spending in Illinois.

(snip)

So this year, Burris has financed his campaign almost entirely on the back of one donor - Joseph Stroud . Stroud runs Jovan Broadcasting Corp., which owns WJYS-TV, the only African American- owned television station in the Chicago area.

Stroud has donated more than $1 million to Burris’ latest campaign for governor, accounting for nearly 92 percent of all the money Burris’ campaign received during the last six months of 2001.

Despite relying so heavily on Stroud , Burris said he is not beholden to anyone.

“Like I tell everybody else, you can give me $1 or $1 million, what I’ll guarantee you is good government,” Burris said.

(snip)

Partial link: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1427357.html

Quiet donor gives Burris $1 million
Chicago Sun-Times - Sunday, February 3, 2002
Author: Scott Fornek
Joseph Stroud is said to be a quiet guy who doesn’t like the limelight.

That was certainly true Friday, when Stroud —head of the only black-owned television station in the Chicago area and president of a telecommunications firm—did not return phone calls about the support his firms have given to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roland Burris—support worth more than $1 million.

It is believed to be the largest contribution from an outside source in Illinois political history.

Stroud is so publicity shy that Burris’ campaign initially refused to provide reporters with any additional information about an $800,000 loan from Telephone USA Investments Inc. that showed up on the campaign disclosure report Burris filed Thursday. An aide would only call it “the corporate identity of a supporter who ... prefers to remain anonymous.”

Burris confirmed Friday it was Stroud he went to for help but insisted he was not trying to be mysterious about the source of the money.

“It wouldn’t do us any good to do that, knowing you all,” Burris said. “Trying to hide something of that magnitude? That is like trying to put an elephant in a pup tent.”

But Burris refused to say much else, calling the money corporate contributions from “two companies that believe in good government.”

(snip)

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/aug/15/travel/chi-kass-15-aug15

More on “Jimmy DeLeo (D-How You Doin?) and his sidekick, convicted stool pigeon Mark “Jimmy’s Weakest Link” Richmond.”

(no link)

Deerfield billboard summit finds some at loss for words
Chicago Tribune (IL) - Thursday, May 15, 2008
Author: John Kass
State Sen. James DeLeo (D-How You Dooin?) is one fascinating Illinois politician.

Who else would take a convicted felon to a business meeting with a suburban mayor to talk about all the money that could be made in the billboard business on the sides of the Illinois tollways?

And who would spend $62,000 on letter openers and other promotional gifts from that same felon, and drop more than $1,000 in gifts to the felon’s family, though the guy doesn’t live in DeLeo ‘s district?

But first, remember that DeLeo has fun. There’s too little of that in Illinois these days, what with the FBI poking around, putting Outfit bosses in prison, trying to figure out how Rush Street nightclubs got occupancy permits and who may have engineered that bottle service bill to help the nightclubs separate fools from their cash, and who gambles where and how and with whom, and so on.

Through all this, DeLeo perseveres, cool, leasing flashy luxury cars from Bentleys to Mercedes.

He wears fine gold watches. He’s got a piece of Tavern on Rush that he forgot to list on his state economic disclosure statement. He’s bought real estate from Outfit widow Annie Spilotro after her husband Michael was murdered. And he’s on record with the Sun-Times saying there is no such thing as the Chicago Outfit.

Years ago, Jimmy’s freezer was found to contain $35,000 wrapped in white butcher paper, when he was just starting out in politics as a young bailiff in traffic court, and others stood up boldly to testify it wasn’t DeLeo ‘s frozen cash at all. So these days, he pays by check and has an interesting friend:

(snip)

Were they business partners, trying to make a deal?

“John, I really did not know,” Harris said. “I didn’t know if they shared a business relationship. They sure understood the billboard business, though. And they wanted to help me in any way. We couldn’t do business.”

Richmond told me that he and DeLeo were not involved in any business relationship, billboards or any other, in Deerfield, Rosemont, Melrose Park, you name it. Richmond said DeLeo spent the $62,000 with his Axiz Group on promotional items for fundraisers.

And, Richmond said, I’m making too big of a deal about his friendships with DeLeo and White and their dice games in the Aruba casino linked to the Chicago Outfit.

“You’re wrong about the craps,” Richmond said. “I play blackjack, and I believe Mr. White , he plays blackjack.”

I stand corrected.

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