Posted on 02/10/2005 6:12:08 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
CHICAGO (CBS 2) Mayor Daley Thursday signed a historic executive order prohibiting city contractors from giving him any more campaign cash. And now Gov. Blagojevich is feeling the heat on the same issue after a potential candidate for governor issues an ethics challenge.
DuPage County Republican Joe Birkett is calling on the governor to follow the mayor's lead.
Birkett is accusing Blagojevich of collecting millions of dollars in campaign contributions from those who do business with the State of Illinois.
The mayor said why he signed the ban on contractor contributions. “I want to make it clear that there is no connection between a political contribution and a contract,” Daley said.
That is a connection that some have long complained exists not just at City Hall, but in state government, too.
Gov. Blagojevich claimed to have cut the connection between campaign cash and state contracts, and got an award for it from a group of government procurement officers. But a potential Republican candidate for governor, DuPage County State's Atty. Joe Birkett, said Blagojevich should show voters his good faith by following Daley's lead.
“I'm calling upon Gov. Blagojevich to refuse to accept campaign contributions from people who are doing business with state government. Turn back the money he's taken. I'm also calling on the General Assembly to pass a law that would require competitive bidding for all bond work,” Birkett said.
A Blagojevich campaign spokesman said the governor is “considering legislation" to ban contractor cash from campaigns, Similar to the Daley executive order signed today.
While the mayor took no questions at his signing ceremony, he said he would not offer advice about fundraising to any other politician.
“This executive order applies only to me and my campaign fund. It will be up to others to determine how they want to raise their own political funds,” Daley said.
Birkett claimed that, by raising tens of millions of dollar from state contractors, Blagojevich betrayed campaign promises of reform.
“We're a national disgrace, because we're known not as the State of Lincoln and Reagan now. We're known as the Land of Corruption,” Birkett said.
Next week, the governor will have a perfect opportunity to make a grand gesture. He is scheduled to deliver his annual budget message to a joint session of the General Assembly. And while there's likely to be lots of bad budget news, this might be one way to distract attention away from it.
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