Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Arrested

[Bilbo]

Like I said Rahm is dirty and will end up hurting Obama.

[Patrick Degan]

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a temporary restraining order against Blago today to block him from exercising several executive functions, including the appointement of a replacement U.S. senator, and called on the state legislature to begin impeachment procedings as soon as possible. WGN aired her live press conference to lead off the noonday news.

[KrauserKrauser]

Is there precedent for booting out a sitting governor before they've actually been convicted of anything?

I mean I know wire taps, informants, witnesses, etc, are very damning but still there is a rule of law to follow outside of the court of public opinion.

[Bilbo]

Is there precedent for booting out a sitting governor before they've actually been convicted of anything?

I mean I know wire taps, informants, witnesses, etc, are very damning but still there is a rule of law to follow outside of the court of public opinion.

Don't have to impeach. Illinois constitution allows for a sitting governor to be stripped of his powers and the Lt. Governor take over if it is proven that he cannot fulfill his duties as Governor.

[Broomstick]

So again, I hope like hell that Obama doesn't get really drawn into this shit, but with as inbred as Chicago politics are, I don't see how he's going to be able to avoid it. Specially if they start looking at the South Side public housing stuff he worked on that are now giant death traps.

What do you mean, "now" giant death traps? It wasn't like they were at all safe before Obama worked on that stuff, and arguably he did make improvements even if he didn't solve all the problems.

[Bilbo]

So again, I hope like hell that Obama doesn't get really drawn into this shit, but with as inbred as Chicago politics are, I don't see how he's going to be able to avoid it. Specially if they start looking at the South Side public housing stuff he worked on that are now giant death traps.

What do you mean, "now" giant death traps? It wasn't like they were at all safe before Obama worked on that stuff, and arguably he did make improvements even if he didn't solve all the problems.

If I remember right new ones were built that were even bigger death traps than the older ones and have either needed to be heavily repaired or torn down well before their time.

[Patrick Degan]

Is there precedent for booting out a sitting governor before they've actually been convicted of anything?

I mean I know wire taps, informants, witnesses, etc, are very damning but still there is a rule of law to follow outside of the court of public opinion.

Impeachment is a political/parliamentary matter and does not require the same standard of evidentiary proof as would a criminal justice proceeding in a court of law.

[xammer99]

So again, I hope like hell that Obama doesn't get really drawn into this shit, but with as inbred as Chicago politics are, I don't see how he's going to be able to avoid it. Specially if they start looking at the South Side public housing stuff he worked on that are now giant death traps.

What do you mean, "now" giant death traps? It wasn't like they were at all safe before Obama worked on that stuff, and arguably he did make improvements even if he didn't solve all the problems.

If I remember right new ones were built that were even bigger death traps than the older ones and have either needed to be heavily repaired or torn down well before their time.

Yep, Bilbo is correct. While a State Rep, Obama helped some friends (I'm not 100% sure if this was the Rezko one he helped with, but I think it is) get contracts to build public housing on the Southside. They were to be built and maintained by the private groups and subsidized by the government. Well, the things were built, very poorly, and then the groups walked away. So places decayed even more quickly, as all public housing does since the residents didn't give a flying flip about'em, and are now spectacularly falling apart, and the groups can't be held accountable because of how the contracts were written.

So yes, most of the public housing on the Southside is freakin awful, but these garnered special note for their wretchedness very quickly after they were opened (and walked away from).

Don't ya just love Chicago politics?

[MKSheppard]

2) However slimy and sleazy, it actually works - Mayor Daley is a slimeball but the garbage is picked up, the streets are plowed after snowstorms, the streets and sidewalks are fixed, etc. and if a few innocents are crushed along the way, well, no system is perfect, right? An amazingly corrupt system that nonetheless does get shit done even if in a terribly inefficient manner.

This is incredibly fucked up, and shows how shitty Chicago is. Having the garbage picked up and making sure that the streets are plowed etc is such a basic governmental function that you shouldn't need an incredibly corrupt government to make sure that it's actually carried out.

[Broomstick]

You got that backward Shep - it's not that you need an incredibly corrupt system to get it down, what's amazing is that the crappy system actually does get it done, despite how crappy it is. That's why people keep voting for it - they get what they want: garbage pickup, plowed streets, etc. and in some cases a cushy job from City Hall. Basic selfishness, a clear case of "I got what I want, fuck everything else" on the scale of a city.

[xammer99]

You got that backward Shep - it's not that you need an incredibly corrupt system to get it down, what's amazing is that the crappy system actually does get it done, despite how crappy it is. That's why people keep voting for it - they get what they want: garbage pickup, plowed streets, etc. and in some cases a cushy job from City Hall. Basic selfishness, a clear case of "I got what I want, fuck everything else" on the scale of a city.

Sadly Broom, that is exactly the case, except it isn't a city scale, it's county scale. The antics of Todd Stroger, president of the County Board are actually worse than Daley's. This guy is UTTERLY shameless.

During a press conference he held (one of the _VERY_ few), he got questioned on why he had so many family members working for the county government and why that hadn't been investigated. His response was that because they made less than $100K a year, they could not be investigated by law. They were making $99,999.

Also Stroger wasn't initially elected, during the cycle 2 years ago his father who'd been the long time boss, had a stroke and won despite being a vegetable. So, the Democratic Party bosses of Cook got together and gave the seat to his son, Todd. Todd and the Strogers then had enough dirt on the rest of the board to ensure that a Stroger stayed at the head of the county board.

If you want some real entertainment, read some of the Trib news about the County Budget process and the budgets coming out. They are incredibly error ridden and/or flat out wrong to the point where no one really knows where the money will go. Yet he's demanding hundreds of millions in new taxes to make up his revenue shortfalls, despite his new 1% countywide sales tax increase (he compromised on that, he had wanted a 3% to take it up to 12% sales tax in the City). When he got called on it, his response was that the Budget was an incredibly complicated thing and that the department preparing it the hardest working in the County government, and that its understandable why an incorrect budget would be submitted and just give him the money.

Oh, did I mention that two border municipalities have tried to seceed from Cook County because of his antics since if you cross the street your sales tax drops 6%? Its actually pretty funny to drive around and see all the advertisements in the positive side of the border counties advertising Non-Cook County Cigarette & Gas Prices. Even stations 5 miles into DuPage county (one of the much lower ones) and not on major roads advertise it because it's such a draw.

[Broomstick]

I am certainly aware of all that, living in NW Indiana. Indeed, one of the few reasons NW Indiana still staggers along is because buying stuff on our side of the border is so much cheaper - we suck a LOT of money out of the greater Chicago area because of that.

Not that our politicians are any less corrupt - we've had 8 or 9 go to jail just this year. Honestly, I don't really keep track any more since this past year has been about bare survival for me, but it's truly disgusting.

[Saxtonite]

So yes, most of the public housing on the Southside is freakin awful, but these garnered special note for their wretchedness very quickly after they were opened (and walked away from).

If I remember right new ones were built that were even bigger death traps than the older ones and have either needed to be heavily repaired or torn down well before their time.

The South Side Projects were completely demolished, the ones along the Dan Ryan Expressway. The Cabrini-Green projects on the north side are better off but still being demolished/changed.

Not that our politicians are any less corrupt

correct. Illinois is actually ranked 18th most corrupt, if in terms of people arrestes/convicted

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/polit ... be_no.html

[Broomstick]

On a lighter note - link to a Saturday Night Live video segment during the "Weekend Update".

When Illinois politicians say you're too corrupt... you're too corrupt. That's like Amy Winehouse telling you to go to rehab.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Auctioning a senate seat, that's almost Roman level of Corruption (recalls a few senate positions being offered in exchange for bribes by some of the Caesars)

still the question remains whose more currupt Chicago or Baton Rouge?

[Sea Skimmer]

correct. Illinois is actually ranked 18th most corrupt, if in terms of people arrestes/convicted

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/polit ... be_no.html

Thing is, those figures can only be an accurate gauge of corruption if the corruption in the various state justice systems is all equal. That doesn’t seem likely to me. States with high corruption are more likely to have that corruption extend into the justice system, shielding a higher percentage of corrupt officials from investigation.

To try to overcome this limit, someone else has gone and ranked states by the power of laws against corruptions (this of course has limitations too) and then indexed that with the corruption rates. Mississippi comes out worst, Illinois fifth worst, which sounds a lot more reasonable then 18th. My own Pennsylvanian comes out 14th, which is probably too low but its hard to even get a grasp on how bad corruption in general has become in the US.

http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/corruptreport.pdf

But then reality is, whatever problems the US has, and we sure aren’t alone in the western world having them, they just pale in comparison to what corruption does to decimate any chance so many nations have at improving. For most parts of the world the idea of paying a bribe just to get your water turned back on isn’t corruption.. its just life.

[ray245]

Although I have no idea how can anyone jusify overpaying politician, in order to prevent corruption.

[Broomstick]

Ray, one sentence may have been a bit short for your thought - where did anyone say anything about "overpaying" a politician?

[The Yosemite Bear]

I think he's suggesting that many pols use kickbacks, graft and campaign "presents" because the pay for public service is abysmal, though the perks are fairly extensive past a certain point.

[Bilbo]

I think he's suggesting that many pols use kickbacks, graft and campaign "presents" because the pay for public service is abysmal, though the perks are fairly extensive past a certain point.

Blago made $150k a year and had all his expenses covered when travelling from home to work and back. The state even footed the bill when he wanted to continue to live in his home in the Chicago area even though the governors mansion is in the capital of Springfield many hours away.

Considering that the average salary in Illinois is $49k a year good old Blago is far from strapped for cash.

[Patrick Degan]

Today, the WGN noon news led off with a press conference given this time by Michael Madigan, the speaker of the Illinois House. Blago's got six days to resign or the legislature will call a special session to set up a Committee of Investigation. First step on the road to impeachment.

[Patrick Degan]

Turns out I was slightly mistaken about yesterday's news: the special session has already gotten underway and the Committe of Investigation is now sitting to consider if a case for impeachment exists.

[xammer99]

a. The Committee is, shockingly stalled already on impeachment. The Dems REALLY want him to resign and not be thrown out.

b. Back to the whole "corrupt but works" thing... yeah that idea got shot in the head yesterday when folks sat in 5+ hour traffic on the Eisenhower just tryin to go home. Why? Because city/state plows weren't out because a projected (and later received) 5 inches of snowfall weren't enough to spend the money on plowing & salting.

But, on the plus side. That 5 hours of idling traffic throughout Chicagoland will mean a healthy boost to government revenues from sale of gas from the shitload that got unnecessarily burned.

And for reference, that 5 hours was 5 times the normal commute times outta the city in rush hour.

[Bilbo]

a. The Committee is, shockingly stalled already on impeachment. The Dems REALLY want him to resign and not be thrown out.

Not sure what the deal is. Unless they fear him pulling skeletons out on other Chicago Dems which might be a big possibility. Being Illinois the skeletons probably number in the hundreds.

[Broomstick]

b. Back to the whole "corrupt but works" thing... yeah that idea got shot in the head yesterday when folks sat in 5+ hour traffic on the Eisenhower just tryin to go home. Why? Because city/state plows weren't out because a projected (and later received) 5 inches of snowfall weren't enough to spend the money on plowing & salting.

But, on the plus side. That 5 hours of idling traffic throughout Chicagoland will mean a healthy boost to government revenues from sale of gas from the shitload that got unnecessarily burned.

And for reference, that 5 hours was 5 times the normal commute times outta the city in rush hour.

If it makes you happy, the last time a mayor failed to attack a snowfall (Bilandic) he was promptly voted out of office next election. We can only hope...

But really, the lack of plowing IS very much tied to the current economy. If Chicago had been less corrupt with lower taxes it would still find itself budget squeezed.

And, poor babies.... we had the same snowstorm here in NW Indiana, but NONE of the municipalities, NONE are salting this year at all. And the snowplows finally passed by house around 3 pm TODAY. Not YESTERDAY, TODAY. Ya'll are spoiled in Chicago in regards to plowing, and have been for years.