Buried in the Tribune Metro section is more on Gov. Blowjobavich's fund-raising practices, also known as legalized corruption. Are there any politicians who are not corrupted by money, and don't need to placate large donors? The recent bankruptcy bill in the U.S. congress would never have passed without support from Dems, dependent upon slurping slurry from corporate bankers' loafers.
Bleh. Makes me retch. Whatever happened to campaign finance reform?
Blagojevich's campaign operations came under scrutiny after his father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), alleged that the governor's campaign chief traded contributions for state appointments, then retracted the accusation. Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine and Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan are investigating.Last fall, a Tribune review found that more than 120 appointees were tied to $1.9 million donated to Blagojevich's campaign fund, with at least 25 of them, their companies or their organizations linked to donations of $25,000 or more.
In addition, the Tribune found that more than one of every four individuals and businesses that contributed at least $50,000 to Blagojevich have received state business during his first term in office.
