The Daley administration is spending $55 million on public relations according to the Chicago Sun Times.
Of course the Daley administration has complained about a lack of funds for all kinds of city services. But there's funds for a tightly controlled public relations campaign. This is the 11th PR contract the city has awarded, each worth $5 million. All this during a time he city has a $50 million budget hole for 2009. Because of the budget crisis, Daley laid off 420 city employees, eliminating 1,600 vacancies, slowing police hiring and raising taxes, fines and fees by $52.5 million.
How many jobs could the latest $5 million have saved? How can Mayor Daley justify raising taxes to save city programs yet spend this kind of money on public relations?
Business as usual in Chicago. The mayor's friends get city money and the people get the short end of the stick. That's the Chicago way.
Showing posts with label Chicago Political Machine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago Political Machine. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Blagojevich has one weapon left, names
Sometime this week Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going to be out of a job - that's about as close to a sure bet as anything I know. He's angered his constituents and he's angered his fellow Democrats. Earlier this week he told the world that this impeachment was about a plan to get rid of him in order to pass an income and sales tax hike on the people. While he was chastised by Mayor Richard Daley - a fine upstanding citizen leader - for being cuckoo, that may have been the first shot from Blago's last arsenal in his defense, names.
Being on the inside of a corrupt political machine, Blago may have to resort to something we speculated upon when the impeachment controversy broke last month - naming every corrupt deal and deal maker in this state. No one will ever accuse Blago of being noble if he does this, it's the last desperate attempt to save his political hide. But if he does drop names, then he will have finally done something for the people of this state other than implement open-road tolls.
Blago is not going to be at the impeachment trial that begins tomorrow, instead he's going to be making the talk show rounds to appeal to a national audience. Maybe this will be the forum he uses to finally shed some light on the back room deals in this state. I certainly hope this is something he does, but if he does damn the torpedoes and drop names, there's no telling how far this could reach, perhaps even into the White House itself. After all, the president, his chief of staff and the education secretary nominee are all part of the Chicago machine - the very machine that got Blago elected.
Being on the inside of a corrupt political machine, Blago may have to resort to something we speculated upon when the impeachment controversy broke last month - naming every corrupt deal and deal maker in this state. No one will ever accuse Blago of being noble if he does this, it's the last desperate attempt to save his political hide. But if he does drop names, then he will have finally done something for the people of this state other than implement open-road tolls.
Blago is not going to be at the impeachment trial that begins tomorrow, instead he's going to be making the talk show rounds to appeal to a national audience. Maybe this will be the forum he uses to finally shed some light on the back room deals in this state. I certainly hope this is something he does, but if he does damn the torpedoes and drop names, there's no telling how far this could reach, perhaps even into the White House itself. After all, the president, his chief of staff and the education secretary nominee are all part of the Chicago machine - the very machine that got Blago elected.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Pay to Play may mean Blago's silence has a price
The Illinois General Assembly will meet Monday to discuss a possible impeachment against Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court at week's end to argue that Blagojevich, who is in federal cross hairs on corruption charges, is unfit to hold his office.
There are lots of political ramifications from Blagojevich's arrogant criminality that has this state in a legislative and legal upheaval. But the primary ramification is the immediate fallout of a possible impeachment.
If Blagojevich is impeached, it's likely that he's not going to go down alone. A product of the corrupt Chicago Political Machine, Blagojevich might try to cut a deal with the feds and name names. This could have a lot of legislators with Chicago ties examine the skeletons in their own closets before agreeing to oust the governor. It's reasonable to assume that these lawmakers are urging Blago to step down before they have to make that decision.
If Blago does step down, his finances need to be carefully scrutinized. Reports say that Blago owes nearly $2 million in legal fees stemming from three years of being under the scrutiny of federal agents. It would not be surprising if Blago twisted Illinois' history of pay to play to his own gains to cover legal expenses and his shattered future.
Blago has shown that everything in Illinois is for sale. Nothing is sacred, and that will include his silence. And it's not outside reason that there will be plenty of tainted lawmakers ponying up cash to make sure he stays silent.
There are lots of political ramifications from Blagojevich's arrogant criminality that has this state in a legislative and legal upheaval. But the primary ramification is the immediate fallout of a possible impeachment.
If Blagojevich is impeached, it's likely that he's not going to go down alone. A product of the corrupt Chicago Political Machine, Blagojevich might try to cut a deal with the feds and name names. This could have a lot of legislators with Chicago ties examine the skeletons in their own closets before agreeing to oust the governor. It's reasonable to assume that these lawmakers are urging Blago to step down before they have to make that decision.
If Blago does step down, his finances need to be carefully scrutinized. Reports say that Blago owes nearly $2 million in legal fees stemming from three years of being under the scrutiny of federal agents. It would not be surprising if Blago twisted Illinois' history of pay to play to his own gains to cover legal expenses and his shattered future.
Blago has shown that everything in Illinois is for sale. Nothing is sacred, and that will include his silence. And it's not outside reason that there will be plenty of tainted lawmakers ponying up cash to make sure he stays silent.
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