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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Steve Chapman :: Townhall.com Columnist
A Cornfed Remedy for Illinois Graft
by Steve Chapman
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An open letter to the people of Iowa, from the people of Illinois:

Dear Neighbors:

Being proud citizens of the Hawkeye State, you are all probably still basking in the glory of helping our own Barack Obama's quest for the presidency by giving him a victory in the Iowa caucuses. As fellow Midwesterners, let us say: Nice work. In four years, Washington may be changed beyond recognition. But knowing the depth of public spirit in Iowa, let us also say: Your work is not finished.

As you may have noticed if you ever get the news on WGN, Obama was not quite able to transform our state during his time in the legislature. It's as ethically imperfect as ever, if not more so. How bad? Put it this way: If an Illinois politician moved into a pigsty, the pigs would leave in disgust.

Anyone watching from another state must be amazed by the amount of graft that is regularly on view here. It's enough to shock even people in Louisiana -- where after Hurricane Katrina, one Bayou wag said half the state was under water and the other half was under indictment.

This year has had a full quota of seamy developments. Our former governor, George Ryan, remains in prison after failing to win a presidential pardon. A onetime top aide to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is about to go on trial for his alleged role in a fraudulent city hiring scheme. A former Chicago alderman got sentenced to four years in prison for demanding bribes from local developers.

Our new U.S. senator, Roland Burris, faces a Senate ethics investigation after repeatedly changing his story about how he got appointed to the seat by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. That's the same governor who was recently impeached and removed from office for allegedly trying to sell that Senate seat for his own benefit.

We would like to say this is unusual, but it's really about as unusual as a cold day in February. Since 1970, according to a report done at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 1,000 people have been convicted of public corruption -- including three governors, 19 Cook County (Chicago) judges and 30 members of the Chicago City Council.

It may surprise you to learn that Illinois does not rank as the least honest state in the country. According to an analysis of federal data on the 35 most populous states by the Corporate Crime Reporter, we come in 6th in public corruption convictions per capita. But after the Blagojevich scandal broke, editor Russell Mokhiber said he was reconsidering. "If there was a BCS for corruption," he admitted, "I think right now you'd have to put Illinois in the title game." Continued...
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About The Author
Steve Chapman is a columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune.
 
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Reply # 1
Date: Feb 20, 2009 - 2:52 AM EST
Illinois...and Bust!
The bad news is, there is total corruption in that state. The good news is, EVERYONE is now aware of the depth of corruption in politics.
Personally, I'm going to move to the first state that cecedes from the new Socialist Obamaland. The states that cecede will continue to honor the Constitution, Bill of Rights, flag and laws of the 'original' United States of America.
We will build borders, we will open businesses, we will drill for oil, we will elect and provide term limits for Senators, Congressmen, Supreme Court Justices, and all other politicians who decide to try o lie to and live off of the American People.
Schools will once again teach the history of the United States, along with geography, penmanship, literature, ENGLISH, math and yes, even shop. We will give out appropriate grades, praise the winners and work with those who came in last. We will teach manners and speak to our children about the perils of jail, teenage pregnancy, lying and cheating. There will be consequeces for bad behavior.
Oh, I can't wait for the day when I once again become a part of my country.
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Reply # 2
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 5:23 PM EST
I paid for some of his pabulum

Now you don't have to read much history to find corrupt politicians, of any and all stripes. Recently as I watched the Mayor of Chicago on TV, I remembered that I paid for some of his pabulum.

Sixty years ago, when his father was the Cook County Clerk, I had to visit his office to pick up a copy of some official document. The sign said — fill out the form, it will cost $3.

I filled out the form, placed $3 with it and pushed it across the counter. The man on the other side angrily pushed it back at me. I read it again to make sure it was correct, and pushed it again. This time I was afraid he was going to jump the counter and attack me, but I noticed the next person at the counter pushed 5 singles across the counter, and that was that.

I took the hint and watched him open the cash register drawer and put in the three dollars, then open a large wooden drawer and put the two singles in with what looked like hundreds of other bills of various sizes. And the current Mayor’s pabulum was paid for that day.

I could tell of the $5,000 payment that eliminated the need for a fire escape in a building being remodeled, but I’ll let you guess what happened. It was something like keeping a $20 bill paper-clipped to your driver’s license.

Don’t think voting machine problems are anything new. Sixty-five years ago I wandered into a meeting near Chicago where they were discussing which cog wheel they were going to install in the manual voting machines, so that enough, but not too many votes, were transferred from “the other” candidate, to theirs.

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