Disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was found guilty today on 17 of 20 corruption counts. Meanwhile, Illinois continues to limp along. Much of its massive deficit was built up during Blago's six years as governor. Today politicians of both parties are glad the Blago chapter is over and they are asking that Illinois' 12.8 million residents to move on. How wrong they are. The illegalities may have ended, but the dishonesty continues. The hair-brained Chicago Democrat's two-time running mate, Governor Pat Quinn, said he wanted "fair maps" for Illinois' new General Assembly and Congressional districts. Rather than vetoing the hyper-partisan gerrymandered monstrosities his party conjured up, Quinn signed them into law.
Quinn, as this blog exclusively reported earlier this year, has collected $5 million in campaign contributions from public-sector unions since becoming governor. Did someone say "pay-to-play?"
A few days after signing a no layoff deal with AFSCME, the state's largest public-sector union--Quinn received its endorsement.
Don't get too cocky, Republicans. Blago's predecessor, George Ryan, is serving a prison sentence. Yes, Ryan is a Republican.
Now is the time to look back and figure out how the nation's fifth-most populous state turned to rot.
Now is the time to fix it.
Look back, Illinoisans--it may be painful, but the future will be worse if we don't.
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