Robert Creamer, Jan Schakowsky follow-up

Earlier today Robert Creamer, the husband of Cong. Jan Schakowsky, (D-IL), was sentenced to five months in prison and 11 months house arrest for his role in a 1990s check-kiting scheme while he was the head of defunct Illinois Public Action Council, a consumer advocacy group.

Schakowsky has not been implicated in the scheme.

Jan Schakowsky is one of the most liberal members of Congress. She is a member of the far-left Progressive Caucus. Other members of the caucus include such "stars" as Cynthia McKinney, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, Jim McDermott (Baghdad Jim), Bernie Sanders, and Lynn Woolsey.

Schakowsky made her name in the Illinois Public Action Council. From 1976 to 1985, she was the IPAC program director. Four years later, Jan organized a senior-citizen rally that was a TV reporters dream. In 1989, cameras caught Schakowsky-led seniors chasing the powerful then-Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Dan Rostenkowski, (D-IL). That protest drew national attention.

The Illinois Public Action Council was known for the aggressiveness of its members, particular in their "pro-consumer" door-to-door fundraising efforts. Those same IPAC members proved to be a useful ground force that got Schakowsky elected to Congress in 1998.

After Illinois Public Action folded, Robert Creamer went on to serve as a highly paid political consultant for Democrats such as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Congressman Lane Evans, and Chicago Alderman Joe Moore, among others.

In short, Creamer was not a "Mr. Mom."

As for the spin from the Creamer camp that no one lost money because of his check-kiting, that may be true. But Creamer in essence obtained interest-free loans from those banks.

And while Schakowsky was not involved in the day-to-day affairs of the Illinois Public Action Council, she was on the IPAC board of directors while her husband was committing bank fraud.

Technorati tags: Jan Schakowsky Jim McDermott Cynthia McKinney liberal left Robert Creamer Lynn Woolsey Maxine Waters Lane Evans Blagojevich Richard Daley Illinois Bernie Sanders Dennis Kucinich