Barack Obama's developer pal, Tony Rezko, is portrayed as what he is the second and final part of the Chicago Sun-Times series on the recently indicted political insider, as the paper reports:
Rezko was the schmoozer. He showered politicians with money for their campaign funds and got others to do the same. He gave to Democrats -- foremost among them former Cook County Board President John Stroger, Gov. Blagojevich, Daley and Sen. Barack Obama. Rezko gave to Republicans, too -- among them former Gov. Jim Edgar, the late Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens and President George W. Bush.
He also gave to others who held sway over Rezmar's housing deals -- like Chicago aldermen.
Meanwhile, Rezmar's low-income apartments were deteriorating, and it stopped repaying some loans.
So why did the city keep lending Rezko's company more tax dollars? "During the time he did work with us -- and that was many years ago -- there was nothing to indicate there was a problem," Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said.
In fact, there was. City attorneys repeatedly went to court to force Rezmar to make repairs to its buildings and, in some cases, to get the heat turned on.
Yes, Rezko gave to Republicans, but the great majority of his campaign contributions went to Democrats. Although he held no position within the administration of Rod Blagojevich, until his indictment, Rezko wielded great power, especially in hiring decisions, with Illinois Democrat.
There's good news for Barack Obama, longtime friend of Tony Rezko. Unlike yesterday's Sun-Times piece, Obama didn't get mentioned in this one.
Obama performed defense work for Rezko in regards to those slum buildings.
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