Marathon Pundit: Illinois corruption update: Gov. Blagojevich talking out of both sides of mouth on ethics

On the day that the McCain-Palin campaign released an ad tttled "Chicago Machine," comes a story from CBS 2 Chicago about the man Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass calls "The Unreformer," Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat.

Besides the multiple federal investigations he's facing, Gov. Blagojevich has 65,000 other reasons he might have trouble persuading state lawmakers this week to "follow my lead" on ethics reform.

The governor has kept $65,000 in campaign contributions from one of his administration's former top employees, Ali D. Ata, even though Ata pleaded guilty to felony charges earlier this year.

After cutting a deal with federal prosecutors in April, Ata testified against former top Blagojevich adviser and fund-raiser Tony Rezko, who was convicted in June of wide-ranging corruption involving state deals.

After a Sun-Times reporter asked about the Ata contributions, Blagojevich campaign spokesman Doug Scofield said Sunday he was not aware of Ata's money being dumped.