John Kass on Transportation Secretary LaHood

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama made a lot of talk of having a bipartisan cabinet. Obama kept George Bush's Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates on the job, although no one is sure he is a Republican.

Ray LaHood is a Republican. He resigned his central Illinois Congressional seat to head Obama's Transporation Department.

He is not a small government Republican.

The Chicago Tribune's John Kass takes a closer look at the Peorian this morning:

In political terms, Blagojevich is a pimple compared with LaHood, who will have billions of federal dollars to dole out in state grants for contracts for roads, bridges, airport modernization—all the sugarplums the guys behind the guys dream about.

One such guy is the indicted Republican boss of Springfield, William Cellini, a wealthy developer and executive director of the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association. LaHood is a Cellini guy.

Jay Hansen, vice president of government affairs for the National Asphalt Pavement Association, praised LaHood. But Hansen cooled when we asked if he knew about Cellini.

"Yes, of course," said Hansen. Will LaHood's connections to Cellini be a problem?

"I don't know, no comment" was his reply.

Cellini, also a Republican, was indicted last fall for as part of US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's Operation Board Games probe, which is the same investigation that brought down Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Billy Dennis of Peoria Pundit has been keeping an eye on LaHood for years. Click here, scroll, and search.

Related post:

"Rezko scandals" latest indictment victim: Bill Cellini

Technorati tags: politics Illinois crime Blagojevich Illinois Politics legal