Marathon Pundit

Friday, April 30, 2010

Ex-Blago chief of staff pleads guilty to bribery--again

Alonzo "Lon" Monk, the former chief of staff of disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, pleaded guilty on a bribery charge this morning, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Monk pleaded guilty to taking part in a pay-to-play scheme involving a horse racing businessman who wanted a piece of legislation signed.

The longtime Blago pal, who is cooperating with authorities, previously pleaded guilty to a similar charge, but the new charge was retooled to accommodate an upcoming US Supreme Court ruling on "honest services" fraud.

Monk will serve a two year prison sentence.

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Illinois

Democrats

AFL-CIO removes EFCA banner from its DC HQ

Giving up the ship? Yesterday, the US Chamber of Commerce disovered that the giant banner touting the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, the sneaky labor-backed legislation that will strip workers of the right to a secret ballot election when asked if they want to join a union.

On the other hand, Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, appears to be seeking an even sneakier method of forcing EFCA down the throats of American workers.

[Trumka] also said he hasn't given up on Congress passing the Employee Free Choice Act, a controversial labor-backed bill that would make it far easier for unions to organize. "We're looking at ways to bring that up as we speak right now, to look at things to attach it to,' Trumka said." (Rick Klein, "AFL-CIO President: Wall Street 'Destroyed 11 Million Jobs,'" ABC News, 4/29/10)

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Obama campaign still owes Springfield $55K

Two summers ago (It seems like 20) Barack Obama introduced Joe Biden as his running mate, to the delight of late-night comics throughout the world. He chose the Old State Capitol in Springfield, pictured on the right, for the occasion.

At the time the Chosen One was the de facto Democratic nominee for president--and the event brought a big crowd, which means a major police presence was needed for security, traffic direction, and crowd control.

Tounge-in-cheek, an alderman in Illinois' capital city suggested earlier this that the bill for those expenses, then $68,000, be turned over to a collection agency unless the campaign paid up.

That hasn't happened, but most of the bill, $55,000, remains unpaid, the State Journal-Register is reporting.

Perhaps using a collection agency to get the Obama campaign to find their wallet isn't such a bad idea.

Related post:

Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois

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Video: Schoolgirl recalls how riot police intimidated her while Obama was in Quincy

A schoolgirl, who appears to be about nine years old, recalls how she was intimidated by riot police during President Obama's visit to Quincy, Illinois yesterday. She was part of the tea party contingent, who are, despite establishment media portrayals, quite peaceful.

“That was very rude," she said.

Hat tip to Founding Bloggers.

Related post:

Report from today's conference call with Rep. Aaron Schock and business owner Mike Nobis

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gop

Highwood's Obama stimulus "campaign sign"

Like dandelions in spring, the Obama stimulus "campaign signs" are popping up all over the Chicago area. The latest one I found is in Highwood, near the old Fort Sheridan in Lake County.

In stimulus-related news, according to a new Pew Research poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans--62 percent--don't believe the $862 billion legislation created jobs, while 33 percent believes it has.

To show how much trouble the Democrats are in, just 41 percent of them think the stimulus gave birth to new jobs, while 42 percent disagree.

Most Americans disagree with the claim on the sign: The boondoggle is not putting America to work. We've wasted $862 billion.

Related posts:

Fort Sheridan, Illinois
Fort Sheridan mansion
Keeping Lake Michigan safe for democracy
Morton Grove's Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Des Plaines' new Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Warrenville's Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Spring brings new Obama stimulus "campaign sign" to Skokie
An Obama stimulus "campaign sign" and Brookfield Zoo
Naperville's Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
2009 Obama stimulus campaign signs

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