THE MAD MADIGANS AND THE HATERS' HYPOCRISY

Blago & Speaker Madigan Share a Hug, Aug 27, 2008 (Sun Times)Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan couldn't have been more excited than on that cold December morning in 2008 when he heard then-Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested by the Feds. After all, it was about time the Governor was stopped from taking the silver lining out of the Madigans' pockets. Today's Sun Times report proves the point.

MADIGAN TO BLAGO: YOU STOPPED BY PAY TO PLAY SO YOU DON'T GET TO STAY

Even though no formal charges had been filed against Blags, the mere allegation he was trying to sell the vacant Obama Senate seat was enough to cause Speaker Madigan to lick his chops - he wanted Illinois' CEO gone for years! So, on Decrember 15, 2008, just six days after Blagojevich was arrested, Speaker Madigan formed an impeachment commission within the House to get Blago out of the Governor's seat. "It is my intention to appoint a special committee to begin immediately an investigation into the governor's conduct in office and to undertake the preparatory work that is a prerequisite to an impeachment proceeding in the Illinois House," Madigan said.

Just three days earlier, Speaker Madigan's daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, asked the Illinois Supreme Court to declare Blagojevich disabled for office. "We think it is very clear he is incapable of serving. We want to make sure the people of Illinois have a governor who can legitimately fulfill the duties of that office."

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL POLITICS

Granted, almost everybody despised our helmet-headed Governor who dressed for success every day in his nylon jogging suit from the '90's. But really, why-oh-why were the Madigans so hard-up on tossing Blago?  Maybe after all these years of Blago not allowing the Madigans' pockets to be lined, the icing on the cake was when Blago did not appoint Lisa to the Senate seat.August 12, 2005 (UPI Photo/Bill Greenblatt)

We know one of Rahm Emanuel's picks for the Senate seat was Attorney General Madigan. Remember Obama's self-reporting - that Emanuel had "about four" conversations with John Harris, Blago's Chief of Staff, about who Obama considered to be "highly qualitfied" for his position: Comptroller Dan Hynes, Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cheryle Jackson.

According to the Sun Times (article here):

Twenty-eight of the 59 Illinois state senators who voted early this year to remove Blagojevich as governor had gone to him with recommendations for state jobs, promotions, transfers or appointments to state boards, a database of patronage hires kept by Blagojevich aides shows.

In the House, 53 of the 114 state representatives who voted to impeach Blagojevich were listed as earlier having sought personnel moves from the governor.

Most of those who made hiring requests were Democrats, according to the records, which cover the period from 2003 to 2005.

Among them: Blagojevich's political nemesis, House Speaker Michael Madigan. In that period, the records show the powerful Southwest Side Democrat sought 98 jobs, raises or appointments and got 33 of them.

In all, the Madigan-sponsored candidates contributed more than $84,000 to the speaker's political funds and another $40,236 to his daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, state records show.

In response to the article, Speaker Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said, "$80,000 for a campaign organization that raises several million dollars every year, that certainly is not a significant number anyone would notice."

Exactly my point! Blagojevich only granted 1/3 of Madigan's requests. Had he granted more, the Madigan Duo would have received more campaign contributions! Brown's statement goes to the heart of the problem: the Madigan's campaign contributions were insignificant compared to what they could have been had Blagojevich granted their requests.

The hypocrisy of it all is just shocking. All this talk about Jesse Jackson, Jr. allegedly possibly having emissaries who maybe kinda tried to apparently attempt to raise money for his Senate appointment. And then there is on-the-books quid-pro-quo behavior taking place by Lisa Madigan, who also desired Senate appointment, and her daddy, the man who led the way for Blago to get tossed from office.

Look, politics is just another form of business. I get it: if you give me money for my campaign, I will get you a job. Honestly, I do not really care, so long as everyone who does their job does it well. Most importantly, if you are going to play the game, especially the Chicago way, be sure to call a spade a spade.

(PS: I want to make it clear that I have absolutely no personal issue with any of these Chicago politicians. I met with AG Madigan a couple of times on legislative issues on expungement and sealing laws. She was very interested in my positions, I found her to be extremely competent and likeable. I also met several times with Governor Blagojevich on the issue of pardons. He was also generous with his time, even though he didn't do as promised: clear that pile of 2500+ pardon petitions from his desk.)

www.xpunged.com and www.tamaraholder.com