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April 28, 2008
Gnip Gnop
What is Gnip Gnop? Ping pong spelled backwards. Officially Table Tennis. And what is so important about that? Let me see if I can narrow it down some. It is about state government. Illinois State Government. It is about FOO. FOO? That would be Friends of Obama (D, Rezko). Also FODu and FODa. That would be Friends of Dick Durbin (D, Corruption [State]) and Friends of Richard Daley (D, Corruption [City]). Like all tales of money in Illinois it has some interesting twists and turns. The LA Times tells the story. WASHINGTON -- After an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2000, Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama faced serious financial pressure: numerous debts, limited cash and a law practice he had neglected for a year. Help arrived in early 2001 from a significant new legal client -- a longtime political supporter.No wonder Michelle was complaining how hard it was to get by. Fortunately it appears Obama got by with a little help from his friends. Now here is where it gets interesting. In Illinois no one pays a politician without expecting a little something in return. Nobody. That would be stupid. A few months after receiving his final payment from EKI, Obama sent a request on state Senate letterhead urging Illinois officials to provide a $50,000 tourism promotion grant to another Blackwell company, Killerspin.That is almost a 3 to 1 return on investment. In Illinois investing in politicians is a very profitable business. Much better than the 40% gross profit (about 5 to 10% net) that you get in normal business. Obama's staff said the senator advocated only for the first year's grant -- which ended up being $20,000, not $50,000. The day after Obama wrote his letter urging the awarding of the state funds, Obama's U.S. Senate campaign received a $1,000 donation from Blackwell.Ah, so $320,000 is small CHANGE. Or even $20,000. It sure would make a big difference in my life. In fact $20,000 is more than my yearly income right now. Much more. Obviously Axelrod travels in different circles than I do. Being one of the little people and all, who cling to guns, god, xenophobia, and bitterness. Business relationships between lawmakers and people with government interests are not illegal or uncommon in Illinois or other states with a part-time Legislature, where lawmakers supplement their state salaries with income from the private sector.Well that is true. It is not uncommon in Illinois. It is the way business is done here. See Rezko, Tony. The LA Times goes on: But Obama portrays himself as a lawmaker dedicated to transparency and sensitive to even the appearance of a conflict of interest.Now here is where I see Obama making a big mistake. Never leave a paper trail. People might misconstrue it. And you know this is only one deal. Illinois politicians make hundreds of such deals every year. They are the difference between living in a rented apartment and owning a $1 million dollar mansion in Hyde Park. They are the difference between buying lettuce at the supermarket and arugula at Whole Foods. One thing you can say about Obama relative to Illinois politics. He is an honest politician. He stays bought. So it all comes down to: who owns him. And you thought slavery was outlawed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Obviously it does not apply to politicians. Obama is a Slave to the Machine. The Chicago Machine. It is a tough job, but Obama Can Do It. Which brings us to speculation. Why was Obama pushed forward so hard in this election season? My guess is that it was the Chicago Machine's last hope to limit the damage from the Rezko mess. If Obama wins the Presidency he can slow or stop further investigations into how Illinois/Chicago operates. With Obama tanking it has got to be putting those guys into the house of fear. You can smell it in the air. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon on 04.28.08 at 03:00 PM
Comments
You are such an optimist sometimes, Simon, and I love that about you. That smell in the air is most likely the sweat of those "regular" folks who went out to work today and came home too tired to keep up with the shenanigans of the "irregulars" spending their tax dollars in ever more creative ways. Penny · April 29, 2008 01:15 PM Post a comment
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