A Few More Comments from My Front Row Seat in Illinois

Well, just when you think Governor Rod Blagojevich would not get worse he does. In a very shrewd move the governor issued an executive order this week, while in Denver, to challenge the state legislature. Here is how the story goes.

The state passed an ethics reform act that would ban statewide office holders from taking campaign cash from state contractors. Guess who this is aimed at? Yes, our governor. So what does the governor do with this legislation? He issues an order banning state contractors from giving money to any state candidate at all. This new provision would include county and city job holders.

The governor’s action sounds noble and ethically important at first glance.  But the Illinois watchdog Campaign for Political Reform urges lawmakers to override the governor’s amendatory veto. And State Representative John Fritchey, a Chicago Democrat, says he will try to do just that. Good for Representative Fritchey. Our governor will try almost anything, including campaign finance reform that is twisted to make him look like the good guy, in order to manipulate our state for his advantage. Even his own party is skeptical. What they all know, and I know from my front row seat in Illinois, is that this administration has been an ethical nightmare. Just think Tony Rezko and you get the picture in focus. "Kickbacks" are better known to most of the good people of Illinois than "running backs" at our famous state university in Champaign.

Representative Jack Franks, another Democrat, said of the governor’s actions: "It’s the fox watching the hen house." You bet. And I would think this is just ordinary election year stuff if I didn’t hear it coming from the governor’s own party.

The governor’s timing was typical Blagojevich. He spoke on Monday, the day all the Illinois leaders were to speak at the Denver Convention. And he spoke while the various Illinois Democrats were urging unity among the party faithful in Denver Monday night. I am telling you this truly is one of America’s worst governors! He is so full of himself he can’t see how much he is now despised by how own party. It seems he had his eye on something bigger and saw Illinois as a mere "stepping stone" to the White House.