Monday, March 30, 2009

Illinois's 'Corruption Tax'   [David Freddoso]

If you want to understand the political environment out of which President Obama emerged (unscathed, as his supporters would suggest), today's piece from the Associated Press provides a nice summary of many ways in which crooked Illinois politicians rob that state blind. One researcher, a former Chicago alderman and political scientist, has pegged the "corruption tax" at roughly $300 million annually, but that only includes the Chicago area.

A few samples:

Someone put in a government job because he knows the right people isn’t likely to work hard for his paycheck. In extreme cases, he might not show up for work at all, instead becoming what’s known as a ghost payroller. One Cicero “health inspector” got $133,000 in salary and benefits for a job he never performed. He also got a one-year prison sentence.

Likewise, a company awarded a city contract through bribery isn’t going to worry about performance...Just look at Chicago’s “Hired Truck” program, where the city outsourced hauling jobs to private firms. Many companies, some with Mob connections, paid bribes to get contracts then collected taxpayer money while doing little or no work...Just after Blagojevich became governor, the state suddenly started paying a company more than $500,000 to wash buildings, bridges and even road salt storage domes. Yet the work could have been done by state employees. The firm’s president turned out to be the brother-in-law of a high-ranking Illinois Department of Transportation official, who eventually resigned after the contract was suspended.

If you want a few more typical examples, you can read up on the contracts given to Mayor Daley's son and nephew, the spectacular story of Sen. Emil Jones's (D) family business, or the Stroger family and the operations of the Cook County government. That is to say nothing of the big graft — the multi-billion dollar pension investments that were diverted through the machinations of Tony Rezko and others.

03/30 11:16 AMShare