The Blagojevich Chronicles – Part 4

Sunday’s Chicago Tribune had op-ed articles by both Lt. Governor Pat Quinn and Dan Seals (Democratic candidate for the 10th Congressional District in 2006 and 2008) claiming that the Blagojevich scandal shows the need for all kinds of reform laws in Illinois: campaign finance laws, a constitutional amendment allowing recall of elected officials, new ethics laws, etc.

Actually, Illinois voters already have all the power they need to stop corruption. It’s called the vote. All the laws in the world aren’t going to solve the problem of corruption if political parties keeping nominating people like Rod Blagojevich and the voters keep re-electing them.

There was plenty of information out there about Rod Blagojevich before the election in 2006. As I said before, look at the Chicago Tribune website for 2006. See the list here. Also, let me mention two examples I remember from 2006. First, there was the woman who wanted a state job in DuPage County. There weren’t any openings in DuPage, but there was one in Whiteside County. So the woman got the job in Whiteside County and was transferred to DuPage County – without ever showing up for work in Whiteside County. And the woman’s husband gave a $1500 present to Governor Blagojevich’s younger daughter for her baptism. Just a friend; just a coincidence.

Also, there was the tens of thousands of dollars (or was it hundreds of thousands of dollars, I don’t remember) of real estate commissions that Patti Blagojevich "earned" in deals where she "represented" the politically-connected. When the Chicago Tribune reported the story in 2006, Governor Blagojevich said that his wife had a right to earn a living and that the charges were "Neanderthal".

And what did Illinois Democrats do with all this information? They ignored it. I don’t know specifically about Dan Seals, but I do know what Pat Quinn did when he had a real chance to stand up and do something about Rod Blagojevich in 2006: He ran for re-election with him.

Democrats like Pat Quinn can talk all they want about laws to stop corruption and reform. But we don’t need new laws. We just need to stop voting for corrupt politicians – and the people who tolerate them.