Obama's nudge will help pass ethics bill
September 20, 2008
BY CAROL MARIN Sun-Times Columnist
Lucy & Ethel. Bert & Ernie. Oprah & Gayle.
Barack & Emil.
Sometimes friendship saves the day.
Obama's Nudge Will Help Pass Ethics Bill
Tags:
- 000 in state contracts. The bill would kill his golden goose. Whether Obama wins or loses the presidency,
- 2008 BY CAROL MARIN Sun-Times Columnist Lucy & Ethel. Bert & Ernie. Oprah & Gayle. Barack & Emil. Sometimes friendship saves the day. But in the case of Obama & Emil,
- a Blagojevich ally as well as Obama pal,
- a retiring lame duck who has bequeathed his Senate seat to his kid,
- after lawmakers of both parties humiliate him by killing it,
- and called his own special session,
- and the hounding of Republican state Sen. Kirk Dillard,
- but not to his presidential protege. And so the state Senate,
- calls from civic watchdog groups,
- deserted the governor. Blagojevich,
- finally phone home. And implore his political mentor -- or "godfather" to borrow Dillard's words -- to get off the ethics dime. That "godfather,
- first it took a strongly worded Sun-Times editorial,
- Gov. Rod "Rewrite to Do Right" Blagojevich used his creative writing skills to amend it. In other words,
- he pushed for ethics reform. With the Rose Garden almost in reach,
- immediately one-upped the Senate president,
- improves to 4-0 on year ENTERTAINMENT Magic Emmy ball: Our award predictions LIFESTYLES They're blinding us with science citywide VIDEO :: MORE » Obama's nudge will help pass ethics bill Recommended (5) Comments September 20,
- it's hard to overestimate the significance -- symbolic and actual --of putting a dent in the political corruption of this state. A state where campaign donors know that a big check to a politician in power is practically an ironclad guarantee of getting l,
- Jones,
- led by Blagojevich nemesis Michael Madigan,
- like a capital bill to fix roads and bridges and bring desperately need jobs to Illinois. Senator Obama,
- like E.T.,
- load it with other provisions that would almost certainly kill it. The House,
- marches back into Springfield this week to take another vote on a statewide ethics bill before it's deader than a doornail. Even though the House and the Senate already passed it in May,
- might suddenly exist. Not that it will pass,
- mind you. The only thing that Blagojevich accomplishes by offering his own ethics proposal is to pretend,
- never to be outdone on the public stage,
- now,
- on his order,
- on the stump,
- on this one,
- ordering both Madigan's House and Jones' Senate to Springfield on Monday. The purpose? To consider his own ethics bill. It seems the "Rock the System" ethics package the governor promised in 2005,
- phone home more often.,
- pressure from frustrated Democratic statewide officeholders,
- promotes the fact that in his years in the state Senate,
- promptly overrode the governor,
- Senate President Emil Jones, could say,
- sticking with the original measure. But Jones,
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- that he was more valiant on behalf of reform than they were. It's pathetic. The more modest ethics measure that passed this spring,
- the Obama campaign reluctantly grew to understand that he'd better intervene with his mentor or he'd hand John McCain an easy hit. You would think that's the end of the story. But it's not. Though Jones and Blagojevich have been pals,
- the one Blagojevich sabotaged,
- the one he never turned into an actual bill,
- the reason that Blagojevich doesn't want this modest bill to pass intact is that it would throw a monkey wrench into his relentless multimillion-dollar fund-raising. It would prohibit him from taking big bucks from donors who had more than $50,
- wasn't going to budge,
- wasn't going to give his chamber a crack at it until it was arguably too late. Remember,
- whether he goes to the White House or comes back home to run for governor,
- which Jones stubbornly refused to call back into session until November,
- who once upon a time cut a primary commercial for Barack Obama. Only after all of that did Obama,
- will be a law by this week. It will be a victory for civic groups and a committed band of lawmakers who often got more grief than glory for three years of hard work and bipartisan negotiation. Now other urgent business looms
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Carol Marin
Carol Marin is the political columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. In addition to her work at the paper, she is the political editor for NBC5 News and an interviewer/contributer to WTTW's Chicago Tonight program. Click here to read more about Carol.
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This page contains a single entry by Carol Marin published on September 20, 2008 3:20 PM.
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