Blagojevich, SEIU, Rezco, Obama & Illinois Corrupt Politics

By now you have heard about the Govenor of Illinois being arrested. The following two paragraphs are taken from a Chicago SunTimes article: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1321300,rod-blagojevich-illinois-governor-custody-120908.article

“Blagojevich, 51, and Harris, 46, both of Chicago, are each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. They were charged in a two-count criminal complaint that was sworn out on Sunday and unsealed today following their arrests, which occurred without incident, the feds said.
“Harris allegedly said they could work out a deal with the union and the President-elect where SEIU could help the President-elect with Blagojevich’s appointment of Senate Candidate 1, while Blagojevich would obtain a position as the national director of the Change to Win campaign and SEIU would get something favorable from the President-elect in the future.” (emphasis added by me)

The reason I pulled the second paragraph from the article is that both the SEIU & Change to Win do have connections with Obama…I know you can not surprised. One of the things Obama has promised is to get legislation passed that will eliminate the secret ballot when employees are voting on joining a union. The Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the “Card Check”, bill is strongly opposed by the US Chamber of Commerce. (http://www.uschamber.com/issues/index/labor/cardchecksecrbal.htm).

With Obama’s ties to the SEIU, Change to Win, and other large union representatives union leaders feel comfortable that the Card Check bill will be passed in the first one hundred days of Obama’s presidency.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) endorsed Obama in February 2008, actively campaigned for Obama, and “encouraged” their members to contribute to Obama’s campaign fund. The actual amount that SEIU contributed can not be easily tallied but there is no question that the donations were substantial. A couple of months ago I read that the SEIU was Obama’s largest contributor.

One SEIU website (below) states: “Members hope Obama who was an SEIU organizer in Illinois prior to entering politics can achieve economic justice, quality, affordable healthcare for every American, the freedom for workers to unite in unions, and an end to the Iraq war.” http://www.seiu521.org/news_archive/SEIU_International_Has_Officially_Endorsed_Barack_Obama_for_President_.aspx

Change to Win (CTW) is an organization of seven major unions with about six million members. CTW also endorsed Obama in February 2008. I went on the CTW website and looked up the leadership. Anna Burger, SEIU secretary-treasurer and CTW chair, also served as an economic advisor to Obama during his campaign. There are some interesting characters on the CTW leadership list including James Hoffa & Edgar Romney.

Go to this website to see photos of Obama with various leaders from the SEIU & CTW. http://www.politicalbase.com/people/barack-obama/3221/photos/&imageId=15786

Maybe Harris, Blagojevich’s Chief of Staff, felt so comfortable stating that the SEIU “would get something favorable from the President-elect in the future” is because he had intimate knowledge of the close ties between the unions and Obama…looks like Obama already owes SEIU and CTW some “favorable” stuff.

Another one of Obama’s friends, Tony Rezco, has strong ties with the arrested Governor of Illinois. Back in October Mike Robinson, a writer for AP, commented on Rezco’s connection with Blagojevich.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93O5C180&show_article=1&lst=1

“CHICAGO (AP) - Jailed political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer who helped launch Barack Obama on his political career, is whispering secrets to federal prosecutors about corruption in Illinois and the political fallout could be explosive. Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose administration faces multiple federal investigations over how it handed out jobs and money with advice from Rezko, is considered the most vulnerable.”

In addition to raising funds for Obama Rezco is credited with raising hundreds of thousands for Blagojevich. Do you think Rezco has been ‘singing’ to save his neck?

All these connections give me a headache!