Public Corruption
and Getting Caught is Such a Bitch!
Rezko is a convicted con man.
Governor Rod Blagojevich is a convicted con man.
President Barack Obama is an unconvicted co-conspirator with Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich.
Rezko was charged and convicted of "shaking down" investment firms. If they wanted contracts with state organizations, Rezko was the man to see. He had politicians in his pocket. He had Governor Blagojevich and he had Senator Obama.
In spite of the public's short term memory loss, it is ironic that Obama who received more corporate money in his 2008 campaign than his GOP opponent, is rallying around the OWS protest. It no surprise that Obama who drew more than his share of support from Wall Street in 2008 is now supporting the protesters, who condemn Wall Street, to insure his re-election in 2012.
"White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the president will work to ensure the interests of 99 percent of Americans are well represented in government." ((Wall Street Protest))
Corruption and Obama's Stimulus
"In 2009, President Obama promised that his new $38.6 billion loan guarantee program for "green" technology would create 65,000 jobs. (Thats $600,000 per job.) According to the Department of Energy, after spending 17.2 billion of taxpayer dollars, the program Obama created gave us 3,545 new permanent jobs. (Thats $4.9 million per job.)" See vcstar.com
Rezko made deals arranged though his Middle-Eastern associates by way of Chicago and as far away as Iraq.
A Price for Political Contributions
Barack Obama's contributions to the governor came with a price to the Governor. When he sent the Governor his wish list for building more influence, it included a LIST of 19 names of colleagues and friends he wanted appointed to state positions, of which even during a state hiring freeze, 10 were appointed by the governor. When he needed Obama to write to state agencies for him, he did so and the price was more money for Obama's campaign coffers.
On June 27, 2011, jurors convicted the former governor of 17 of the 20 counts against him in his second federal corruption trial of trying to sell or trade President Obama's old Senate seat." - New York Times - (Blagojevich's sentencing also postponed indefinitely)
Rezko is awaiting sentencing for bribery, mulitiple counts of fraud and influence peddling, etc. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve postponed conviction sentencing
It is no surprise that Barack Obama is not going to jail anytime soon. He has distanced himself from both Rezko and Blagojevich.
"Of the 19 people named on the document, obtained exclusively by the Chicago Sun-Times, 10 wound up being appointed by the governor to a state board or commission -- or got a spouse named. Others wound up with contracts under-written by taxpayers, or their children got state jobs amid a Blagojevich hiring freeze." (Dave McKinney and Chris Fusco - Chicago Sun-Times - October 23, 2006)
"This is all just so incredibly troubling...This [list] comes immediately on the heels of a campaign about transforming the political culture in Illinois." (Cindi Canary, director of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform)
What do these state boards do? They oversee investment pension funds to building low cost housing, exactly the business Rezko was in.
"The governor, meanwhile, got more than $830,000 in campaign contributions dating back to 2001 from 15 people on the list, or from their businesses, state records show...." (ibid)
"...[F]ederal prosecutors are alleging Rezko, in a case involving one state panel, schemed to trade a public pension deal for $1.5 million in contributions to Blagojevich."
"Fifteen days after the governor's office faxed the list to Blagojevich's home, Blagojevich met with Rezko at Rezko's real estate office at 853 N. Elston for an hour and 45 minutes, according to the governor's schedule." (Tribune)
Let's see, who among others was on the list - to name just one of them. How about the lawyer, Terry Newman, who is also a confidant and close friend of Major Daley, the same Mayor Daley who just weeks ago endorsed Barack Obama for President. There are so many "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours," connections here, they can make your head hurt.
A LABOR UNION OFFICIAL was also involved in this influence con game.
"The Blagojevich campaign said it could attribute only about $80,000 in political contributions to those identified on the Rezko list. The larger Sun-Times tally includes individual contributions, donations from companies those individuals owned and, in one instance, dollars from a LABOR organization that operates under a top union official appointed by the governor.
In the Middle of a Real Mess
There is no doubt if we look at this from Rezko's point of view; at least his condition, financial and others, it would seem to be a real mess. He was caught. Not that he was hiding his shady dealing but some attorney general decided he had enough on this guy to bring down his world. And make no mistake about it, that is what they did. A Grand Jury issued the indictment and Rezko was convicted and is still awaiting sentencing. The attorney in the Rezko case is no other than Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor who brought and prosecuted the case against Scooter Libby.
The persona established by the Obama campaign before it became "change" was "reform." Obama started his campaign as the "reformer." There was a problem with that. His relationship with the slumlord Rezko, which goes back over 17 years. Rezko, the indicted Chicago con man went on trial for extortion, fraud, money laundering and more, altogether more than 24 counts.
How could Obama not know about Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the "wheeler-dealer who used minority set-asides and community groups as fronts to win government contracts," according to Dan Payne, a Boston-area media consultant "who has worked for Democratic candidates" (Boston Globe, Jan 24, 2008)
During the same time when Rezko was perpetrating fraud and conning the citizens of Illinois out of millions of dollars, Obama wrote a letter to the city of Chicago backing Rezko in a bid to get another $14 million dollars in tax money for him to build senior housing. This was while his low cost housing units were not being maintained and he had walked away from many of them.
The Boston Globe reported: "ABC and the Chicago Sun-Times both found that Obama asked for and got Rezko's help in buying land neighboring Rezko's property for $300,000 below the asking price. When the deal became public, Obama said it was a mistake that he regrets. He may not be done regretting it." (Jan 2008)
Obama is included in the indictment against Rezko as the "unnamed political candidate" for receiving for his Senate campaign "$10,000 out of quarter-million-dollar scheme engineered by Rezko."
Slowly the information was revealed and we now know it was a whole lot more than that. Is it no surprise that President Obama doesn't want to talk about it? He refuses to be interviewed about his connections to the Chicago underworld and Tony Rezko. And the amount of money Obama received from Rezko and associates just keeps getting bigger.
"Obama's dealings with Rezko took place while it was well known that Rezko was under investigation by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who sent Scooter Libby to jail..." (ibid)
Getting Caught is Such a Bitch
$30,000 a Month Mortgage Payments
In 2006 when the Chicago Sun-times wrote about it, Rezko was behind on his $30,000 a month mortgage payment on his Wilmette mansion. I don't know what Obama pays on his mansion, but consider this. It is a neighborhood where the super-rich live. Oprah lives down the street in a multi-million dollar mansion. So does Louis Farrakan, Muhammad Ali and Milton Friedman. Al Sharpton has a home there too.
"LaSalle Bank National Association filed a foreclosure lawsuit on Rezko's Wilmette mansion. The suit alleges Rezko and his wife, Rita, haven't made their $30,000-a-month-plus mortgage payment since August and owe more than $5 million in principal, $96,108 in interest and at least $3,290 in late fees." (Natasha Korecki and Chris Fusco, Chicago Sun-Times October 14, 2006)
How would you like to pay the taxes on their mansion. I can only wonder what it must be. For that matter, a safe bet would be that Obama has a big tax nut. (and who is helping to pay the mortgage?)
Rezko also has a problem with Papa John. "And Papa John's International, a pizza chain that helped Rezko build his fortune, has accused him in a civil racketeering lawsuit of defrauding the company." (ibid)
Before the trouble for Rezko began, Rep. Luis Gutierrez got a sweetheart deal, on his town house from Tony Rezko. He paid much less than his neighbors paid for their town houses from Rezko; he gave Rezko $434,900 for the 2,361-square-foot town house which abuts the Chicago River, which he turned around and sold for $610,000 -- a 40 percent profit. Four neighbors paid between $516,000 and $660,000 for their homes for the same living space. Rezko has also contributed $19,000 to Gutierrez's relection campaigns.
Rezko also was involved in the deal where Sen. Barack Obama bought his South Side mansion for $300,000 below the property asking price. Rezko however paid full price, $625,000 for an adjoining vacant lot which later he subdivided so Obama could have the land adjoining his mansion.
Sourced through various newspaper accounts, especially the many articles written about Rezko in the Chicago by Sun-Times investigative reporter Tim Novak, Lynn Sweet, et al.Hank Roth
All (if any) quoting per the Fair Use
Doctrine
for educational and discussion purposes pursuant to
Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, Copyright Law.
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Today is Friday May 18, 2012
Hank Roth (on the Internet since 1982)