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Putting Things in Perspective
Voters are being inundated with news about various political scandals, but a quick glance at the facts reveals that it is the Illinois Democrats who have been the ones waving the banner of criminal behavior.
Consider Illinois' last two elected Democrat Governors Governor Daniel Walker, 1973-1977 Governor Walker once had presidential aspirations. After leaving the gubernatorial office however, Walker served time in federal prison for crimes related to his business and personal finances. Governor Otto Kerner, 1961-1968 After resigning as governor to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Kerner was convicted on 17 counts of conspiracy, fraud, perjury, bribery, and income tax evasion in connection with the purchase and sale of race track stock while he served as Governor. This was the first time in American history that a sitting federal judge was convicted and imprisoned for such crimes. While in the federal government, Kerner also had headed a commission (The Kerner Commission). It's mission? To study crime and violence in the country.
Democrat Integrity in the Secretary of State's office? Secretary of State Paul Powell, 1965-1970 On October 10, 1970, Powell was found dead in his Springfield hotel room with shoe boxes containing $800,000 of unexplained money. (In addition to serving two terms as Illinois Secretary of State, Powell also served three terms as Speaker of the House, and four terms as House [Democratic] Minority Leader.)
Secretary of State Jesse White, 1999-? White introduced his secretary and "friend" Donna Lumpkins Floyd to numerous legislators and encouraged them to give $175,000 OF TAXPAYER MONEY to her charity. The only problem: there was no charity. Floyd claims that White then destroyed the records of the transactions. Despite repeated requests for information, Jesse has refused to cooperate, and calls himself a "victim." After a government investigation, the Illinois State Board of Elections fined Jesse White $800,000 for his campaign financial and disclosure irregularities. Again, White has remained silent and has refused to take responsibility and pay the fine.
Let's take a look at Democrat Treasurers: Treasurer Jerry Cosentino, 1979-1983; 1987-1991 Plead guilty to bank fraud in 1992 and subsequently served nine months of home confinement.
Consider the record of Democrat Congressmen: U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, 1993-1999 Conspired with her siblings to hide $28,750 which was legally required to go to Medicaid. Though never charged with this crime, the U.S. Senate fined her.
It just so happened that Moseley-Braun's boyfriend (and campaign manager), Kgosie Matthews, was a hired agent and paid lobbyist for the Nigerian government. Though he was on the payroll of Nigeria and was not a U.S. citizen, he was [illegally] allowed to manage the senator's campaign. After being investigated for campaign irregularities and fraud, Matthews fled the country and became a fugitive. A travel agency sued Matthews to recover funds that he had taken for trips he made with Senator Moseley-Braun. Being unable to locate Matthews, they attempted (unsuccessfully) to subpoena the senator to testify to his whereabouts. Has also been alleged to have illegally converted campaign funds to personal use, violating IRS laws, and violating Senate Rules. See articles on Carol
Moseley-Braun by Doug
Cassel (Northwestern U.), Bill Cleeland: [1st]
[2nd]
(Daily Illini), Danedri
Thompson (Kansas State Collegian), Mike
Royko (Chicago Tribune), George
Will (Washington Post), Kate
O'Beirne (National Review), and Jane
Chastain (World Net Daily). U.S. Congressman Charles Hayes, 1983-1993 The House Banking Scandal ("Rubbergate") dominated the news in 1992, allowing members of Congress to take advantage of the House Bank clearinghouse, to overdraw their checking accounts. Hayes was identified by the House Ethics Committee as the 7th-biggest check-bouncing violator, in this scandal. He bounced 716 checks, which were 15 months overdue. Hayes was defeated, in his bid for re-nomination, by Democrat Bobby Rush. U.S. Congressman Gus Savage, 1981-1993 On an official visit to Zaire in 1988, Congressman Savage met a female Peace Corps worker who was sent to brief him. He reportedly grabbed her, kissed, her, and attempted to take advantage of her. When asked by a reporter about the incident, he stated, "Get the f--- out of my face." When being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for his alleged attack on the Peace Corps worker, and asked by reporters to comment on the incident, Savage exploded with a barrage of profanity and insults far too explicit to be printed here. The Ethics Committee decided that the incident did indeed occur, but decided not to take any type of action against Savage after he wrote the woman a letter saying that he "never intended to offend" her. Not surprisingly, Savage won his re-election bid in 1990. During the 1992 congressional primary, Mel Reynolds, who was
challenging incumbent Congressman Savage, accused Savage of engineering
a drive-by shooting which injured him. After the alleged incident,
Reynolds put a large Band-Aid on his forehead, and kept it there
for the rest of the campaign. The police dismissed the accusation,
and Savage claimed that it never happened. Reynolds went on to
defeat Savage in the primary and won his congressional seat. U.S. Congressman Mel Reynolds, 1993-1995 Convicted of sex crimes, child pornography, and obstruction of justice in 1995 and forced to resign his seat. Convicted of obstruction, bank fraud, and wire fraud in 1997. After going to prison, Reynolds began a hunger strike. He claims that he was forced to stop it only when prison guards force-fed him french fries. In 2001, the convicted congressman received one of Bill Clinton's infamous last-minute pardons. Reynolds has now been hired by Jesse Jackson as a counselor for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. This is possibly the first time ever that a public official who had sexual relations with a subordinate was granted clemency by a public official who had sexual relations with a subordinate, and was then hired by a public figure who had sexual relations with a subordinate. Go figure. U.S. Congressman Dan Rostenkowski ("Rosty the Postman"), 1959-1995 Pled guilty to misuse of public funds and mail fraud in 1996. Also pardoned by Bill Clinton.
And what about Democrat State Legislators?
Rep. Granberg had been a prominent opponent of the [ultimately-successful] proposal to lower the blood alcohol level driving limit in Illinois.
Democrat Chicago Officials in prison? Of course! Chicago Treasurer Miriam Santos - Pled guilty to mail fraud in 1999. Chicago Clerk Walter Kozubowski - Mayor Bill Daley appointed Kozubowski ("the Koz") as city clerk even though he was under federal investigation for corruption at the time. Just one year into his term, Kozubowski was indicted for federal crimes. He refused at first to resign, and did so only after Mayor Daley publicly threatened him. Kozubowski pled guilty to ghost payrolling charges in 1993.
Other
convicted Chicago Democrats:
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