waggy
No Lifer
chic trib
SPRINGFIELD -- At the same time Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn was touting the need to reform Illinois' pay-to-play culture of corruption, his campaign was using the waning days of the legislative session to ask major special interest groups to hold $15,000 fundraisers to get "face time" with him.
While not illegal, that's considered out-of-bounds even by Springfield standards. To many at the Capitol, the move smacked of the conflict-of-interest problems Quinn had vowed to fix after taking over from Rod Blagojevich, who stands accused of pressuring those with pending state business to pony up political donations.
On Friday, Quinn confirmed he was aware his campaign contacted groups that already offered to help him raise campaign cash. But he also acknowledged those efforts went "above and beyond" to include some that hadn't offered fundraising help. A campaign director "made a mistake" that was "naive," the governor said.
Revelations of Quinn's fundraising push came as an anticipated showdown on ethics reforms collapsed amid a battle of partisan politics among majority Senate Democrats and minority Senate Republicans. By day's end, activists from Quinn's reform commission were left questioning how much power lawmakers are willing to cede.
But it was the fundraising debacle by Quinn -- who has spent more than three decades promoting himself as a populist outsider fighting government as a reformer -- that took center stage as the bizarre theatrics of ethics reform played out.
State Sen. John Millner (R- Carol Stream) said Quinn's actions were "almost as though he threw us under the bus" as lawmakers attempt to convince a wary public they're trying to install real reforms in a state with one previous governor in prison and another removed from office and facing federal corruption charges.
"This is totally unacceptable and frankly, I'm angry," Millner said. "I'm angry that they can't understand how this even looks, to do something like this."
Executives for two major trade associations, who asked that their names not be used to keep from potentially jeopardizing pending legislation, said they had been called within the past week by a Quinn political operative and told that the governor was making time available to meet with them.
One executive said his group received a call Thursday from Quinn's political operation seeking a $15,000 fundraiser. The other executive said his group was called by campaign director Holly Copeland and told that "you would probably like to have face time with the governor to talk about your industry concerns, and we're making time available."
so much for reform eh? i wonder if we are on the way for the 3rd governor to be jailed? wonder how much Blago is laughing heh
SPRINGFIELD -- At the same time Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn was touting the need to reform Illinois' pay-to-play culture of corruption, his campaign was using the waning days of the legislative session to ask major special interest groups to hold $15,000 fundraisers to get "face time" with him.
While not illegal, that's considered out-of-bounds even by Springfield standards. To many at the Capitol, the move smacked of the conflict-of-interest problems Quinn had vowed to fix after taking over from Rod Blagojevich, who stands accused of pressuring those with pending state business to pony up political donations.
On Friday, Quinn confirmed he was aware his campaign contacted groups that already offered to help him raise campaign cash. But he also acknowledged those efforts went "above and beyond" to include some that hadn't offered fundraising help. A campaign director "made a mistake" that was "naive," the governor said.
Revelations of Quinn's fundraising push came as an anticipated showdown on ethics reforms collapsed amid a battle of partisan politics among majority Senate Democrats and minority Senate Republicans. By day's end, activists from Quinn's reform commission were left questioning how much power lawmakers are willing to cede.
But it was the fundraising debacle by Quinn -- who has spent more than three decades promoting himself as a populist outsider fighting government as a reformer -- that took center stage as the bizarre theatrics of ethics reform played out.
State Sen. John Millner (R- Carol Stream) said Quinn's actions were "almost as though he threw us under the bus" as lawmakers attempt to convince a wary public they're trying to install real reforms in a state with one previous governor in prison and another removed from office and facing federal corruption charges.
"This is totally unacceptable and frankly, I'm angry," Millner said. "I'm angry that they can't understand how this even looks, to do something like this."
Executives for two major trade associations, who asked that their names not be used to keep from potentially jeopardizing pending legislation, said they had been called within the past week by a Quinn political operative and told that the governor was making time available to meet with them.
One executive said his group received a call Thursday from Quinn's political operation seeking a $15,000 fundraiser. The other executive said his group was called by campaign director Holly Copeland and told that "you would probably like to have face time with the governor to talk about your industry concerns, and we're making time available."
so much for reform eh? i wonder if we are on the way for the 3rd governor to be jailed? wonder how much Blago is laughing heh
