United States of Chicago

Trampled Underfoot

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not that's there is anything wrong with that.. there isn't... + I'm a LIB so I love gay ! I just don't like a gay saint ... I'm catholic. but not a priest.

...but to be gay for Hansbrough?

There is something wrong with that. :142smilie
 

saint

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bryanz, I did read your 10th post a while back. Disappointing.

I think you are about 4 or 5 ingores into your next free viewing. Keep up the good work sport
 

DOGS THAT BARK

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more from Chicago---

Key Players in the Indictment Against Blagojevich

Key players in the indictment against the former Illinois governor.


AP
Thursday, April 02, 2009

The federal indictment of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and five co-defendants charges they conspired to trade official government action for Blagojevich's political or personal gain involve a variety of characters.
Among key players mentioned in the indictment:
Rod Blagojevich, 52, of Chicago:
A former state legislator and congressman elected governor in 2002 and re-elected four years later despite wide discussion of federal investigations into his administration. He was impeached and removed from office in January. He faces 16 counts of wire fraud, racketeering and extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and making false statements in a "pay-to-play" scheme to trade government action for personal and political enrichment beginning in 2002.
<HR>John Harris, 47, of Chicago:
Blagojevich's chief of staff from late 2005 until December, when he was arrested and resigned. He is charged with a single count of wire fraud and is cooperating with authorities.
<HR>Alonzo Monk, 50, of Park Ridge:
A longtime friend of Blagojevich who served on his staff when the Democrat was in Congress, managed both his gubernatorial campaigns and was his first chief of staff. He is charged with a single count of wire fraud.
<HR>Robert Blagojevich, 53, of Nashville, Tenn.:
The ex-governor's brother who became his campaign finance chairman in August. He faces two counts of wire fraud.
<HR>Christopher Kelly, 50, of Burr Ridge:
A construction company owner and principal fundraiser for Blagojevich, who faces counts of fraud and extortion conspiracy and attempted extortion. He pleaded not guilty last month to separate corruption charges involving construction work at O'Hare International Airport and recently pleaded guilty to obstructing the Internal Revenue Service for paying gambling debts with company money and claiming it as a business expense.
<HR>William F. Cellini Sr., 74, of Springfield:
A longtime Republican fundraiser who also collected significant funds for Blagojevich. He faces the same charges as Kelly.
<HR>Congressman A:
An Illinois member of the U.S. House. When he asked about a $2 million grant for a public school in his district that Blagojevich had promised and included in the 2006 state budget, Blagojevich told the congressman's staff member he had to hold a fundraiser for Blagojevich. Attorneys familiar with the case say Congressman A is President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. At the time, Emanuel was the congressman from the 5th District on Chicago's North Side. The attorneys spoke on condition of anonymity because the congressman isn't named in the indictment and the information is secret grand jury material.
<HR>Senate Candidate A:
The indictment claims Blagojevich believed an associate of Senate Candidate A promised to raise $1.5 million in campaign funds if he appointed the candidate to the Senate. This is consistent with U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill. Jackson is not charged with wrongdoing.
<HR>Senate Candidate B:
Several counts involve discussions Blagojevich and others had about whether he could get financial benefit or a high-paying job with a not-for-profit organization for appointing Senate Candidate B. This is consistent with Valerie Jarrett, a close adviser to President Barack Obama. Blagojevich thought Jarrett was Obama's choice to succeed him in the Senate, but Jarrett withdrew her name in mid-November. Jarrett is not charged with wrongdoing.
<HR>Children's Memorial Hospital:
The indictment claims Blagojevich tried to get a $50,000 campaign contribution from the hospital or its CEO, Patrick M. Magoon, in exchange for an $8 million pediatric care reimbursement promised by the state. Neither the hospital nor Magoon is charged with wrongdoing.
 

DOGS THAT BARK

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Hmm Got another one today--glad this isn't politics as usual :)

Millions for Axelrod in sale of firm


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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 4/3/09 8:30 PM EDT
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


As he prepared to take a job in the White House at the end of last year, David Axelrod sold the political consulting firm that helped elect President Barack Obama for $2 million to a group of consultants who helped steer Obama?s campaign.

According to a disclosure form released Friday evening by the White House, the firm, AKP&D Message & Media, paid him $897,000 last year, when it had basically turned itself into an arm of the Obama campaign, which paid the company $2.5 million.

The disclosure indicates that Obama?s campaign manager David Plouffe ? the "P" in AKP&D and still an influential political consultant for Obama and the Democratic National Committee
? was not among the buyers, though he?ll remain a senior adviser to the firm.

Instead, Axelrod reported the new owner is a "newly formed S corporation? owned by Obama campaign vets John Kupper, John Del Cecato and Larry Grisolano.

Kupper and Del Cecato ? the "K" and "D," respectively ? handled research and for the campaign and also wrote many of its ads. Grisolano is a Los Angeles-based strategist who handled direct mail for Obama?s campaign.

Axelrod?s disclosure offers a peek inside the business model he used to create a Chicago-based consulting powerhouse, which included both AKP&D and ASK Public Strategies.

ASK, which specialized in corporate public relations, paid him partnership income of $152,000 last year, according to the disclosure, even though he had taken a leave of absence to work on the campaign. Axelrod sold his share of ASK to Kupper and Eric Sedler for $1 million at the end of last year.

The firm became the source of some controversy during the presidential campaign, when The Washington Post reported that in 2006, Michelle Obama urged the University of Chicago?s hospital, where she served as an executive, to hire ASK to drum up community support for a controversial urban health initiative.

The Obama team disputed the Post?s account, asserting that someone else at the hospital initiated ASK?s hiring.

A March BusinessWeek story highlighted how ASK established front groups for corporate giants, including Madison Square Garden and ComEd, to help sway public opinion on controversial initiatives in New York and Illinois, respectively.

Entitled ?The Secret Side of David Axelrod,? the story asserted that the firm was a master of ?Astroturf organizing" ? a practice the good government groups with which Obama worked closely in the Illinois Legislature and U.S. Senate have lambasted as a way to skirt lobbying laws.

Additionally, New York State lobbying records obtained by POLITICO show that Madison Square Garden paid ASK $1.16 million to lobby in 2004 ? the biggest lobbying contract of the year in the state.

Sedler in a November interview with POLITICO disputed that ASK engages in Astroturf lobbying and also asserted that, though ASK had to register as a lobby shop in New York, it actually didn?t lobby public officials, only produced advertisements on matters of public policy debate.

According to Axelrod?s disclosure, ASK, which had never before published a comprehensive list of clients, also has represented power concerns Exelon, Commonwealth Edison Co., and Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity, as well as AT&T, Bally Total Fitness Corp. and the Chicago Children?s Museum.

In July 2007, ASK was hired to rally public support for a new facility for the museum, which was supported by Mayor Richard Daley, whose campaign since 1999 has paid $950,000 to the predecessor to AKP&D. The month before the museum hired ASK, Obama announced that he had requested a $1 million earmark.

?We never asked for the earmark,? Sedler said in November.

Axelrod also listed as an ASK client the committee seeking to lure the 2016 Olympics to Chicago, to which White House social director Desiree Rogers, another member of the Obama?s inner circle, donated more than $100,000
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