Rezko, Jesse Jackson, Blagojevich And Even More Real Estate? Oh My!

The national media hasn't picked it up, but there's another scandal brewing in Chicago today involving some key political players, including Tony Rezko, Jesse Jackson, Gov. Rod Blagojevich - and who knows who else in a potential corruption case incredible even by Chicago standards. If you want to get a whiff of the cesspool Barack Obama swam in and what type of people he associated with in Chicago, give this a quick skim. All the players are there, except Obama ... for now.

I'll lay out some quick facts and links and maybe some others can help turn up even more info. Read it and weep if you pay taxes in Chicago, though you may already be reading about it locally, in that case.

A church burns down and the Governor pledges 1 million dollars to help it recover.

But in March 2007, that money instead went to a private school that leased space from Pilgrim Baptist but has no other church affiliation. No state money has come to rebuild the charred administrative and school building, as Blagojevich promised, prompting church leaders and at least one state lawmaker to question whether Blagojevich had lived up to his word.

Okay, so the million never makes it to the church. Instead, it ends up going to a school that was housed in the church - the Loop Lab School. That gets passed off as a clerical error - but the Gov. doesn't want the money back. Nah, he'll just pony up another mil of tax payer dollars. Curious decision, huh? But wait, it gets better.

The Loop Lab School, which received the money instead, used the cash to purchase a condo in downtown Chicago.

And a key administrator of the school, Chandra N. Gill, needed a pardon for a felony conviction, assault on a cop or some such thing. And on her pardon application? Well, securing the million for the school - that was a clerical error remember - is suddenly one of her claims to fame to earn a pardon from the Gov who gave her the million, allegedly by mistake, in the first place. And the school shouldn't have gotten anything under any circumstances because of a sexual harassment case.

SPRINGFIELD -- A private school that Gov. Blagojevich said errantly received $1 million from his administration failed to stop a former kindergarten teacher from being sexually harassed and unlawfully retaliated against her when she complained, a state panel ruled in 2006.

And who, among others, steps up to write a letter of recommendation on the felon's behalf? Why, the Reverend Jackson, of course.

"I perform administrative duties [at Loop Lab School] and am currently responsible for securing the necessary funds to help rebuild the school," Gill wrote, after pointing out that Loop Lab School was the school forced out by the recent fire in Pilgrim Baptist Church. After the fire, Blagojevich publicly had declared his intent to help the church recover by steering state grants in its direction.

In her request, Gill mentions her conversations with the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity over the grant. Exhibit 1 of her petition is a June 7, 2006, memorandum from DCEO that refers to the $1 million grant. Though there are several other letters written on her behalf enclosed in the petition, including one from Rev. Jesse Jackson, the DCEO reference is the only one she notes specifically as she outlines her reasons for seeking the pardon.

In separate documentation from DCEO in November, 2006—a month after Gill's pardon and expungement hearing—the $1 million grant is signed off to Loop Lab School at its new 318 W. Adams St. address in Chicago. Chandra Gill is listed as the school's administrator to receive the funds. She received her pardon Jan. 23, 2007, in between the first and second disbursements of the grant.

And what of 318 W. Adams? Well, sure, it ends up involved in a real estate deal. Again, note the new address for the Loop Lab School.

In separate documentation from DCEO in November, 2006—a month after Gill's pardon and expungement hearing—the $1 million grant is signed off to Loop Lab School at its new 318 W. Adams St. address in Chicago. Chandra Gill is listed as the school's administrator to receive the funds. She received her pardon Jan. 23, 2007, in between the first and second disbursements of the grant.

Enter John Thomas:

In the last two years, Mr. Thomas has bought and quickly resold several other office buildings, including 250 S. Wacker Drive, 105 W. Adams St. and 11 S. LaSalle St. Last year, a Thomas venture bought 318 W. Adams St., a small West Loop office building that is being marketed as office condominiums.

And who is the Mr. Thomas mentioned above? Well, he's a key figure in the Rezko trial.

For the first time, the FBI "mole" who's expected to be a key prosecution witness against indicted developer and political fund-raiser Tony Rezko is talking.

In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, John Thomas said his life became frantic as he amassed hundreds of hours of recorded conversations for federal investigators while trying to maintain the real estate business he built on pluck and hustle.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19 on the New York charges. But his sentencing is likely to be delayed, perhaps for a year, while the Justice Department has him testify in the second of two trials Rezko faces -- that one involving allegations of business fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven, a prosecutor on both the Thomas and Rezko cases, declined to comment.

Still wondering why Hillary wants to drag things out and have the media look at the Rezko trial? Just how pure could Obama stay getting re-elected in this kind of filth? Something tells me he isn't quite that naive.

Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.

But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.

A close examination of Obama's first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career: The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it.

One of the candidates he eliminated, long-shot contender Gha-is Askia, now says that Obama's petition challenges belied his image as a champion of the little guy and crusader for voter rights.

"Why say you're for a new tomorrow, then do old-style Chicago politics to remove legitimate candidates?" Askia said. "He talks about honor and democracy, but what honor is there in getting rid of every other candidate so you can run scot-free? Why not let the people decide?"

In a recent interview, Obama granted that "there's a legitimate argument to be made that you shouldn't create barriers to people getting on the ballot."

Comments

[old trooper]

It's Chicago for Christs sake!
Every Election Day the dead rise from the grave and Vote Early and Often!
Never question Voter Rights, Hell, even Dead Folks still Vote!

Corruption, Fraud and Hidden Agendas is how they do business.
It is the History and the Al Capone Legacy. The Finest Government that Money Can Buy!
Only Cops and Criminals carry guns.
It is Tradition!

They also have some great restaurants and nightlife.
As well as the dirtiest Politicians on Earth.

How dare any of you question it!
Just cozy up and cut your best deal.

Over the years the Clintons and Kennedy's never did. Why should Osama Hussein Obama
break a sweat now?

[templar knight]

And what political party did these scumballs belong to? Does anyone know?

[seekeronos]

Heh. Pass the popcorn, the Democrat Drama has yet to reach its climax. :)

[Harvey]

This is how business is done in Chicago, it's the norm rather than the exception.
An older Italian gent I did some work for back in the late 80s explained it this
this way. If he needed a carpenter, the union scale was $28 per hour for the carpenter
and $14 per hour for the union total of $42 dollars per hour for one carpenter.

If he wanted to pass an inspection on work done he forked over some cash or tickets
to a sporting event and the customary holiday case of whatever the inspector liked
to drink. It was a cost of doing business, and he said that he never failed an inspection.

He said that you conduct business in Chicago just like you would if you were a politician.
You gotta pay if you want to play.

He was more than happy to pay me the $17 per hour I had ask for, and included beer breaks
twice a day.

[Katherine]

Obama-->Rezko-->Auchi-->Saddam Hussein & Muammar al-Gadaffi
EXCUSE ME:

Obama got his money from Rezko who got his 3.5 million from Auchi:

Where's the media?

-Nadhmi Auchi is an Iraqi-born billionaire who was charged along with Saddam Hussein for conspiring to assassinate Prime minister (president) Abdul Karim Qasim and stood trial in 1959. (Auchi gave fellow Baath Party members machine guns from his home for Saddam Hussein.)

-Auchi protected secret money for Saddam Hussein AND Muammar al-Gadaffi.

(Remember, Obama's Trinity church Pastor Wright went with Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan in 1993 to visit Libyan socialist leader Gadaffi.)

-Auchi also financially backed Saddam Hussein's plan for a pipeline from Iraq to Saudi Arabia.

-Rezko was also a business partner with Nation of Islam Founder's son: Jabir Herbert Muhammad.

Why isn't the media talking about all of Barack Obama's scary friends who have ties to the worst people in history?

*Don't forget William (Bill) Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn of the Weather Underground.

*Obama's cousin Raila Odinga who just became co-President of Kenya this week (after 1,000 people were killed) whom Obama is said to be close to...who signed a secret pact with Muslim jihadists who were to ethnically cleanse people?

And why does Raila Odinga use Obama's exact same campaign slogan: CHANGE....Vote for CHANGE: Look at his website:

http://www.raila07.com/


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/16/iraq.politicalcolumnists

[kim]

I'm still giggling over 'The Chicago Way'; is it a business or is it a street?
=======================================

[Joe Schmoe]

If you go to the 'Loop Lab School' website http://looplabschool.com/en/home/index.html and dig around a little bit you will quickly realize that it exists in name only. There isn't an actual school yet just a very well made website with a lot of ...coming soon... pages and you can pay for enrollment with PayPal even though no school actually exists. But you do get to see the "Dr." try her best in a video intro to convince you that she has a clue (I am always amused when people give a speech and hold there hands out with all of their fingertips touching like they are a motivational speaker, it smacks of 'I'm not really smart, but if I keep doing this with my hands you might think I am'). It's total corruption if you see through it and know that this is the Chicago way.

I grew up in Chicago and believe me it is 100x more corrupt here than you can imagine. If you aren't from the region I strongly suggest you spend time googling up info about our rich history of pay to play politics and insanely destructive patronage. As the author of this page states, it is "the cesspool Barack Obama swam in".

I had to laugh at how shocked the nation was about Obama's church. His church is a great representation of how a portion of Chicago politics works. The city council is comprised mostly of angry African-Americans (not racist,just true) that feed on the scraps that the corrupt democratic machine that runs Chicago. The cook county board president had a stroke during an election and still won the election. When he never recovered from his stroke the predominantly African-American council appointed his son Todd Stroger to fill the seat for him. Mind you without the son in any way running for the seat. He vowed to cut spending and reduce headcount and instead has increase headcount and pretty much filled every vacant position with a close relative or spouse of a relative or friend. Mayor Daley (white Irish guy) represents the next tier in the system and then beyond that you get into the corruption at the state level all the way up to the Gov. Blagojevich who has actually been so corrupt and incompetent that the legislature just passed legislation that is going to open the door for a recall of the governor in Illinois, much like what happened in California. The irony is that the majority of legislators in Illinois are part of the same corrupt group that the Gov. belongs to but he's so bad at hiding his corruption they see him as a liability.

The point of all of this is that you don't become an African American Illinois Senator from the Chicagoland area without first kneeling at the altar of the Unions (see SEIU etc),Jesse Jackson/Rainbow Push Coalition (see also Unions), Emil Jones, Michael Madigan, Mayor Daley, every angry black church on the southside (see also http://www.sbcoc.org/), as well as the true power that fuel the democratic machine in Chicago which is organized crime. I'm not saying there's a grand conspiracy with each and every one of these people directly but you have to understand that you don't get anything done in Chicagoland if any one of the powers that be has a problem with it that's why it's called the 'Machine'. So to hear Obama blab on about not bowing to special interests and lobbyists is absolutely hilarious.

Like I said you could spend from now until November googling up tasty morsels about Chicago politics. Do it. You'll be glad you don't live here when you're done.

I really do think if he wins the Primary he is going to be in for a suprise. Hillary has treated him with respect compared to what he has coming. And with the Rezko trial developing quickly there's no telling what more may come out. Unfortunately John McCain may be to much of a softy to take advantage of any of it.

Believe every single thing you hear about Obama.

[Joe Schmoe]

*It should be noted that the Loop Lab School did exist in some form before the church that housed it burned down. It's the rebuilding using the million dollars in taxpayer money that never actually took place. It's an office space as cited in the article about the Rezko conspirator that bought the property from the 'Dr.'. (see below)

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=22689&seenIt=1
'In the last two years, Mr. Thomas has bought and quickly resold several other office buildings, including 250 S. Wacker Drive, 105 W. Adams St. and 11 S. LaSalle St. Last year, a Thomas venture bought 318 W. Adams St., a small West Loop office building that is being marketed as office condominiums.'