Hump Day Political Round-Up
By Kevin Robinson on Nov 22, 2006 5:00PM
Yee Haw, Pardner! We got us a whole mess 'a turkeys to rustle up here, so let's get these doggies rollin'!
- Chicago taxpayers are footing the bill for legal representation of witnesses in the Hired Truck Scandal to the tune of $595,080, for witnesses alone! This number only covers the cost of witnesses that weren't implicated in the scandal. The largest portion of this bill, $210,717, went to a single law firm that used to employ the Mayor's brother Bill Daley, and currently has two former mayoral chiefs of staff on the payroll.
- Daley's former patronage chief, Robert Sorich, was formally sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison on Monday. His co-defendant, Timothy McCarthy, got only 18 months thanks to his continued cooperation with the Feds in their ongoing investigations into corrupt hiring practices perpetrated by City Hall in violation of the Shakman Decree.
- On Tuesday Governor Blagojevich appointed Tammy Duckworth as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. Even though she lost by a close margin to Peter Roskam for the congressional seat that Henry Hyde is vacating, this appointment virtually assures her ability to stay in the public sphere, possibly launching a second run for office in the next election cycle.
- Besides writing a book and mulling the possibility of running for President while giving speeches on Iraq, Barack Obama is going to take an AIDS test. Publicly. Again. Considering the presumption of the monogamous relationship he has with wife Michele, and the high probability that he isn't shooting drugs, Chicagoist predicts that he will test negative. Again.
- Former Vice Presidential candidate and 2008 hopeful John Edwards will be in Chicago next week to discuss his new book (see, Barack isn't the only novelist in the bunch!)