Fighting Words?

By Kevin Robinson in News on Jan 22, 2007 5:30PM

It seems that another battle is brewing with Rod Blagojevich. In a last-minute press release Friday evening, G-Rod announced he was suspending a program designed to stop predatory lending in the Chicago area, claiming that it hurt development in those areas. The five-month-old Illinois Predatory Lending Database Pilot Program set up rules for people that wanted to buy a home in 10 ZIP codes on Chicago's west and southwest sides. These rules required residents who had low credit scores or met other criteria to go through financial advising before completing a mortgage application. In addition, the law required the state to monitor loans within those ZIP codes.

This law was one of Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's pet projects, who along with State Senator Martin Sandoval twisted arms to make sure it got passed. The governor says that the law allows him to designate where the program will take place, and by not selecting any areas, the program is effectively suspended. Madigan and Sandoval were clearly upset by this. Said Sandoval, "the speaker and I know what's best for our communities on the southwest side of Chicago". No stranger to pissing matches and controversy, this doesn't seem to be a simple matter of two pols disagreeing over a law. According to the Sun-Time's Michael Sneed, Blago's been talking shit about Madigan in public. Adding to the quarrel is recent action taken by Mike's daughter Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who is suing Blago's office to disclose Grand Jury subpoenas. It's long been a public secret that Lisa will someday run for governor. Now that things have been patched up with Rod and Dick, is a new family feud brewing in Illinois?