The following column may provide some perspective on why Bill Daley is fighting so hard for Gore. From the Chicago Tribune:
FOR ILLINOIS, RECOUNT MAY MEAN MORE THAN A PRESIDENT
by John Kass
November 22, 2000
The Daley-Ryan bipartisan combine that runs
Illinois--and dispenses billions of dollars in
boodle--is worried about U.S. Sen. Peter
Fitzgerald.
They're terrified. And that's good.
Because Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) might be in a position
to break up the political junta that controls this
state. The Republicrats don't like that. It makes
them sick.
If George Bush becomes president, Fitzgerald will be poised to appoint the
new U.S. attorney of the Northern District.
The U.S. attorney has subpoena power and can put together a federal grand
jury to investigate the graft and deals at City Hall, the Cook County Building,
the airports, and state deals too.
"Whoever is the U.S. attorney needs to apply the law in all areas, whether it's
political corruption or organized crime or violations of pollution laws,"
Fitzgerald told me in a telephone interview the other day.
The U.S. attorney is the most important office in Illinois. And it comes loaded
with racy options that can be used against the boodle kings.
"I'm not going to give this issue real consideration until we know who the next
president is," Fitzgerald said. "But I've had three people call me directly and
say they wanted it so far.
"I'd want somebody who's always going to try to do what they think is right,
regardless of the political or personal consequences to them," Fitzgerald said,
"to apply the law fairly and to recognize the enormous power of their office.
And who would do the absolute best job they can."
City Hall is in a panic, having nightmares about Fitzgerald appointing a U.S.
attorney. Springfield is worried too, particularly Gov. George Ryan's clique,
which has tried to run Fitzgerald out of politics. And the West Side boys are
afraid.
During election seasons, they campaign as Republicans or Democrats. In
reality, it's one big family, chuckling, carving up your tax dollars, without the
aggravation of gridlock.
Illinois is a one-party state.
But Fitzgerald isn't part of their corporation. He doesn't need them, and they
hate that. And they've wanted to get rid of him for years. He started a war
with the Republican Ryan-Edgar-Thompson-Cellini crowd in the early 1990s,
and they tried to run him out of politics and failed.
When he was in the state legislature, Fitzgerald publicly embarrassed the
Republican brokers for making kinky multimillion-dollar low interest state
loans to pals. He opposed the cozy casino gambling deals where only the
connected are invited to invest risk-free and make millions.
The Daley crowd doesn't know how to reach Fitzgerald either. They've tried,
and they've failed.
(Recently, the combine used its faithful media creatures to leak embarrassing
stuff about Fitzgerald, because of his opposition to a Ryan-dominated boodle
process for contracts on the new Lincoln Library in Springfield.)
So Ryan uses the power of his office and $12 billion in Illinois FIRST money
to keep his fingers glued to the gear shift, with half of it under the influence of
City Hall.
And Daley has his own mountain of insider deals.
Let's begin with his handing $100 million of your tax money to friends of mob
boss Rocco Infelice. The mayor also has control of all local law enforcement,
from the city police to the county sheriff to the county state's attorney--and has
recently made inroads in electing the son of a top City Hall political operative
as the Will County prosecutor.
That's why I call it a combine. Anything that rises up gets its head chopped off,
like a weed.
And only an aggressive U.S. attorney can break the stranglehold.
"If Bush is the winner, I anticipate that there would be a whole herd of people
that would want to influence my decision," Fitzgerald said with a chuckle. "And
the challenge for me would be to make any decision as independently as
possible, and I would work hard at that."
Just imagine the friendly phone calls, the invitations, the promises of favor.
They'd crawl to him and laugh and lick his shoes if that would convince him.
They'd get their top money people to do medieval egg dances in jester
costumes if that would move him--but since Fitzgerald is rich, he doesn't need
their money.
This is all about access to billions of your tax dollars, and the right to spend it
on their friends and allies, and the right to raise your taxes to get more. It is
about power.
That's what the anguish in Florida is about too.
Or do you really think Bill Daley would strap a backbone to Al Gore and drag
the American presidency through the courts because the Daleys of Chicago
are concerned about justice for all?
Do you really think it's about "the will of the people"?
If those Florida chads keep getting pregnant, then Gore will prevail and the
Daley boys will have supreme leverage. A President-elect Gore will owe them
mucho.
These favors might include Daley making key appointments in the U.S. Justice
Department, the U.S. Department of Transportation (which handles airport
deals and paving too), and perhaps the most important hammer of all, the
Internal Revenue Service.
Just imagine the Daleys installing one of their own to pull strings at the IRS to
soften up the opposition.
Then you can tell me about the will of the people. |
