Every word was true - read it and weep:
Barack Obama and Tony Rezko:
Obama was recruited by Tony Rezko, the Daley administration's favorite developer of government financed housing for the poor, while still in Harvard Law, though he allegedly turned down the offer to become a developer in partnership with Rezko. Instead, he returned to Chicago after law school and went to work with the politically well connected law firm which handled Rezko's legal work. His boss at his law firm was on the Chicago Planning Commission and eventually left law to go into development himself in partnership with Rezko and, later, Mayor Daley's nephew. After two years at the law firm, Obama ran for state senator. After election, he continued to work at the law firm 7 more years before becoming a US Senator.
There were problems with all of the buildings Rezko developed and managed for the city, many in partnership with the community organizations Obama allegedly worked with as a "community organizer". 17 of them ended up in foreclosure, sticking the taxpayers with millions in unpaid loans. Rezko's development company was sued at least a dozen times by the city over problems with his buildings. In one case, tenants in one building were without heat from Dec. 27, 1996 to Feb. 3, 1997 (the middle of a Chicago winter) although Rezko's alleged financial problems didn't keep him from giving Obama a campaign contribution on Jan. 14, 1997. Rezko settled that case by paying a $100 fine, which shows the advantage of having politically connected lawyers.
Obama and his law firm claim he did little work for Tony Rezko during his 9 years with the law firm because he was only an "inexperienced", paper-shuffling "junior lawyer" for his entire 9 year legal career. That's not my characterization, it's what an Obama spokesman told the press:
"The senator, relatively inexperienced in this kind of work, was assigned to tasks appropriate for a junior lawyer,'' according to an e-mail from Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. "These tasks would have included reviewing documents, collecting corporate organizational documents, and drafting corporate resolutions.''
suntimes.com
Rezko was an extremely important patron of Obama, once "bringing in as much as $70,000 from political donors in one night. In the heat of a campaign, Obama said he sometimes talked strategy with Rezko daily. Then, during political down-times, Rezko was his lunch or breakfast companion ... . Obama picked Rezko for the campaign finance committee for his 2004 U. S. Senate run."
In 2008, "for the first time, Obama said he was disturbed that Rezko had allowed low-income housing Rezko developed to fall apart", leaving some of his developments in Obama's state senate district in squalor. " Had Obama known, he said he would have talked to Rezko about the problems," acknowledging that he never talked with Rezko about problems with his projects. “I think it is deeply troubling he did not keep these properties up, and I am very disappointed in that,” Obama said. Clearly, by his own account, Obama was an out of touch with the community "community organizer". Like Sgt Schultz of Hogans Heroes, Obama's story is: "I see NOTHING! I know NOTHING!"
suntimes.com
obamarezko2008.com
In 2003, Obama played a key role as chair of the state Senate Health and Human Services committee in passing the Illinois health Facilities Planning Act. The act reduced the Health Facilities Planning Board from 15 members to 9, making it easier for schemer Rezko to stack the board with his cronies and control the granting of development deals for new hospitals and clinics. On June 4, 2008, Rezko was convicted on 16 counts of fraud, money laundering, and bribery in connection with the stacking of this board and demands for kickbacks.
rezkowatch.blogspot.com
nytimes.com |
