Couple good comments by Jim Miller on Politics re corruption in states in the Midwest

   

Meanwhile, Back In Barack Obama's Illinois (6):  A reformer, a real reformer, is giving up.  Here's a little about his long fight againstcorruption.

When Roger and Tina Keats drive away from their Sheridan Road home in Wilmette for the last time in a few weeks and head for their new home in Texas, they will be leaving behind a formidable political legacy.

Keats, who served as the Republican state senator for much of the North Shore from 1978 to 1992, worked closely with Harold Washington to enact legislation that adopt judicial sub-circuits for Cook County and cleared the way for minorities and Republicans to hold judgeships.

The reform, fought by many Democrats, was an integral part of the cleanup of corruption in the Cook County court system that was uncovered by Operations Greylord and Gambat.

And here's the letter he sent to explain why he is leaving

As we leave Illinois for good, I wanted to say goodbye to my friends and wish all of you well.   I am a lifelong son of the heartland and proud of it.  After 60 years, I leave Illinois with a heavy heart.  BUT enough is enough!  The leaders of Illinois refuse to see we can't continue going in the direction we are and expect people who have options to stay here.  I remember when Illinois had 25 congressmen.  In 2012 we will have 18.  Compared to the rest of the country we have lost 1/4rd of our population.  Don't blame the weather, because I love 4 seasons.
. . . 
We live in the most corrupt big city, in the most corrupt big county in the most corrupt state in America.  I am sick and tired of subsidizing crooks.  A day rarely passes without an article about the corruption and incompetence.  Chicago even got caught rigging the tests to hire police and fire!  Our Crook County CORPORATE property tax system is intentionally corrupt.  The Democrat State Chairman who is also the Speaker of the Illinois House and the most senior alderman in Chicago each make well over a million dollars a year putting the fix in for their client's tax assessments.

Barack Obama could have worked with people like Roger and Tina Keats to bring about much-needed reforms in Illinois — but chose not to.

(By way of the Washington Examiner.  Unfortunately, there are a couple of errors in their piece; Roger Keats was not elected Cook County Board President, though he ran for the office, and Illinois's population is declining relative to the rest of the United States, not absolutely.)

- 7:56 AM, 22 March 2011   [link]

Senator McCaskill Will Be Paying Some Back Taxes:  After making a couple of completely understandable mistakes.

Ah Senators, they're just like you and me!  Who among us hasn't forgotten to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes on our private aircraft, after billing the government to use it 88 times?  But because McCaskill is getting folksy with her admission of wrongdoing -- she said the word 'damn,' so clearly she takes this matter very seriously -- all is forgiven, right?

This all came out because McCaskill, accidentally I am sure, billed the federal government for a political trip.  (She's already reimbursed the taxpayers for that little $88,000 mistake.)

McCaskill is a Democrat so her mistakes have gotten surprisingly favorable coverage.  Or, perhaps I should say, unsurprisingly favorable coverage.   (For example.)

At best, the mistakes show incompetence.  And surprising incompetence in someone who served as Missouri's state auditor.

(There may be another scandal or two to investigate in her family finances.  Her husband, Joe Shepard, owns "dozens" of "affordable-housing" companies.  Typically, that kind of housing is heavily subsidized, and there are many opportunities for abuse, as Obama's former friend and ally, Tony Rezko, could tell you.)

- 6:58 PM, 22 March 2011   [link]