Politics: LaHood’s ties to crooked Illinois pols finally gaining some traction with the national media
Hugh Bartling has some questions for Congressman Ray:
The postponment comes on the heels of a story published in the Washington Post about LaHood’s penhcant for inserting earmark spending into appropriation bills as a member of the House of Representatives–including $9 million that was funneled to campaign donors. Obama has said that he opposes earmarks, so expect some tough questioning of LaHood on this front.
I am especially interested in his ties to William Cellini, the indicted head of the Illinois Asphault Paving Association, who acted to shakedown donors for disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich. Many of LaHood’s earmarks were paving projects that would benefit Cellini’s members.
LaHood should also be asked about his failure to support the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act which was passed after the tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota to improve bridge safety.
Too bad no one at the Journal Star demanded answers to these questions before President-elect Obama decided to make him the Secretary of Transportation. Of course it would have been nice if the Dems had ever bothered to run anyone with a change of winning in the 18th District. But I like to see contests for high offices, because the process tends to shake loose this sort of information.
Because right now, all over central Illinois, loyal LaHood voters are discovering that Congressman LaHood, while nowhere near as corrupt as many in Illinois, isn’t exactly a virgin either. And I am still waiting for the guy to admit to ANYONE that the nuclear power industry paid for his trip to France.
January 17th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Um, excuse me, Billy… weren’t you the one who insisted that Colleen Callahan was either going to win or lose by a very small margin?
January 17th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
And I was WRONG …
January 18th, 2009 at 12:57 am
You know I rarely post negative things about my former employer. But the fact is, the Journal Star treated LaHood and Bob Michel before him with kid gloves. Those “Ray LaHood is a hero because he’s handing out your tax money to install a new flag pole at the BFE Fire Department” stories (in other words, our pork is good) used to piss me off.
Michel did get a special exemption for the Journal Star written into an ESOP bill back in the ’80s. Nowhere in the amendment was the Journal Star mentioned, but it was written so strictly that it could apply to no other entity. The New York Times wrote a story on it.
January 18th, 2009 at 1:22 am
And the JSEB wrote another “Aw-Shucks-Ray-Ain’t-So-Bad” editorial the other day. Far from asking Ray the tough questions, they decided instead to write a defense of him.
January 19th, 2009 at 10:35 am
I learned more about Ray LaHood the past ten years by reading out of town newspapers via the internet than I ever did reading the PJS. Other than Molly Parker and Jennifer Davis’ ethics flip flop Word on the Street column concerning Ray’s ethics votes to protect Tom DeLay and Mike Dimmick’s attempt to question Ray on a Live at Five segment, has any one in the Peoria MSM ever TRIED to dig deeper? Just asking.