Little Changes

LITTLE CHANGES


The Congressional Post Office scandal refers to the discovery of corruption among various Congressional Post Office employees and members of the United States House of Representatives, investigated 2006-2008, climaxing in the acquittal of former House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL).

Initially an investigation by the United States Capitol Police into a single embezzlement charge against a single employee in 1991, evidence rapidly led to the inclusion of several other employees, before top Democrats in the House of Representatives moved to shut down the whole line of inquiry, despite protests from Frank Kerrigan, chief of the Capitol Police.

A new investigation was started by the United States Postal Service, which eventually submitted a report which was held in silence by Speaker Thomas Foley (D-WA). The investigation would not be re-opened until 2006.

-Wikipedia Entry: Congressional Post Office scandal


(D) Dan Rostenkowski- 77.6%

(D) Rod Blagojevich- 32.4%

-Results of the 1996 Democratic Primary for Illinois 5th Congressional District


(D) Dan Rostenkowski- 52.3%

(R) Michael Patrick Flanagan- 45.2%

Other Parties- 2.5%

-Results of the 1996 General Election for Illinois 5th Congressional District
 
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After surrendering his seat in the state legislature to mount his long-shot bid to defeat incumbent Congressman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) in the 1996 Democratic Primary, Blagojevich despaired and began to fear that his hopes for a future in politics had just blown up in his face and were damaged beyond repair. Blagojevich would later be quoted as saying that losing the primary to Rostenkowski “felt like a kick in the balls.” He then returned to his practice as a prosecutor (the job he had held before his entry into the state legislature), due to intervention from his influential father-in-law, city alderman Richard Mell, who was able to get him his old job back through his connections and influence within the city.

-Wikipedia Entry: Rod Blagojevich: Early Career


On January 3, 1999, a 23-year-old African-American male named Willard Connors was arrested by officers of the Chicago Police Department and charged with evading arrest, as well as attempted theft, assaulting a police officer, and breaking and entry.

The suspect was caught by a patrol car while attempting to pick the lock on the front door of the home of the Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Tax Appeals, Wilson Frost. One of the officers stepped out of the vehicle and demanded that Connors explain what was going on. Once he realized he had been discovered, Connors took off and fled down the street. The officers chased after him. The officer that exited the vehicle chased him on foot while the other sped ahead in the patrol car. Once the officer in the car was able to get ahead of Connors, he turned and drove up onto the sidewalk, cutting him off and making him pause long enough for the second officer to tackle him to the ground. The other officer exited the vehicle and, after a brief struggle, the two were able to wrestle Connors to the ground and place him in handcuffs.

A search of his belongings later that night turned up something that would change the course of Chicago politics. A hand-written letter from city alderman James Balcer (who had been appointed to the position directly by Mayor Daley in 1997 after the resignation of Patrick Huels) was discovered in a pocket on the inside of the jacket Connors was wearing. It instructed Connors to travel to Mr. Frost’s home and attempt to find anything that could potentially be used against him in the future if the need should arise. The investigator reported the letter to his superiors, who in turn reported it to their superiors.

Eventually, the letter reached the Superintendent of Police, who promised to conduct an investigation. After a month without any action having been taken to investigate, the story somehow found its way out and was leaked to the media, which grabbed the story and ran with it. The calls for an investigation were growing stronger, and the Superintendent finally relented. An investigation was launched into the alderman’s office, which uncovered startling evidence that the order had not come from Balcer, as the investigators had originally believed, but from Mayor Daley himself.

A search of Balcer’s office computer found a series of e-mail’s directly from Daley’s office, instructing Balcer to dig up dirt on prominent politicians that might become a problem later on. This list included Wilson Frost. It was determined that the Mayor was trying to prepare for possible future conflicts, and wished to have proper ammunition to win those conflicts. The e-mails were confirmed to have come from the Mayor’s office, and the damage would soon become apparent.

-Wikipedia Entry: Richard M. Daley: The Daley Corruption scandal: Discovery
 
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Rod Blagojevich had largely resigned himself to working as an Assistant State Attorney. He took on quite a few cases once he got his old job back, although none of them were very notable. He was still reeling from his loss in the election years earlier, and was reluctant to run for office again out of fear that he would face that kind of defeat once more. His confidence had taken a hit to the stomach. When asked about his plans for his future, he would always say that he was waiting for an opportunity to present itself. That opportunity came on February 9th, 1999, when Mayor Daley was indicted on charges of corruption after it was discovered that he had secretly ordered a break-in at the home of Wilson Frost, a prominent Chicago politician. The mayor was going to court, and the State needed a prosecutor. Through some more string pulling on behalf on alderman Mell, Blagojevich was chosen to represent the state against Mayor Daley. Mell and Daley had never had much love for each other, and had butted heads quite often. They frequently feuded throughout the years that they both held office. Mell saw an opportunity to beat his rival once and for all, as well as to revive his son-in-law’s political career. A few phone calls later, it was all set up. Blagojevich would take on Daley.

- Wikipedia Entry: Rod Blagojevich: The Daley Corruption scandal and Political Revival


The reaction to the news of the scandal was almost instantaneous. Daley, already an incumbent mayor and winner of the two previous mayoral elections, had been seen as the favorite to win a third term. He had been leading his opponent, Congressman Bobby Rush, by a very safe margin for the entire campaign season so far. Once the story broke though, the election changed rapidly. The African-American community was outraged that the crime had been committed against one of them, and a significant number of white voters within the city had been outraged at the revelation of Daley’s corruption. That outrage could not have come at a worse time for the incumbent either, because the election was less than twenty days away.

-Wikipedia Entry: Richard M. Daley: The Daley Corruption scandal: Downfall


Bobby Rush- 61.9%

Richard Daley- 38.1%

-Results of the 1999 Chicago Mayoral Election
 
Richard Daley’s defeat in the 1999 election meant not only a new mayor for Chicago, but also a new member for the US House of Representatives. The new Mayor of Chicago, Bobby Rush, had originally held a seat in congress, representing Illinois 1st Congressional District. Upon being elected mayor, Rush resigned from his seat in the House, leaving the Governor to appoint someone to hold the office until new elections could be held in 2000. Ryan, after reviewing a long list of candidates, settled with former Lieutenant Governor Bob Kustra.

-Wikipedia Entry: George Ryan


Richard Daley’s loss in the 1999 mayoral election only made Rod Blagojevich’s job that much easier. The evidence was very straightforward and very damning. There were e-mails galore; alderman Balcer had already confessed and confirmed that they were authentic. There was more than enough evidence to establish a credible motive. Getting people to testify against Daley was also very easy, especially since he had made quite a few enemies during his time in politics. And, to top it all off, Daley wasn’t the mayor anymore, meaning he had no position of power from which to threaten them. The Chicago political machine that his father had built was no longer under his control. Because the job was so easy, and there was so much evidence, Blagojevich had the upper hand. It would be revealed in later years that Blagojevich had met with Daley before the trial was set to start and bargained with him. The deal was simple enough. In exchange for Daley pleading guilty, the state would go easy on him and give him a lighter sentence. With the only other alternative being required to spend even longer in prison, Daley agreed. He pleaded guilty to charges of political corruption, and was sentenced on the same day to five years in prison. This was good news for Blagojevich’s legal career, having just put away a corrupt former mayor who was also in charge of Chicago’s equally corrupt political machine up until then. It would also turn out to be even better for his political career. The Daley scandal had made headlines and news of it was being broadcast on national TV. Blagojevich was hailed as a hero for putting Daley behind bars, and gained national fame for the deed. He was thrilled by how much attention he was getting, and enjoyed every minute of it. He enjoyed it so much, that it bolstered his own image of himself. Consequently, that also revived his self-confidence and his hopes for a future in politics.

-Wikipedia Entry: Rod Blagojevich: The Daley Corruption scandal: Victory and Political Revival
 
The 2000 United States House of Representatives election for the 1st district in Illinois took place on November 7, 2000. The race took place between Republican Bob Kustra and Democrat Barack Obama. Bob Kustra had only been appointed to the Congressional seat the year before as a replacement for Chicago Mayor Bobby Rush. Having already served as Lieutenant Governor, Kustra had the backing of the Illinois Republican Party, but was representing a heavily Democratic district. On top of this, the district had the distinction of being known as a “minority-majority” district, where 65% of the population of that district was African-American.

-Wikipedia Entry: Illinois's 1st congressional district election, 2000



State Senator Barack Obama delivered the convention's keynote address on August 15, 2000. Obama, who was then a candidate for the United States House of Representatives from Illinois and, prior to the convention, was unknown to much of the public outside his adopted home state. At the convention, however, he delivered his immortal speech entitled “Millennium”, which was enthusiastically received by the delegates, who waved blue-and-white campaign signs and chanted his name.

As the keynote speaker, Obama set the tone for the party platform. His speech, proclaiming the unnecessary and artificial divides in American culture and politics, was a smash hit. Obama emphasized the importance of unity, and made veiled jabs at the news media's perceived oversimplification and diversionary use of wedge issues. Obama noted his interracial and international heritage: he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kenyan immigrant father and a white mother from Kansas. He emphasized the power of education, recounting the privilege of attending the exclusive Punahou School and Harvard Law School despite his family's poverty, and criticized the perception that poor black youths who read books are "acting white." He went on to describe his successful career in law and politics while raising a family in Chicago. "In no other country on Earth is my story even possible," Obama proclaimed. Towards the end of his speech, he emphasized the importance of hope in the American saga, and he illustrated how that hope manifested itself in the lives of Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, and even his own personal life, as "a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him too."

Obama's performance led to much speculation as to his place in the party and the nation's future. After Obama had left the stage, media commentators, panels of historians and political scientists on the major television networks began explicating what many began calling the "Obama phenomenon" — in Illinois and elsewhere in the country.

-Wikipedia Entry: 2000 Democratic National Convention: Barack Obama’s Keynote Address



(D) Barack Obama- 70.2%

(R) Bob Kustra- 29.8%

-Results of the 2000 General Election for Illinois 1st Congressional District
 
Richard Daley’s defeat in the 1999 election meant not only a new mayor for Chicago, but also a new member for the US House of Representatives. The new Mayor of Chicago, Bobby Rush, had originally held a seat in congress, representing Illinois 1st Congressional District. Upon being elected mayor, Rush resigned from his seat in the House, leaving the Governor to appoint someone to hold the office until new elections could be held in 2000. Ryan, after reviewing a long list of candidates, settled with former Lieutenant Governor Bob Kustra.

-Wikipedia Entry: George Ryan

The 2000 United States House of Representatives election for the 1st district in Illinois took place on November 7, 2000. The race took place between Republican Bob Kustra and Democrat Barack Obama. Bob Kustra had only been appointed to the Congressional seat the year before as a replacement for Chicago Mayor Bobby Rush. Having already served as Lieutenant Governor, Kustra had the backing of the Illinois Republican Party, but was representing a heavily Democratic district. On top of this, the district had the distinction of being known as a “minority-majority” district, where 65% of the population of that district was African-American.
-Wikipedia Entry: Illinois's 1st congressional district election, 2000



(D) Barack Obama- 70.2%

(R) Bob Kustra- 29.8%

-Results of the 2000 General Election for Illinois 1st Congressional District


When a seat in the US House of Representatives is vacant, the Governor cannot appoint a replacement (that only applies to the US Senate). He has to call a special election and the seat stays vacant until there is a winner.
 
Also, since the 1st District was a majority black district and overwhelmingly Democratic, Bob Kustra would never consider running in a special election.
 


When a seat in the US House of Representatives is vacant, the Governor cannot appoint a replacement (that only applies to the US Senate). He has to call a special election and the seat stays vacant until there is a winner.


The Governor can appoint a successor to be the representative until the next election.
 
Ah, Bobby Rush. My dad has a letter from him with some very fun grammatical errors stuck up in his office.

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