Rod Blagojevich was the next Democrat Congressman after Rep. Dan Rostenkowski went to prison.
The death of Rostenkowski sheds light on something else, though.
What caught my eye was the AP story highlighting how Dan Rostenkowski, a U.S Congressman for Chicago for 36 years, died
“at his home in Lake Benedict, Wis.”
This made me wonder:
Did Rostenkowski move to Wisconsin because he couldn’t afford the high Illinois taxes?
Mountaintop home in Galena Territory surely fit for a politician who has gotten rich in office.
Oh, I forgot. Real estate taxes in Chicago are only about 1% of what one could sell one’s home for.
If it was a second home, wasn’t Illinois a good enough place to spend year-round after retirement?
There are plenty of nice places in Illinois to escape to, for example, Galena.
If a person wants a lake view, here is a home seen from the restaurant balcony at Eagle Ridge . It's across the artificial lake created when Galena Territory was constructed.
Or are the taxes too high to carry two Illinois residences?
Democrat President Bill Clinton pardoned Rostenkowski when there was no political jeopardy for his doing so.
Tony Rezko is awaiting sentencing, but is likely hoping his pal President Barack Obama will pardon him upon leaving office.
Maybe Rezko is hoping for Obama to have only one term so he might receive a pardon sooner, rather than later. Rezko is awaiting additional charges to be filed by the feds.
Will Jesse Jackson, Jr., follow in the footsteps of Rostenkowski, and maybe Blagojevich once the jury comes back with a finding in Blago’s trial?
The Feds may have a healthy competition from people willing to testify regarding Jackson in exchange for a lighter sentence recommendation?
It could get uncomfortable, if it isn’t already politically, for State Rep. Jack Franks, who is linked to Rezko by his attorney work for Mercy Health System to get state permission to build a hospital in Crystal Lake.
With all of the attorneys in McHenry County, why did Mercy Hospital select Democrat State Rep. Jack Franks to work for them related on getting regulatory approval from the State of Illinois?
The Feds may have more song birds, if Blago and his brother are convicted. Rod and his brother are innocent, of course, unless the jury decides otherwise.
It will be interesting to see how the days ahead may produce felonious successors to Rostenkowski.
It does beg the question of how many attorneys who are State Reps. are doing legal work whose purpose is to influence obtaining regulatory approval from the State of Illinois for their clients?
State Senator Bill Brady might like to make an issue of this practice, call for its legal prohibition and ask Governor Quinn to take a position on the issue and Franks’ conduct.
Writing a letter on State Rep. stationary on behalf of a private practice legal client, shouldn’t that be against State law?
Governor Quinn is a lawyer, so it should be easy for Quinn to form an opinion.
Speaking of laws, shouldn’t there be one that requires full disclosure of all real property including real estate owned by state legislators and their direct family members that are located outside of Illinois?
It may give voters a clue to which legislators may already be retired on the job and where financial connections exist.
At least Ted Kennedy died in Massachusetts, even if Illinois Secretary of State Paul Powell didn’t. (Bonus points for identifying where he died and what he was doing when he died. At least one can be found on the internet, probably both, if you search enough.)