Jim Dodge's Political Donations Show He's a Fake Republican

Chicago is not the only town around that has a Democrat-dominated political "Machine." Nearby Orland Park has one of its very own, and Jim Dodge has been an integral cog in it. Dodge was first elected to the Orland Park village board way back in 1989. (Can you say "career politician?") Dodge calls himself a "conservative Republican."

Jim Dodge's history of political campaign contributions show him to be leaning to the Left and anything but a committed conservative Republican.

What kind of conservative leadership has Dodge given Orland Park? Virtually none, for all it's worth. As noted blogger Ray Hanania wrote in February, 2009 (emphasis added): Orland Park has raised its property taxes and even gerrymandered the "fiscal year" from 12 to 15 months because they couldn't meet their expenses. They said they were changing the fiscal year in order to re-align it with the annual calendar. But many suspect the real reason is they just don't have the funds to pay all the bills in the 12 month budget and use a cute trick to turn the budget period to 15 months to cover 12 months of expenses. It's typical bad management to delay troubles until after the election April 7, 2009.

• Property taxes have skyrocketed.
• Fees continue to climb.Once free programs now cost money.
• The Tax Rebate program has been gutted to barely nothing.
• Millions have been wasted in poorly managed projects.

And this guy wants to be the Illinois Comptroller? Can Illinoisans trust Jim Dodge to honestly work with state funds when he and his liberal pals were less than honest about the financial mess in tiny Orland Park? He promises transparency, yet he and his cronies have played a "shell game" with budget numbers in Orland Park.

What an insult, what a bad joke. Of 34 receipts found on the Illinois State Board of Elections web site (from November 1998 - May 2009), more than half of the dollar total went to non-Republican political entities. The largest recipient of his generosity was the “Orland Park First Party,” to which he gave over $16,000. It was formed for retaining the power of the incumbents, mostly Democrats. Why Dodge did not run as a Republican is anybody’s guess.

Dodge’s total donations to Republicans was only $3,900, according to what we found at the Illinois State Board of Elections web site. Of that, $1,650 went to “progressive” liberal Republicans, such as Judy Baar Topinka ($500) and Liz Gorman ($1,500), or scandal tainted Republicans like John Doria ($650). See breakdown of donations below. 

Given his split personality as regards political donations, one might draw the conclusion that Jim Dodge is nothing more than an opportunist with no strong grounding in any particular political philosophy. The donations could indicate a desire to go along to get along in an effort to retain power and influence, regardless of the damage it might do to the conservative cause.

As Publius wrote today, "It is quite interesting to see that Comptroller candidate Jim Dodge has a history of giving campaign donations to Democrats. This is a measure of Dodge’s dedication to the GOP, I’d say. How can any Republican vote for a GOP candidate that donates money to the enemy?"

Jim Dodge represents what has become all too common in the Republican Party today: Opportunists who care more about their career than about their constituents or conservative principles, willing to cut deals and chisel away at the cornerstones of conservatism just to further their career. I humbly suggest that the Orland Township Republican organization, which loves Jim Dodge, be ostracized and isolated by true conservatives. Meanwhile, the liars who love Jim Dodge continue to lie about his opposition in the Comptroller's race, all the while insisting that the man who has contributed so much money to the enemy is your friend.

Examples: ChampionNews.net has had its blatant lie that William Kelly dropped out of the race on its site for over a week now, even though publisher Jack Roeser knows it is not true.

Total Contributions from Jim Dodge: $25,323.69 (Also see a detailed report as a PDF document; click here) 
Donations to Citizens For Daniel J. McLaughlin, Democrat, Mayor of Orland Park, IL $2,300.00 Orland Park First Party Purpose: To re-elect Mayor McLaughlin and the sitting board members $16,300.00 Republicans (All) $3,900.00 Republicans (Strong) $2,250.00 Republicans (Liberal or Tainted) $1,650.00 

RELATED ARTICLES:

• Campaign Election Disclosure Notes for Orland Park - OrlandParker.com 
• Orland Park finally admits raising property taxes this year - OrlandParker.com 
• budget shell game in orland park -- the tax rebate is "intact" - Ray Hanania's World 
• William Kelly: Calling Out Opponent for Democrat Contributions - Publius Forum