Fly Guy Daley Proud of Association With Shady Charity

"The plane! The plane!" Mayor Daley loves to talk about how "green" he is. Look at him, standing on the planted rooftop at City Hall. He's a steward of the environment, you know. So why, then, does he so happily fly around like Al Gore on a private jet? Those things burn a lot of fuel, leaving a big carbon footprint. Daley also loves to claim that he knows nothing about the constant whirlwind of corruption around him, and even when it musses his thinning hair he claims he knows nuttin' about it. A story today combines the best of both of these aspects of the Chicago mayor (emphasis added): In a surreal scene that ended with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu giving mock absolution to Chicago’s City Hall reporters, Mayor Richard Daley today discussed flying on a private jet owned by a non-profit student loan group connected to his wife’s former employer. While the mayor was on vacation last week, CBS News reported that the Daleys had taken 58 flights on a jet owned by EduCap. Full Story at Chiago Tribune... Fifty eight flights? Wow, lotsa ozone damage there, kidz. The private jet is owned by Mrs. Daley's former employer? No conflict of interest or ethics problem there, right? That former employer is being investigated by the IRS? Phhhht! Daley has no problem with that! Asked about reports that the couple who head EduCap and the Academy of Achievement are under federal investigation, Daley said he was proud of his association with them. Sure, Daley's proud to be associated with EduCap Inc., a group that puts out student loans but pays their employees gigantic salaries and owns a $31 million private jet and has lavish parties at expensive resorts? EduCap has been under investigation for years now. Surely Daley has been aware of that fact, yet he's so "proud" of his association with them. CBS News has a must-see report about the organization that paints it in a very, very bad light: Watchdog Stephen Burd says all the money going out Educap's door should be put back into the charity to make student loans more affordable. After all, that's the whole point. Instead, he says Educap has some of the toughest loan terms around. “These are absolutely not charitable terms,” said Burd, of the New America Foundation. Full Story with Video at CBS News... The CBS report notes that "the IRS and Congressional investigators are probing allegations of a darker side to Reynolds' student loan charity - where family and friends benefit from the charity dime, and executives enjoy big salaries and perks such as private jet travel and lavish retreats." No wonder Daley feels comfortable hanging out with EduCap on their private jet. It's a lot like being an elected official in the City of Chicago. Mayor Daley is proud of his association with EduCap. He is also, apparently, proud of all the ozone he's helping to destroy with his frequent private jet travel. Think about that the next time you see Daley standing on City Hall's green rooftop. (See related items below the video.) Watch CBS Videos Online RELATED: Daley admits to taking trips on EduCap's $31 million jet (Chicago Sun-Times, 3-10-09) Move Over Car and Driver. EduCap Owns a Gulfstream IV? EduCap and Its Flying Dems - National Review (02-2009) Panetta also has tie to EduCap founder - Muckety.com EduCap Responds to Washington Post Article (07-2007) Schools Matter: GAO to Investigate EduCap(07-2007) Lobbying Spending Database-Educap Inc, 2008 - OpenSecrets EduCap, Inc.: Private Company Information - BusinessWeek Educap Inc - Mc Lean, Virginia (VA) Company Profile Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Stuff...