Giannoulias, Obama and The Mob

Pay attention, people. Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has a sordid past. Even Scott Lee Cohen recently said that Giannoulias has a many more skeletons in his closet than he does, yet the Democrat Party has not asked him to quit the race for U.S. Senate. That's the same Illinois Democrat Party, by the way, that forced Cohen out of the Lt. Governor's race because.... uhm, were still not sure why.

Via his family's deeply troubled Broadway Bank in Chicago, Giannoulias has connections to mobsters and alleged mobsters, including Tony Rezko, Michael "Jaws" Giorango, and Boston Blackie's owne Nick Giannis.

In an April 2 post titled "The Obama-Giannoulias-Mob Connection," we get a good synopsis of the Giannoulias cesspool of corruption and vile connections. Excerpts from TakingSides.com (emphasis added):

For years there have been under-reported connections between organized crime, Illinois Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias and President Barack Obama. But it has just gotten tougher for the president’s main stream media accomplices to keep under reporting and Mr. Giannoulias may be the next Jeremiah Wright or Bill Ayers for the administration.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the bank owned by the Giannoulias family loaned a pair of Chicago crime figures about $20 million during a 14-month period when Giannoulias was a senior loan officer. Broadway Bank had already lent millions to Michael Giorango when he and a new business partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, came to the bank in mid-2004. Although both men were preparing to serve federal prison terms, the bank embarked on a series of loans to them.

Like many of us in late 2008, Ross Kaminsky tried to warn the nation about both Giannoulias and Obama (you did not listen then, perhaps you'll listen now). Kamisky's August 2008 post "Is Alexi Giannoulias Obama's next 'not the man I knew'?" brings attention to the close Obama-Giannoulias relationship, which is much deeper than their well-known basketball-based friendship. Excerpts Kaminsky's post at politicswest.com (Denver Post) (emphasis added):

Giannoulias also hosted a fund-raiser for Obama in Chicago in September, 2007, omitting it from his public schedule and keeping it closed to the press. Could it be that Obama didn’t want the press asking questions about a New York Post article published that same morning entitled “Obama's Mob-Tie $idekick”? ....Obama endorsed Giannoulias for State Treasurer when the latter was just 29 years old, but the NY Post reported that “Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state's speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama's help.” Obama remained a big supporter and is credited with having been an important factor in Giannoulias’s victory....

Kaminsky closed that post with this:

The close association of Obama with a man who seems clearly to be involved in some shady deals with convicted criminals is yet another example of questionable judgment at best and typical dirty Chicago politics at worst. I wonder if Giannoulias will turn out to be the next in Obama’s never-ending series of “He’s not the man I knew”.  You know, like Obama did with Jeremiah Wright.

Now here we are, in April of 2010, asking the same question about Obama possibly abandoning the tainted Giannoulias.

Add another, more current question: Will the Democrat Party of Illinois wake up and smell the stench, and ask him to step down? Perhaps, for now, but considering the stench of corruption that engulfs the states' Democrats, that may only be wishful thinking.

RELATED:
Giannoulias Bank Made Loans to Felons‎ MyFox Chicago
Barack Obama and campaign contributor Alexi Giannoulias SourceWatch
Giannoulias Bank Made Loans to Felons (video) FoxNews via redlasso.com 
Kirk: Giannoulias 'reckless' with bank‎ Chicago Sun-Times
The Obama-Giannoulias Mob Connection - Pat Dollard
David Hoffman Attacks Alexi Giannoulias For Rezko Ties (Video) Huffington Post
Feds and Rezko Piecing together Ayers, Giannoulias, Obama Chicago Daily Observer
Major Giannoulias Donor Arrested‎ Frum Forum
Obama Pal Alexi Giannoulias and his Hinky Broadway Bank... BigJournalism
A miserable week for Illinois Dems‎ Crain's Chicago Business
Rev. Jeremiah Wright apologizes about blaming "them Jews" ... Chicago Sun-Times

Hat tip: Pat Dollard
"Alexi the Mob Banker" graphic by Warner T. Huston

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Exclusive: Bambenek Chides Ormsby on Forensic Audit

Uh oh, seems I've started trouble between two titans of the Illinois blogosphere. They've both weighed in on Republican candidate for Illinois governor Adam Andrzejewski's plan to "open up the books" in Springfield and conduct a "forensic audit of the state's expenses." Those titans are David Ormsby, a public relations consultant and editor of Illinois Observer, and conservative activist John Bambenek, and the battlefield is Chicago News Bench. Bambenek, a resident of Champaign, is currently not running for Congress in the Illinois 22 District. He notes, "IL-22 isn't a real congress seat except @ recovery.gov. I'm offended you thought I'd actually run for Congress." The man has a sense of humor. He's also the author of the "Bambenek Putback Amendment" to the Illinois state constitution. (Also see "Cleaning Up Illinois: The Putback Amendment" at BigGovernment.com) In a Nov. 19 post here, we wrote that Andrzejewski cited a Channel 7 report about state employees using state owned airplanes "regularly at a cost of $3,000 per hour totaling $4 million per year." Andrzejewski said that "real reform can only be the result of new people with new ideas in Springfield." That didn't sit well with David Ormsby, who lobbed a grenade at Andrzejewski. Ormsby wrote this in a comment to Chicago News Bench on Nov. 23 (emphasis added): "As laudable as Adam Andrzejewksi's 'forensics audit' proposal is on its face, it is important to note that each state agency, board, commission, university, etc. have been and continue to be audited--both with program and finance audits--every two years by the Illinois Auditor General. The incumbent, Republican William Holland [the Illinois Auditor General] , is respected by both sides of the aisle. Holland, whose audits helped undo Rod Blagojevich, would have found 'billions' of dollars lying around in the state sofa cushions had it actually existed. Lack of audits is not what ails the Illinois budget. A 11% unemployment rate and the loss of income tax revenue is the culprit. An audit is unnecessary to tell you that. Ask a voter." Before we get to John Bambenek's fiery retort to Ormsby's, let me say that I didn't agree with Ormsby's comment, but he's a rational guy and a gentleman, and so I wanted to give his comment some exposure. In reflection, however, I'd say that he misses crucial points. He wrote that Holland "would have found 'billions' of dollars lying around in the state sofa cushions had it actually existed," then went on to say that "Lack of audits is not what ails the Illinois budget." Well, no, a lack of audits is not the only problem, but in fact there are hundreds of millions of dollars lying around in the "state sofa" that are yet to be accounted for, much of it lost through waste, shuffling, and outright hiding. If not a thorough audit, how to find those funds? Furthermore, Holland and others did allow - are allowing - the wasteful airplanes-for-VIPs program, the one Andrzejewski noted, to continue unfettered. Image: Adam Andrzejewski (left) with John Bambenek (right). Photo by T.H.Mannis In response to Ormsby's comment, John Bambenek wrote the following on Nov. 23: David Ormsby, longtime supporter of Democratic candidates who have broken this state, clearly doesn't understand the difference between an audit and a forensic audit. Yes, the states books are audited. Yet, no one can tell us what the budget deficit really is. Or more accurately, everyone has a different answer. An audit merely tracks where the money came in and where the money went out. A forensic audit gets into the "why". We know our finances are broken, a forensic audit figures out what happened and how to fix it (and who to put up on public corruption charges, if needed). In Texas, saved $8B annually. In Kansas, it saved $1B. This works! And William Holland is a great auditor but his authority is subject to the state legislature. The legislature tasks him with other efforts but he has no independent authority. When the legislature tasked him to find all the state programs he could not do so because many state agencies simply ignored him. Decades of off-books spending by both parties is why we are a high tax burden state, that's why businesses leave. Heck, even Oprah is fed up. The forensic audit lets us finally get to the heart of the corruption that drives businesses away, that drives taxes up. If you want to do business with the state, get a permit, etc, you need to grease the right palms here. That's why businesses are happy to set up in Indiana. Is it a cure all? No, it's a tool to move us forward because until we can control the budget and end the corruption we can't move forward. Bambenek later sent me a direct message via Twitter: My first draft was even snarkier but the 1000 character limit made me trim some things :) We try to avoid snarkiness at CNB. Ormsby sent a DM to me on Twitter, too: "I keep one eye--sometimes both--on CNB too." That's good: You never know when we might let slip with something snarky. Leave a Comment Conservative T-Shirts Follow CNB on Twitter RSS Feed

Illinois Gov: No to Bank of America

UPDATE: Illinois Attorney General To Look Into Factory Closing Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich said the state will suspend business with Bank of America Corp. until the lender restores credit to the shuttered Republic Windows & Doors company in Chicago where workers are staging a sit-in. Blagojevich, a Democrat, spoke at a news conference today after meeting with employees who remained at the factory since Dec. 5, when it closed following the bank’s cancellation of its credit line. Illinois does “hundreds of millions of dollars” in business with the bank, he said. The Illinois Department of Labor will sue the manufacturer if Republic doesn’t respond to employee requests for vacation and severance pay, the governor said in a press release. More at Bloomberg... There are a lot of videos related to this story. Click here. RELATED: Obama Sides with Workers in Factory Sit-in Social War Chicago: Thoughts on the Republic Window takeover Ilinois Threatens Bank Over Sit-In Blagojevich Reckless, Obama Evasive on Bank of America and Chicago ... Plan To Save Citigroup Could Be Model For Bank Of America Plan Small banks want their bailout Flashback: Republic Windows closing doors (Dec. 4) Angry laid-off workers occupy factory in Chicago (Dec. 6) Greedy Bank of America Engineers "Fake Rescue" in Sub-Prime Fire.

We Got "Change," Alright

Oooo, a stinging post about the recent election! Illinois Review, a conservative web site, notes the upside to Obama's election to the presidency: "At Least He Isn't Our Senator Now." Illinois no longer has a senator that began his political climb by kissing the ring of domestic terrorist William Ayers, who coincidentally is having his book re-released. Isn’t it sweet that in addition to having access to the minds of the students whose parents send to U of I Chicago, this festering sore on the face of humanity is going to profit from the election of Obama. Is that what they mean by historic, for the first time in our history a presidential election serves as a relaunch for the memoirs of a terrorist? The whole bitter (but accurate) rant...

Big Brother Monitoring The Bench

The Government watches all of us, one way or another. The Bench is watched by (among others) the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, which seems to have taken quite an interest in The Bench recently. Also watching: the "information systems u.s. house of representatives," with 14 visits since July 26, and a coincidental 14 from the Social Security Administration in the same period. (Should I be nervous about this?) Since July 26, there have been more than 117 visits to The Bench from the ICN server: The Illinois Century Network (ICN) is a telecommunications backbone providing high speed access to data, video, and audio communication in schools and libraries, at colleges and universities, to public libraries and museums, and for local government and state agencies. [http://www.illinois.net/about/default.htm] ICN is part of The Illinois Department of Central Management Services: CMS provides a broad range of programs and services to other State agencies and to the general public ranging from procurement and IT expertise to personnel and benefits to management of many properties around Illinois. [http://www.cms.il.gov/]