* From a press release…

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady is calling for a Federal investigation of the acceptance of nearly a quarter of a million dollars in labor union money by Illinois House Speaker/Illinois Democratic Party Chairman/Father of the Illinois Attorney General Mike Madigan and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton just before a Special Session of the Illinois General Assembly called primarily to address the state’s pension crisis.

Illinois State Board of Elections records show that on Aug. 17 – the same day as the Special Session – Service Employee International Unions (SEIU) gave $47,000 and another $50,000 to the Democratic Majority (a committee chaired by Madigan to elect Democratic State House members); on Aug. 13 it contributed $50,000 to Cullerton; on Aug. 10, $45,000 to the Senate Democratic Victory Fund, and on Aug. 6, $50,000 to the Democratic Party of Illinois (chaired by Madigan).

“Mike Madigan might as well hang a ‘For Sale’ sign from the Dome of the State Capitol,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady. “This clearly does not pass the smell test and it merits investigation by federal authorities.”

* I asked SEIU for a response. Here it is…

The allegations levied today by the GOP are baseless election year rhetoric.

The facts are that the SEIU contributions coincide with our July 23rd endorsement session.

The contributions reported are in line with our political donations over the past decade.

These contributions have no relationship to the special session called by Governor Quinn. Fewer than 10 percent of our 170,000 members statewide have pensions administered by the State of Illinois.

* OK, so let’s look back two years to see how the giving went. Cullerton got his SEIU money around this very same time in 2010…

* Madigan’s Democratic Majority fund didn’t exist two years ago, but here are his other two funds…

Those contributions to Madigan came a bit later in the cycle, perhaps because public employee unions in general were quite upset at Madigan two years ago. AFSCME and others boycotted giving to his fund altogether. Whatever the case, since the endorsement session was in July, the union makes a pretty good argument that there was no direct quid pro quo here.

* Is this really worthy of a federal probe? House Republican Leader Tom Cross thinks something smells bad. From WJOL radio…

It was this past Friday that state legislators accomplished ABSOLUTELY NOTHING during a special session called by Governor Quinn to deal with the “pension reform issue.”

But House Minority Leader Tom Cross announced Monday morning on 1340 WJOL that it was discovered over the weekend that INTERESTING POLITICAL DONATIONS WERE MADE…..on THURSDAY….the day before the special session. With the “48 hour rule” concerning how quickly political donations need to be reported, it was on SATURDAY that Cross and others noticed that 100 thousand dollar contributions were given last week to House Speaker Mike Madigan, and Democrat Senate President John Cullerton. Cross says these contributions were made by the SERVICE INDUSTRY EMPLOYEES UNION, one of pension reform’s BIGGEST OPPONENTS. Cross says that EVEN IN ILLINOIS, with its corrupt reputation, this should have looked AWFULLY BAD.

When no progress was made on pension reform Friday, Cross says he simply thought….WELL….Madigan once again GETS WHAT HE WANTS…..or in this case DOESN’T GET what he DOESN’T WANT.

The House Democrats dismissed the allegations as pure politics.

* Sun-Times…

Her union represents 2,450 employees in Secretary of State Jesse White’s office and 525 toll collectors and other workers employed by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, all of whom had pensions that would be affected by the outcome of Friday’s special session.

A union spokesman late Monday insisted that the contributions actually were given to Madigan’s fund several weeks ago but that the campaign committee merely got around to reporting them to the State Board of Elections last Friday.

…Adding… From the Senate Democrats…

This is just political theater from the Republicans.

       

33 Comments - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 11:50 am: Pat Brady/Tom Cross Be very careful. Tread Carefully. Once you ‘invite’ the “Guys down the street” to look into things, they seem to look at lots of things. Can’t unring a bell … - reformer - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:00 pm: When the state Med Society donates to Republicans, and those Republicans then vote the way the Med Society wants, is that suspicious too? Or is it only when Democrats accept interest group money that there are reasonable suspicions of a for sale sign? - mokenavince - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:06 pm: What chance does the average voter have ? Pretty clear money talks,that kind of money would be hard to refuse. - SportShoz - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:08 pm: How about ComEd & Ameren who donated over $1.3 Million last year during session to get their “smart grid” bill passed and the Governor’s veto overridden. - Leave a Light on George - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:09 pm: “A union spokesman late Monday insisted that the contributions actually were given to Madigan’s fund several weeks ago but that the campaign committee merely got around to reporting them to the State Board of Elections last Friday.” WT…? Don’t contributions have to be reported in a more timely manner? - SportShoz - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:10 pm: On the topic - wonder how much ComEd donated to get their resolution (HR1157) passed to protect their profits against the ICC’s ordered $169 Million refund? - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:15 pm: ===Don’t contributions have to be reported in a more timely manner? === They have to be reported 48 hours after they’re deposited. - Anonymice - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:24 pm: The Republicans should get real. Who would pay that kind of money for legislators who don’t stay bought? - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:24 pm: Geez, you’d think a bribe would be some real money. - Irish - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:26 pm: Isn’t this the GOP’s problem in Illinois? They aren’t smart enough to pull the gun out of the holster before they pull the trigger? Okay so it might be a little crazy to believe that the GOP will ever be the beneficiary of union support in Illinois. But they just saw that the Governor does not have much support there. They just saw most all Democratic candidates get booed. They are trying to maintain a campaign against any GA member who is a Democrat so Madigan loses his speaker position. If things continue as they are union members are either going to stay home in November or possibly vote for some GOP legislative candidates thay can live with. So do they leave it alone and pick a fight elsewhere? No, they take a whack at Madigan and the unions. There was a little split there, lets unify them by attacking both. With the smart grid deal, and the CME and Sears deal one would think the GOP would not want to focus on contributions vs. benefits to special interest. - Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:27 pm: In the last few days I’ve heard of the FBI investigating Melky Cabrera and Republican Congressman skinny dipping in Israel. I’m getting a bit confused what the Justice Department is for. If I understood what their mission was, I’d be able to better determine if moving political money warranted an investigation. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:29 pm: ===Geez, you’d think a bribe would be some real money.=== Nowadays they HAVE to use a check, … You know how difficult it is to get that kind of money in unmarked, non-sequential $20s? - Curious - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:34 pm: ===Don’t contributions have to be reported in a more timely manner? === ===They have to be reported 48 hours after they’re deposited.=== Technically, its 5 business days after deposit except within the 30 day period preceding an election, when the requirement is two business days. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:39 pm: Oops. Thanks. - Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:39 pm: If Cross is correct about recent contributions from labor impacting votes, what does he say about the August 8 $10,000 contribution the “House Republican Organization” received from the Firefighters? That should probably be investigated as well since the Republicans were stonewalling last week. Then again, maybe he’s mad because he found out he was charging a below market rate for inaction. - Liberty First - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 12:46 pm: Great rhetoric for voters who don’t pay attention to details….. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 1:09 pm: That’s a funny thing coming from Tom Cross since he and Radogno opposed the pension reform that was before the General Assembly. Tom Cross and Pat Brady are completely inept. I don’t know why the Republicans continue to let them be in charge of anything. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 1:12 pm: I thought this was the most important fact from Kastrup: Fewer than 10 percent of our 170,000 members statewide have pensions administered by the State of Illinois. Anyone familiar with SEIU knows that health care and human services funding is much more important to them than public pensions. They also aren’t exactly known for carrying water for AFSCME. Quite the opposite. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 1:15 pm: ===…what does he say about the August 8 $10,000 contribution the “House Republican Organization” received from the Firefighters? That should probably be investigated as well since the Republicans were stonewalling last week.=== Gotta be real careful in this game of “investigate this, investigate that.” No one wins going that road, sadly. While the “G” was looking at Rod already, Rod didn’t need Dick Mell pointing his finger. Not even close to defending Rod in any way. Making the point, if you start pointing here and there … then everywhere is fair game. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 1:45 pm: Sounds like Cross is borrowing that great Latin motto from Mike Royko: “ubi est mia” Translation: Where is mine? As earlier posters have pointed out, if the unions were buying folks off for blocking pension reform, Cross would be sitting on a mountain of cash right now. - circular firing squad - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 2:04 pm: So YDD thinks the Gags/Billlboards. gambit is really a fetched since they killed the bill hmmm fire…aim…ready btw Rush was. confiding GOPie skill at the CFS today - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 2:53 pm: –btw Rush was. confiding GOPie skill at the CFS today– Is that Aramaic? Can anyone translate? - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 3:01 pm: ===Is that Aramaic? Can anyone translate?=== (Rummaging through my “- circular firing squad - to English” Dictonary) I tried, I got nothing this time. - MOON - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 3:12 pm: Anyone who thinks Madigan would take money for any related legislative action on his part is NUTS. You may agree or disagree with Madigan’s politics, but he cannot be bought! - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 3:12 pm: @Word, Willy - I recognize a mobile phone post when I see one. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 3:15 pm: CFS has the fattest fingers in the bidniss. I give him some latitude because he’s been around a while, but I had no idea what he was saying in that previous post. - Give Me A Break - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 3:16 pm: “Is that Aramaic? Can anyone translate?” Looks like we need to consult the “Book of Armaments, Chapter 2, Verses 9-21″. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 3:28 pm: I do NOT want - circular firing squad - to change one iota. This dictionary idea is way past due. I love the “magic”, so I don’t want, or expect, CFS to be the translator, but we need to catalog some of these! - just sayin' - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 3:45 pm: Pat Brady is a disaster for the GOP. Obviously just trying to distract from the money laundering scandal he’s in the middle of with Rodney Davis. That’s the legitimate target of investigation. - NC from Labourtalk - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 5:13 pm: If it makes you feel any better, be glad you’re not in Canada. American unions have to report their spending… ours don’t. Also, up here there is no opting out of dues, or having “bargaining only” dues amounts. - Fed up - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 9:07 pm: ” can’t be bought” ha ha sure you don’t buy him you put his firm on retainer then it’s all legit. Same with Ed Burke - Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 10:28 pm: AA has suggested CFS sell Magic Decoder Rings for those so inclined. Personally, I like him “Undecoded.” - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 10:29 pm: @Oswego - Just for kicks, I searched “Billboard gags Illinois” and it kicked up another CFS post on Grover Norquist. Near as I can figure, Billboard & Gags refers to Cross & Radogno, or Radogno & Cross. Or Cross and his caddy. I’m not sure. All I know is, whenever I see a candidate’s face on a billboard, at first I think it MUST be a gag. Billboards? Seriously? You’d get better name recognition for cheaper if you’d donated half that money to charity or lit half of it on fire on Main Street to emphasize how government is burning our money. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.