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* The Sun-Times editorialized today against politicians taking campaign contributions from strip clubs. The Southtown Star found campaign contributions to eleven politicians and political organizations, including $2,000 to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. President Preckwinkle and others have since returned the cash…
Now, let’s be clear: Strip clubs are legal businesses, and their donations to political campaigns are legal, too.
But there’s an indisputable taint about those offerings, given that strip clubs are particularly dependent on the goodwill of local politicians.
Strip clubs tend to have their share of problems that involve the law. There may be underage dancers with phony IDs. There may be fights. There may be drugs.
That’s when a friendly politician can help ensure that police won’t jail the establishment’s customers, employees or even owners. […]
Citizens need to know their elected representatives are acting in their best interests, not in the best interests of a strip club with deep pockets that might be looking for a favor down the road.
* But state Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-Chicago Heights) has taken $2,000 from Jimmy’s Restaurant (a Chicago Heights strip joint) and another establishment since 2005 and sees no problem with it…
“Whether someone is in the adult entertainment business or someone in the garbage business or someone in the printing business, there’s many people who contribute money who are involved in all types of business,” DeLuca said. “Just the fact that they are in the adult entertainment business, it doesn’t exclude them from being in the political process either.”
The Southtown Star story also included this exchange…
Thomas Amadio, a former manager of Sharkey’s, a now-defunct club owned by his family, said there’s a reason strip clubs will pony up the cash to politicians.
“To gain political favor with them and to get help for problems that occur — with liquor licensing, underage dancers who come in with fake IDs … fights, drugs,” said Amadio, a Chicago Heights park district commissioner. “To keep the police off their back. That’s why they’re doing that.”
Chicago Heights Police Chief Michael Camilli called the charge “absurd,” saying that no amount of money will keep his investigators from charging criminals.
* Meanwhile, the Better Government Association is not happy that a portrait of former House Speaker Lee Daniels was hung in the Statehouse last month. Daniels was once investigated by the feds. His former chief of staff was sent to prison, but Daniels himself was never brought up on charges…
So, it’s logical to ask if this is really a guy we should be “honoring”? Should taxpayers really be spending upwards of $2,000 so this guy’s image can be hung majestically in the Illinois Capitol or the Illinois House chamber?
We’re not saying Daniels did anything illegal; he was neither charged with nor convicted of a crime.
And we’re not saying he hasn’t done good things in his career. A recent Daily Herald story noted that Daniels is “known for his work on issues to aid the developmentally disabled.”
We understand it’s tradition to hang portraits of legislative leaders – just as it’s tradition to name public buildings after less-than-perfect government officials such as late Cook County Board President John Stroger and late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.
But there are public servants out there who work hard, honestly and selflessly – and who have never been implicated in a federal investigation.
They won’t have their pictures displayed in public buildings. In fact, they’re faceless to the masses. But they truly deserve our appreciation.
* And the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform has a roundup of the top legislative campaign contributions disclosed so far…
(1) Ameren ($77,000)
(2) Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois/ABDI ($57,500)
(3) IL State Council of Operating Engineers/IUOE ($52,000)
(4) IL Laborers Legislative Committee/Laborers Unions ($48,000)
(5) IL State Medical Society ($44,500)
From ICPR…
Ameren’s giving stands out, not only because it’s heads and shoulders above the rest, but because it’s aggressively pursuing a major legislative initiative right now. Ameren, along with Commonwealth Edison (#8 on the list, showing $33,250 in contributions) is seeking a change to the law which would allow them to spend more on infrastructure improvements and pass those costs along to rate payers, while simultaneously curtailing the Commerce Commission’s oversight role.
Since the start of the year, Ameren gave half of their donations to leadership, including $15,000 to House Republican Leader Tom Cross ($10K to Cross’ own committee and $5K to the House Republican Organization); and $10K each to the Senate Democratic Victory Fund and the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee. They gave another $10K to Sen. Kirk Dillard, who sits on the Senate Energy Committee. Other recipients include Sens. Gary Forby, Mike Noland, and Dale Righter, all of whom also sit on the Senate Energy Committee, and State Rep. (and Chicago Clerk-elect) Susana Mendoza, who sits on the House Public Utilities Committee.
Will Ameren’s giving have an effect on public policy? What about the other interest group giving? We’ll have to wait and see. But we wouldn’t even know to ask without the greater disclosure made possible by the new election law.
* Related…
* Minority groups weigh in on legislative redistricting
* Witnesses tell redistricting panel to keep counties together
* Democrats urged to keep counties intact in remap
* Downstaters: Fewer senators please
* McCarter: Fraud-free elections should be a priority too
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 10:26 am
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–The Sun-Times editorialized today against politicians taking campaign contributions from strip clubs.–
Um, is the Sun-Times edit board aware of those small-space ads that are a staple on the agate pages in the back of the sport section?
If those advertised services are 100% legal, there are some very unhappy customers.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 10:33 am
- Ameren’s giving stands out -
Heh, as a former employee, I was present at a “town hall” style meeting with one of the executives who plainly said the company was banking on having a new governor and new head of the ICC. Guess that plan didn’t work out, now it’s on to the GA.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 10:42 am
Capt Fax were you able to make by the BGA free cocktail and “heavy apps” last nite?
That BGA story was a real blockbuster
Wonder when they will start asking IL Corporations/BGA donors to tell us how much they gave the unregulated funders of the RGA and other Brady support groups?
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 10:48 am
I could not find the link to the ICPR’s in-depth analysis of union contributions to the GA leaders. Anyone have it?
As far as Strip Club donations, it is fair game for opposing candidates and watchdog groups to point out this and any other political campaign contributor. What is funny is the false outrage shown by editorial staffs over these donations. They are now worse than gambling, bars, restaurants, unions, environmental groups or any other special interest contribution.
Comment by Cincinnatus Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 10:52 am
RE: the BGA:
And all of those perfectly fine, nameless, faceless politicians also were not Speaker. It’s a tradition. The guy wasn’t found guilty of anything, and heck, he wasn’t even charged with anything. Simply having investigators sniffing around your office shouldn’t disqualify you from the basic traditions of the office.
Seems somewhat petty to me to harp on that. Will they harp like that in 2 years when everybody’s running around the city naming everything after Richard M. Daley?
Comment by John Galt Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 10:56 am
== But there’s an indisputable taint about those offerings, given that strip clubs are particularly dependent on the goodwill of local politicians ==
And Ameren isn’t dependent on the “goodwill” of legislators, correct?????
Comment by BCross Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 10:56 am
Re: the BGA;
He wasn’t convicted of anything. Being investigated by the feds or “implicated in an investigation” is not a crime and should not tarnish someone’s reputation.
Comment by chi Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 11:34 am
Businesses dependent on the goodwill of politicians? Like bars, liquor stores, pro-sports franchises, the transportation industry, road construction, developers, public sector unions, law firms… do I need to continue?
One trick that bothers me about strip clubs is the evasion of the open meetings act by filing almost groundless lawsuits and then having everything negotiated in secret under the “pending litigation” exception to the Open Meetings Act.
I don’t see why strip clubs should be treated differently than bars.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 11:55 am
Is the Better Government Association going to argue that the State should remove the portraits of all the former Governors who went to jail too? Or are they just trying to take advantage of a recent media story to drum up media attention of their own? Ever since Andy Shaw joined that group they have been less interested in better government, and more interested in making it look like they’re for better government.
Comment by Not It Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 12:02 pm
**I could not find the link to the ICPR’s in-depth analysis of union contributions to the GA leaders. Anyone have it?**
First, ICPR talks all the time about labor contributions. You just aren’t paying attention. For example, a post just last week looked at SEIU’s contributions to city council candidates.
Second, in the linked post above, two of the top four donors are labor unions.
Third, this post was only looking at contributions made this year.
Comment by dave Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 12:25 pm
I have to agree with Deluca on this. The onjections can really have any buisness inserted in place o strip clubs. So we either have a problem with every buisness gigivng contributions, or we have no problems with any business doing it.
oddly enough we have problems with drugs, and underage use of alcohol, cigarrettes, and even tatoos in locations without a strip club nexus.
oddy we create more crime an problems by ostrocizing certain activites under our moral code then if we legalized and regualted the activities.
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 12:36 pm
The only moral distinction between strip clubs and most politicians is the strip clubs are more honest about what and why they do what they do for money.
Comment by GMatts Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 12:43 pm
–oddy we create more crime an problems by ostrocizing certain activites under our moral code then if we legalized and regualted the activities.–
Ghost, do you want to “regulate” those activities or “regale” in them? Or both? The advantages of your magic keyboard!
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 12:45 pm
I always liked the picture of Otto Kerner that hung in the 7th Circuit courtroom. It was up there for decades until enough other judges had joined the court so that it was rotated out.
It worked for me that a convicted felon’s portrait had a place of honor in Chicago.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 1:05 pm
I’m constantly amazed at the repetitive cycle of stupidity when it comes to the influence of money in politics. Every year the cost of campaigns goes up. Clueless do-gooders respond to this by trying to restrict the ability to raise money (limits, berating campaigns to return contributions from perfectly legal sources of funds, etc.) to the point where the candidates now have to spend more time fundraising than they did a decade or two ago, and the pool of available sources of funds has shrunk considerably and exponentially grown in clout and influence.
And then when the easily predictable scandal appears when a desperate candidate crosses the line or an influential donor misuses their influence the prescription is always the same, double down. More restrictions. Further shrink the donor pool and further expand the influence of the few that remain.
It’s a repetitive cycle that produces the same results.
Comment by The Captain Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 1:34 pm
I’d rather have our political candidates accept contributions from strip clubs than from the front organizations for the Koch Brothers.
Comment by Capitol View Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 2:19 pm
I’ve been to Jimmy’s before. It’s…interesting.
There aren’t enough other reputable businesses in Chicago Heights for state Rep. DeLuca to be picky about his donations, though.
That being said, I don’t have a problem with it, as long as the strip clubs aren’t being used as fronts for illegal activities. They are local businesses, employing locals, serving constituents. They have just as much freedom to donate to whomever they want as the next place.
Comment by ChrisB Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 3:06 pm
Strip clubs are more honorable than unions and cost the state less. So let the pols take the cash. I would like to see some get out the vote rally’s held at the clubs maybe a debate.
Comment by Fed up Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 5:09 pm
Andy Shaw is an obnoxious boor.
Just read his release: he’s not saying this, he’s not saying that. But he says it anyway.
Very Nixonian rhetoric (Nixon was brilliant in many ways).
As Ambrose has pointed out, Nixon made a living by predicating all his cheap shots with “I’m not saying this, I’m not saying that,” and then saying it.
I’m not a big Lee Daniels fan. I think he threw his guy under the bus. But if you want to call him out, cowboy up (you’ve got the boots, Oklahoma Kid) and say it, and ditch the weasel words.
I’m not saying it, but only in Chicago could you have a sanctimonious head of the “Better Government Association” indebted to Ald .Burke for this, that and the other thing.
Did I say that? No, I didn’t.
That was easy. Cool.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 7, 11 @ 8:23 pm