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Answers, please

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The Sun-Times recently demanded answers from Patti Blagojevich:

No one argues with Patti Blagojevich’s wish to earn a living, have a career, sell real estate. She is entitled to her own life. But when some of those sweet real estate deals involve a man who has been indicted by the feds, it’s only natural questions are going to be asked about the relationship between the governor’s wife and this man, developer Tony Rezko. Mrs. Blagojevich received just over $47,000 from the sale of industrial land abutting Irving Park Road.

One would expect a liberated and self-assured woman like Mrs. Blagojevich to stand up for herself, to face the public and explain her business dealings with Rezko, a man who had the uncanny ability to sniff out up-and-coming politicians and donate to their campaigns. He has hooked up to politicians such as Sen. Barack Obama, Rep. Luis Gutierrez and new Cook County President Todd Stroger in addition to Gov. Blagojevich, who has given Rezko’s friends seats on influential state boards and hired former Rezko employees for state jobs.

Mrs. Blagojevich has remained silent about her real estate connections to Rezko, quaintly preferring to let the governor’s aides do the speaking for her. And the aides claim the press has “outdated and biased assumptions about women’s abilities in business.” The only assumption we have is that a successful businesswoman can speak for herself. So Mrs. Blagojevich, what’s the story?

I thought about this over the holiday break and a question came to my mind: How many real estate deals has Mrs. Blagojevich done since Rod Blagojevich was elected that were completely free of political taint? We know of most of them, I think, and if I remember correctly they all had something to do with insiders to one degree or another.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 2:07 am

Comments

RICH I believe that no one cares or some are waiting for the other shoe to drop and Gov. Quinn to enter the picture.As far as the feds I think it was much to do about nothing.As far as Patti she seems to be in with the crowd that is above the law.

Comment by DOWNSTATE Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 7:47 am
Certainly, Patti Blagojevich has traded on her husband’s name and position. That is nothing in the way of a revelation. But, as long as she has not done anything illegal, the majority of the voters don’t care. Otherwise, Rod would not have won re-election on November 7th. Nor would Todd Stroger have been elected, etc.etc.

The majority of the voters (especially Cook County voters) are not concerned with appearances or ethical breaches in their political system in Illinois. And, let’s face it, Cook County voters decide who gets elected down in Springfield. Whoever brings home the pork to Cook County and it’sr tight-knit political group will be the ones who keep getting re-elected and going back to Springfield.

Comment by Beowulf Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 8:20 am
She is a dimwit who hides behind her children. It reminds me of when her even dumber husband used them as human shields at the state fair. There it is, the new name for them, dumb and dumber.

Comment by sisk Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 9:13 am
Oh, those darned, pesky ethics rules. They keep popping up at the most irritating times, you know, like when Patty is working and Rod is governing. Why can’t we just turn our heads and ignore what they do?

It would seem that the person assigned to do Rods ethics test for state employees forgot to tell him what the correct answers were when he/she got done with it.

Comment by Tessa Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 10:02 am
A thoughtful comment sisk. Will you be traveling to Oslo for the awards ceremony or will you be sending a surrogate?

Comment by Snark Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 10:35 am
Ferdinand and Imelda Blagojevich are adults, raised from childhood to their current positions. As the daughter of one of Chicago’s premier power players, she has witnessed how the game is played successfully. With Ferdinand as Chicago’s governor, the two are ruling as they had planned.

What we are seeing is blatant stupidity. These two know better. Have they reached a point in their lives when they feel so superior to their underlings they think they can just walk all over the law? This looks to be the case.

The closer we look at Chicago’s First Couple, the seedier they become. How much is it going to cost us to continue investigating every piece of crap falling off these two?

This is what happens when crooks win elections. They cost us boatloads of money. Instead of showing these two the door this month, Illinois Democrats decided that having a Democratic governor was more important than having a good governor.

It was the responsibility of the Illinois Democratic Party to go beyond partisanship and greed to help clean up our state. They refused to do the job and now all of us will pay the price of their willful blindness. Thanks for nothing!

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 10:49 am
SHe is a “private citizen”, she is mrely the wife, not the candidate that you endorsed morons! She is the wife of gov and daughter of powerful alderman.

What is the tabloid trying to accomplish with attacking her, while endorsin her husband who is the governor?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 11:05 am
I agree completely that Patty should be very open about her real estate dealings. She uses her husband and children as human shields whenever convenient and then her husband ridicules everyone for questioning a liberated business woman. If Mrs. B. has the coconuts her husband wants us to believe she has, then she should have no problem with providing a complete accounting of her business for the past 4 years. We will see that accounting though, just not in the usual way. I’m betting it will come by way of indictment, just as all information is coming out about GoverNOT Hairdo.

Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 11:12 am
The Sun-Times and anyone else can “demand” all the “answers” they want. They AIN’T gonna get them.

Comment by Bubs Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 1:28 pm
Stop persecuting this women because she has her own career and is successfull. Would you being doing this to the husband of Judy Bar Topinka or any man. She is a mother stop affecting her children.

She was busy at open houses, big phone bills, spending time away from home meeting home buyers, working with sellers to make sure everything went well, and finding out about the latest Viking stoves and Sub Zero refrigerators.

Comment by Betty Friedan Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 1:44 pm
Question for the assembled multitudes. Is she an indeptendent licensed broker trading on her own, or is she associated with a firm.

The State does regulate the real estate industry quite well, and all the paperwork should be handy for Fitz if necessary. It will be easy to find out home much total business she does.

Comment by Truthful James Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 2:22 pm
Patti and Rod have been busily lining their pockets from the moment that they became a couple. Rod has had to duck questions about ghost payrolling while working as an Assistant State’s Attorney and for the City of Chicago. In terms of conflicts of interest rules, he has always pushed it to the limit like when he split fees on cases involving worker’s comp cases for city employees or sold cases from his “practice” before entering the Congress. Patti has an uncanny ability to develop real estate projects entirely within areas where her daddy handles the zoning approvals. It is not sexist to question how Patti makes her money. Influence peddling smacks of corruption.

Comment by Honest Abe Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 2:59 pm
Imelda B is a licensed real estate broker, sponsor of licensed broker corporation River Realty Inc. Curiously, Alex Blagojevich is also a licensed real estate broker. Alex is associated with Marcus and Millichap Inc. of Chicago. Isn’t Alex Ferdinand’s nephew?

Comment by Vinron Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 3:08 pm
Honest Abe,
You should be ashamed of yourself for implying that the governor or his wife have done anything illegal in their business dealings before or after the voters overwhelmingly re-elected Blagojevich as Governor. The people are wise to all of the disinformation spread about the first couple of Illinois. We will not be fooled by bitter, defeated, small minded, Republicans. Have your fun on this blog. No one else cares.
The best is yet to come.

Comment by Bill Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 3:27 pm
Basically it boils down to this:

The Chicago Sun-Times endorsed her husband, saying basically it trusted him when he said all those investigations were misunderstood and misguided. You know, “yadda, yadda, yadda.”

Now two weeks after the election the Sun-Times is “demanding” Patti come clean on her real estate deals?

Prior to the election, The Chicago Sun-Times endorsed Todd Stroger . . . “yadda, yadda, yadda!”

This weekend on the front page the Chicago Sun-Times screamed “C’Mon Todd!”

And I can recall the days when the Sun-Times was calling itself “The Bright One!”

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 3:29 pm
Vanilla man,
The Governor, just re-elected to another term, is hard at work successfully running Illinois. His wonderful wife is a successful business woman, mother, and pillar of her community. You spend all day on this blog spreading lies about them and calling them and their children names. Now who is it again that is displaying “blatant stupidity”?

Comment by Bill Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 3:39 pm
Gosh, and I always thought that Goebbels first name was Joseph, not Bill.

Comment by Truthful James Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 3:42 pm
Why is the Govermor’s aids speaking for an independent business. It seems to me that if she is using the governors staff for personal gain (not paying for your own PR) it would be a violation of the law.

Comment by It's 5 O'clock somewhere Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 3:52 pm
Define overwhelmingly, Bill. When I checked the vote tallies, Rod Blagojevich received less than a majority of the votes cast in Illinois and secured victory with a mere plurality. I did not know that the US Attorney was in the business of needless investigating honest politicians for no reason whatsoever.

Comment by Honest Abe Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 5:26 pm
patti should be subjected to investigations by the inspector generals office, stalked,phone records secretly suponed affidavits of truth,almost 5 years of torment and constant apprehension, i was, and i did none of the accusations made by ignorant people that would not sign their name, the man hours spent investigating and tormenting me would have supplied at least two more caseworkers to our office,downsized from 47 to 16, and people want to know why benefits are late to clients.blago wants to stop corruption, let him look to his house first.

Comment by banished by internal affairs Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 5:41 pm
Bill, I have to say you brighten my day every time you pour it on about Blogo. Though I do appreciate your take on the Blogo family, it does somewhat amuse me. VanillaMan, we must be related as you continue to take the words right out of my mind. Good show!!

Comment by Justice Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 5:43 pm
Overwhelmingly-91/2 percentage points more than the nearest opponent. alt. def. More than 1/2 million votes more than nearest opponent.

Comment by Bill Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 5:53 pm
Bill, I’m having a hard time reconciling your “more than 1/2 million votes” number. What’s your math on that.

Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 6:10 pm
Patti Blagojevich is a strong, independent businesswoman — until there are difficult questions to be answered. Then she plays the meek political wife hiding behind her husband’s aides. A true role model for businesswomen everywhere.

Comment by Tom Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 6:12 pm
Steve, Ok I should have said almost 1/2 million or 343,188 votes more than the nearest opponent. Thanks for your vigilance.

Comment by Bill Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 6:20 pm
Holy cow! I didn’t know women were allowed in the workplace. When did this happen? I must be lost and have an â€œoutdated and biased assumptions about womenâ€™s abilities in business.â€

Geez, same old crap out of the Guv’s mouth pieces.

Although I do agree with Bill, the best IS yet to come!

Comment by Buck Flagojevich Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 7:34 pm
Bill, I hate to say it, but Blagojevich orders every state employee and family to follow ethics rules (I have to follow them and I understand them), yet he and his family don’t feel the need to set the exempliary example for every state employee under him. As he was the one who implemented the policy, he should set the example for the rest to follow. He should rise above, and he is far short of this.

Sorry, but he has not done a good job in the “do as I say, not as I do” department. It’s more like, “How dare you accuse me of doing what you caught me doing when I told you not to do exactly what I’m doing and don’t you do it either or you’ll be fired, but I didn’t do anything wrong….so there”.

I lost faith and trust in him when he lied and turned his back on the very people who supported him, including my very disillusioned child.

Comment by Tessa Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 9:36 pm
Bill, I’ll say this again for the third time. Perhaps you will understand it. Elvis won by LESS THAN 50% of the votes. LESS THAN HALF

Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 10:37 pm
Sorry, I hit enter too soon.

Bill, you amuse me with your math. I’ve said this before and will say it for the third time. Perhaps you will now understand. Elvis won by LESS THAN 50% of the votes. LESS THAN HALF of the registered voters voted making it less than 25% of the registered population voted for him. LESS THAN HALF of the entire Illinois population is registered to vote meaning that your boy Elvis won the election with a resounding 12.5% of the population of Illinois voting for him.

However, Bill, you have won me over. I do now think that Elvis is the best governor this state has ever had. I believe in him 100% and believe that he is above reproach. This state has given him an overwhelming mandate to continue with his innovative ideas he is bringing to us and his outstanding ability to find money for all of his wonderful programs. Keep up the good work Governor. I agree with you that Patti is a pillar in her community and she is a very savy business woman.

THERE. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it - until midnight.

Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Nov 27, 06 @ 10:44 pm
Oh, and I just thought I’d share. I went back to work on Monday to two pieces of paper to remind me of erhics involving political “stuff” and being a state employee. I had been off work 6 weeks on a non-work related injury. Nice that the state could remind me not to mix politics and work. Two pieces of paper copied for my reading pleasure.

Comment by Tessa Tuesday, Nov 28, 06 @ 5:47 am
Tessa, could you get those memos to me please?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 28, 06 @ 6:46 am
My question would be. Do Rod and Patti have separate bank accounts ? Did these profits (gifts) end up in one bank accounts ? Therefore the Governor would end up with the profits.
Patti is the First Lady of Illinois and by accepting that position she should conduct herself and her business accordingly.
Rod stated his decision to run for Governor was a family choice between himself and Patti. Ignorance of the law is no defense. She was not a political newcomer having Dick Mell as a father.
Again I go back to the bank account and Rod profiting from these deals. I’m sure Fitzgeard is asking the same questions.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 28, 06 @ 7:45 am
All about the money. Money Money Money

Comment by Latifah Tuesday, Nov 28, 06 @ 9:56 pm