Pantagraph Editorial
Sunday, November 23, 2003

Governor, staff prove need of ethics training

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been waving his finger at lawmakers for months saying it is important for the General Assembly to pass meaningful ethics legislation.

No surprise. It was Blagojevich, after all, who ran on a platform of getting rid of the scandal-plagued old guard and cleaning up government.

So, amid all that, his $80,000-per-year patronage chief, John Gianulis, scheduled a fund-raiser to help raise money for the Democratic County Chairmen's Association.

Initially, a fund-raiser for Blagojevich also was scheduled that evening, but organizers scrapped it when they learned it would be illegal under the state's current ethics laws because elected officials can't hold fund-raisers in Springfield when the Legislature is in session.

Beginning nearly two weeks ago, Blagojevich was asked if he'd nonetheless attend the Gianulis event where, ostensibly, he would be able to watch state employees write campaign checks to the chairmen's association, which, again, is controlled by Blagojevich's patronage chief. We should also note that the organization is not barred from then funneling any money it raises into Blagojevich's campaign fund.

First, the governor's office said he wouldn't attend. Then they said he would attend.

He was asked again in Chicago on Monday morning. Here's what he told reporters:

"I can't go, apparently. This is a classic case of why you need ethics training," Blagojevich said. "I'm going to follow the rules, whatever they are."

By Monday afternoon, during an appearance in Springfield, he told reporters he would be attending. Then, in the hours leading up to the event, his staff sent mixed messages about his potential attendance at the event.

Finally, by Tuesday evening, his communications chief said the governor would NOT be going because it had become a distraction from the overall debate concerning the ethics legislation.

The bottom line is that the governor was calling for tougher ethics laws at a time when he and his staff don't even seem to know what existing laws are.

This, dear voters, is the new way of doing business in Springfield.

Making things clear

Blagojevich received a lot of publicity when he called members of the General Assembly "drunken sailors" who were going on a "spending orgy."

The governor, however, took issue with how the media was reporting his rant.

In a press conference last week, he sought to clarify his statement.

"I never called them drunken sailors. What did I say?" he asked a reporter.

"You said they were spending like drunken sailors," the reporter answered.

"Correct," said the governor. "I said, spending money like drunken sailors."

In other words, he didn't literally call them drunken sailors. Got that?

"The Whip" clarification

Last week we told you about state Sen. Bill Brady's aspirations to become a player in the Central Illinois radio market with his investment in stations in Clinton and Farmer City.

As part of that, Brady said he was interested in pursuing a format change at the beloved WWHP in Farmer City in order to boost the station's bottom-line.

That resulted in a call from WWHP general manager Larry Williams, who told us that the station is not altering its mission, despite Brady's pronouncement.

"We have no plans of changing the format," said Williams.

As for whether Brady has any leverage to push for a format change, Williams said, "He's not a decision-maker here."

Johnson gets free ads

The election is still a year away, but U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson has been the beneficiary of some free TV ads in recent days by a group calling itself United Seniors Association.

The ads suggest people call Johnson, an Urbana Republican, to thank him for his vote on a recent Medicare prescription drug bill.

But wouldn't you know it, the United Seniors Association is not exactly a grass-roots group of old people dedicated to reducing drug costs.

Rather, it is primarily funded by, get this, the pharmaceutical industry. Some people call these types of groups, Astroturf organizations, because they are fake grassroots groups.

Johnson is among dozens of congressmen benefiting from the largesse of the lobbying group's ads.

Attempts to reach the folks at USA were unsuccessful and his Democratic opponents had little to say about the free ads.

"I went into this with my eyes open," said challenger Ralph Langenheim of Urbana.

Johnson's staff played coy. "We don't know a whole lot about it," said spokesman Matt Bisbee.

Kurt Erickson is The Pantagraph's Capitol Bureau chief. He can be reached at (217) 782-1249, the Capitol pressroom, or via e-mail at: kerickson@springnet1.com