-By Warner Todd Huston
Shockingly, it looks like Tom Cross (R- Oswego), the Republican Minority leader at the State Capitol in Springfield, has taken several large campaign donations from the criminal organization ACORN. Even worse, it looks like Cross indulged a quid pro quo to help the troubled community organization out on some of their favored legislative efforts.
Over at ChampionNews.net, Doug Ibendahl has uncovered some uncomfortable information about our Republican minority leader’s campaign coffers. Ibendahl has found that Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 880 donated $17,750 to Cross in 2003 and another $10,000 from SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana PAC.
The SEIU is a public employees union that is closely linked with the troubled ACORN organization and SEIU Local 880 is close to ACORN, indeed. In fact, on the Local’s webpage you can see an email address it lists for contact info that settles the question. That email happens to be seiu880@acorn.org.
SEIU founder Wade Rathke recently said that SEIU Local 880 was “one of the pillars of the ACORN family of organizations.” ACORN and the SEIU have been woking in tandem for a long time.
And what of Tom Cross’ quid pro quo?
Well, consider that on July 16, 2003, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich signed a bill guaranteeing 20,000 “personal assistants” represented by SEIU Local 880 the right to negotiate a contract with the state. The law codified an earlier Executive Order, signed by Blagojevich on March 7, 2003, granting the caregivers collective bargaining rights. Tom Cross voted YES on the bill to codify Blagojevich’s Executive Order.
And then there’s this:
Two years later in 2005, Blagojevich signed the first contract with SEIU Local 880. The Chicago Tribune reported at the time, “The contract will cost the state $250 million over the length of the agreement, boosting child care expenses by over $70 million, state and SEIU officials said.”
Ibendahl notes that Tom Cross voted “yes” on this, as well.
And one more that Cross helped pass:
SEIU Local 880 was granted a new contract in April last year that included state-covered healthcare coverage and higher wages. Total incremental cost to the state: $64,200,000.
Not an auspicious record, I’d say.
But SEIU/ACORN is sure appreciative. So happy, in fact, that they awarded Tom Cross its “Quality Care Champion” award in 2007. Cross himself even lists the award on his own website.
Go on over and read Ibendahl’s full report at ChampionNews.net.
(Cross posted at RedCounty.com.)
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as NewsBusters.org, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.
He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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