Marin Points Out the Obvious–Can Dold Pay Some Attention
Make no mistake, given his dad’s still-mighty political machine, Lipinski could walk away with another victory, earning not just a third term but more. He will begin to qualify for the glorious benefits that six years in Congress guarantee. Like the potential for lifetime health care benefits and a splendid pension.
Pera has less in common with the Lipinski machine than any other contender when it comes to social, economic or foreign policy matters. Pera is more liberal, Lipinski more conservative, on everything from social issues to support for the Iraq war.
But more important may be Pera’s willingness to buck accepted Chicago political practices. It is he who has most aggressively raised the ethical questions that Dan Lipinski has long needed to answer but apparently just can’t.
Questions like how in the world can he justify having had his father, now a lobbyist for the transportation industry, on his payroll as a consultant?
How can he comfortably take campaign contributions from the airline and rail companies that also pay his dad’s salary?
And how the heck can he allow his dad’s so-called charity, the All American Eagle Fund, which does precious little charity except for needy politicians, pay for work done by Dan’s congressional chief of staff?
In Chicago, we expect so little of our politicians. And ethical questions are treated often with disdain. As though it’s almost naive to demand the separation of church and state, or in this case, the separation of special interests from government business.
Dan Lipinski is not a bad guy. He’s well-educated. Earnest. And there’s reason to believe he’s grown some on the job.
In addition, he loves his father. “And he does not lobby me,” contended the congressman.
Why would he need to?
It’s not just a stand against 8 years of unchecked corruption in DC that the Tribune has largely been a cheerleader for, but a time to stand against the entire history of the Chicago Machine. It’s not what it used to be, but it still has life and it needs to be put out of our misery. And there couldn’t be a better place to take a stand than against the Lipinskis.
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