Prairie State Wire

Welcome to Swamp Tours, a new weekly column written by a veteran Springfield observer and insider. Send feedback to staffreports@lgis.co. 

Nineteenth-century religious and political scholar John Dalberg-Acton wrote "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

One hundred fifty years ago, his thoughts informed the English monarchy on how to deal with rival European governments.   

Today, Baron Acton's words perfectly describe corruption's corrosive effect on the current Illinois state government.   

As detailed in previous Swamp Tours, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has meticulously built what has effectively become a government-sanctioned mafia operation, infecting every corner of state government for almost fifty years. Legislation, contracts, appointments and grants – nothing moves in Springfield without the approval of Madigan’s organization.  

With the defeat of GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner by hand-picked Madigan puppet, J.B. "Big Boy" Pritzker, Madigan's power became absolute, as did his corruption.  

Swamp Tours will detail the current corruption schemes specifically-- from Medicaid payments to nursing homes to video gaming – in coming weeks. Particular focus will be paid to the shady deals that dominated the 2019 Spring Legislative Session. That's where the Madigan mafia displayed to all present their absolute power to control outcomes through corruption and greed. 

But to fully appreciate where we are, we must understand how Madigan made the transition to absolute power in the first place.

We know the Bi-Partisan Combine that has controlled Springfield for the past three decades traditionally shared power between the families. Things evolved in November 2014 with the election of Rauner, a private equity tycoon beholden to nobody but himself. 

Five years earlier, in 2009, Madigan let John Cullerton, his little buddy and the godfather to son, Andrew, become President of the State Senate. Together, they impeached then-Democrat Gov. Rod Blagojevich and installed perennial stooge Pat Quinn in his place, fully consolidating Madigan's power over the Democrats in Springfield.  

Rauner had spent his own money getting elected, meaning that he hadn’t courted Illinois' Republican institutional campaign givers from the business community. His campaign proposals targeted the state's overly generous labor provisions for public sector employees, especially the outrageous pensions provided to the Combine's cronies.  

The confluence of these two factors created the environment for the Madigan Mafia to move from the dominant family to absolute control.

Before Rauner, Madigan had had a cozy relationship with private sector unions – the building trades. But he and Illinois’ public employee unions – especially AFSCME and SEIU – had never been particularly close.

That’s because former have long been led by white, working-class men comfortable with Madigan’s team. The latter-- for long, more heavily influenced by women and minorities – were less so.

But Rauner's “Turnaround Agenda” – including municipal bankruptcy, spending freezes, right to work and pension reform – changed all that. It shook Illinois’ public sector unions to the core, and they ran to Madigan for protection. 

He obliged. But would charge the traditional fee – he would protect them in exchange for control of all their political contributions. Coupled with the devotion of the only other reliable major source of campaign resources on the left, Illinois’ trial lawyers, Madigan now controlled materially all the Democrat party money in Illinois.

What was left? Well, with the unpredictable and uncontrollable Rauner in office, Madigan looked right. He now had an opportunity to win over swathes of traditionally Republican, but often rent-seeking, interest groups, too.

Inspired by former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s “K-Street Project,” Madigan dispatched his top lieutenants Mike McClain and Timothy Mapes to offer their protection to business groups who once loathed him. Their pitch: Rauner couldn’t be trusted and doesn’t need your contributions. You can count on Madigan’s “friendship” to last (so long as the money keeps coming).

McClain, Madigan’s underboss handling outside relations, recruited the state’s leading utilities and other industries relying on the state budget for funding. They would get, provided they gave. Also, he was already a lobbyist for the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club – Illinois' who's who of business leaders. He had some access. But to make this really work would require turncoat Republican lobbyists to help.

Former GOP State Senator-turned-lobbyist Matt O’Shea and Nancy Kimme, longtime aide to former GOP Statewide office holder Judy Baar Topinka, were happy to join McClain.

Kimme, who was close to all of Rauner’s top aides, and O’Shea, whose father-in-law is State Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island), a longtime Madigan loyalist, used their Republican bona fides to convince business leaders to come into the fold. They argued that Rauner was a short termer; it was better to pay Madigan for protection than to feel his wrath.  

Swamp Tours will further detail the activities of O'Shea and Kimme in coming weeks.

By consolidating all state campaign money under his control, Madigan effectively vanquished all rivals and took absolute control in Springfield.  The other families were severely diminished.

But thanks to Madigan’s ability to recruit O’Shea and Kimme to his side, most Republican members of the Legislature have stayed true to form. They have been silent sheep, unwilling even to acknowledge the systemic corruption that is destroying Illinois.  

Now you know why in 2020, Madigan's House Democratic candidates routinely outspent their Republican opponents 50 to 1. That doesn't happen in the U.S. Congress, much less in any other state.  

It only happens in Illinois, where corruption is complete and absolute. Here – one side gets all the campaign money; everyone on the inside is rooting for the same team, even if they pretend they aren’t.  

That’s thanks to Madigan’s efficacy, and the willingness of too many Republicans to sell out their colleagues for thirty pieces of silver. Illinois now has the best government money can buy.  

Read previous Swamp Tours below:

• Swamp Tours: You can take more with a briefcase then you can with a gun

• Swamp Tours: On Team Madigan, ‘If it ain’t white, it ain’t right’

• Swamp Tours: That which is known need not be spoken