A Crook, A Kook, & A Schnook

A cursory search of our archives indicates I haven’t written much about Alexi Giannoulias, bankroller of organized crime and Democrat candidate for Barack Obama’s old Senate seat (not to be redundant….). Perhaps that’s because there’s been so much underhanded skullduggery swirling around The One’s attempt to broker the seat to one of his cronies through Rod Blagojevich that the unrelated “ethical difficulties” of the “legitimate” candidate to electorally succeed him in the U.S. Senate got lost in my shuffle.

So what brings Giannoulias onto the ol’ HS radar now? What else? His “ethical difficulties” are no longer unrelated:

This was the Tony Rezko who, looking for millions of dollars for a massive South Loop development, turned to Broadway Bank, owned by the family of Alexi Giannoulias. Giannoulias, the Democrat now running for U.S. Senate, had left his post as a senior loan officer at the Chicago bank in late 2005 to mount a successful campaign for Illinois state treasurer, though he still held an ownership stake in the bank.

Rezko’s company asked. And Broadway Bank came through.

On February 14, 2006, newly obtained records show, the bank made a $22.75 million loan to a company called Riverside District Development LLC, whose owners, it turns out, included Rezko.

You won’t find Rezko’s name on any documents filed in the public record in connection with the loan.

But Rezko acknowledged his ownership stake in Riverside District Development to a federal judge about a year after the loan was made, according to a transcript of the court hearing.

Because in Chicago, there’s no such thing as a “Lone Ranger” crook.

Will this be a(nother) problem for Gia-pet? Mnnnneeeeaaah, could be. On the other hand, self-financing is definitely an option.

As far as the polls are concerned, he’s two points up on Mark Kirk, proving that Al Capone himself could run for statewide office in Illinois as a Donk in a GOP tsunami cycle and still get elected.

But forget Broadway Bank; that’s small potatoes. The REAL threat to Gia is the O himself is scheduled to headline a Gia fundraiser this week. That’s the kiss of death.

***Should Nancy Pelosi be nervous? Not SAY she’s nervous – no Speaker in her position right now would publicly make any such concession – but in the deep, dark, oily, flinty, outer-darkness, bottom-of-the-Pit recesses of her soulless soul.

Well, ABC News thinks so:

So does perpetually bet-hedging Stu Rothenberg:

Let’s be clear about where we all would be if unemployment were actually at 4% right now.

Most of the hand-wringing about jobs and the economy would be gone, stronger employment numbers would mean a more vibrant economy (which almost certainly would mean higher federal and state revenues and lower deficits) and polling undoubtedly would show the president with better numbers, Congress with a higher approval rating and the Democratic Party more popular than it is now. Because of that, the huge enthusiasm gap that now exists and is likely to fuel GOP gains in November would be much smaller or nonexistent. …

Actions, indeed, do have consequences. In this case, the combination of an aggressive Democratic agenda, a weak jobs recovery and a large deficit has created a political environment very different from the one eighteen months ago, when Democrats won a special election in New York’s open 20th district by demonizing Republicans for waffling on, then opposing, Obama’s economic stimulus plan.

It’s very difficult to imagine Republican gains in the House of fewer than two dozen seats, and my own newsletter, after going race by race, recently placed likely GOP gains in the range of 28 to 33 seats, if not higher.

Actually, if unemployment were at 4%, we'd be talking about President McCain's 60+% approval numbers and the likelihood of the GOP regaining the dozen seats needed to take back the House. The national debt would be half of what it currently is. And the automotive, health care, and financial sectors would still be free.

My super-secret House aggregate formula (see the left sidebar) currently shows a Republican gain of 57 House seats.

Maybe that's the REAL reason why Ed Schultz is staying home in November: