MONEY TALKS … TV MEDIA COVERAGE WALKS

CAN YOU SPARE SOME “CHANGE” 

THE CASE OF INDICTED BUSINESSMAN AND POLITICAL MONEY MAN TONY REZKO OF CHICAGO AND THE TV COVERAGE OF HIS INVOLVEMENT IN PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

(February 3rd, 2007 9:00AM PST)

BY ERSNEWS

The story is simple and it’s as old as politics itself.  Wealthy political donor pours cash into a campaign and to one or more candidates.  Said donor is then accused of buying influence, access and sometimes even breaking the law. 

Enter indicted businessman Tony Rezko, a Chicago businessman, who according the New York Times, likes to “collect politicians” and has been doing it for years.  According to federal prosecutors in Chicago, he was doing it for more than fun. They say he was doing it illegally and he was doing it to make pedal influence and make money.

One thing is clear; Rezko has been throwing his own money around the political game for a long time.  The money has been pouring into Illinois politics, national politics and politics far from his Chicago base.  It should make anyone wonder why he was giving money to politicians as far away as Los Angeles.  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a democrat, as well as former Mayor James Hahn, both enjoyed the businessman’s political generosity.

The problem with the TV news media coverage of Rezko is that while it’s true he and Senator Obama have had a relationship worthy of investigation going back many years, the rest of the story, as they say, has been ignored. The Rezko/Obama story has made its way to the national media in recent weeks.

The rest of the story is this: Rezko contributed to many politicians, on both sides of the aisle.  That’s what big political contributors do, they are usually not political ideologues, they are practical businessmen and they want their money to get them something in return.  To insure they have the access and influence that money brings with it, they hedge their bets and make sure they cover all the bases. In Rezko’s case, although the public has been well informed about Rezko’s contributions to Obama and his connections to Clinton and others in Illinois and elsewhere, the fact that he’s raised money for Republicans has mostly been lost in the media shuffle.  He’s even contributed to President Bush.  You wouldn’t know that if watched most of the TV news coverage.

So as a public service on the eve of “Super Tuesday” ERS is posting Tony Rezko’s political contributions as disclosed by the Federal Elections Commission, The Illinois State Board of Elections and the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, all of which keep track of who’s giving how much to what politician.  This isn’t every contribution Rezko’s made to every politician, there could be more, but its most of it.

Here they are:

The Federal Election Commission

The Illinois State Board of Elections

The Los Angeles Ethics Commission

We think the public is smart enough to figure out that if someone like Tony Rezko is donating money to both Barak Obama and George Bush that the real story is not, Obama or Bush, but just how corrupt the political process has become.

ERS also believes the public is smart enough to know that most of that money being raised is needed to buy TV commercials.  Advertising on TV isn’t cheap and politicians who can’t afford to do it have about as much chance of getting elected as George Bush does of being the Democratic presidential nominee or Hillary Clinton nominating Rush Limbaugh for her Vice Presidential running mate. 

The next time you hear about a political contributor like Tony Rezko getting into trouble for buying a politician, keep in mind, everybody knows you have to have the cash, and lots of it, to compete in a 21st century election here in America. Since media companies and TV stations won’t be giving away free airtime to political candidates anytime soon. Although the airwaves are owned by the American public, as long as commercials cost cash, the money will continue to flow to politicians who need it to buy those TV political commercials, especially the always effective attack ads!