It shouldn't come as a
surprise that John Wyma is lobbying for GTECH.
The Illinois Lottery's
contractor will most likely operate the state's proposed keno network. Governor
Rod Blagojevich wants to put electronic keno gambling games in 2,000 taverns and
restaurants to help fund a construction plan for schools.
Wyma was the governor's
chief of staff when Blagojevich was a congressman and he was the political
director for the governor's 2002 campaign. He is just the sort of guy that
companies like GTECH hire when they want to get something done in the
state.
Actually, it's not just
the state. The same thing goes for Chicago and most other municipalities in
Illinois.
And it's not just
Illinois. How many companies hired disgraced Washington, DC super-lobbyist Jack
Abramoff because they believed his extensive connections to the highest reaches
of the national Republican establishment would grease the skids?
Before GTECH hired Wyma,
they used Wilhelm & Conlon, which was once headed by Gov. Blagojevich's
campaign media strategist David Wilhelm. Before Wilhelm & Conlon, and
before Blagojevich was even elected, GTECH used Republican mega-insider Bob
Kjellander as its Springfield mouthpiece.
According to the
Sun-Times, IGOR - The Watchdog Group is GTECH's lone subcontractor in Illinois,
meaning it could very well make a bunch of cash if and/or when keno is
implemented. IGOR, which has been a large contributor to the governor's
campaign fund, is represented in Springfield by none other than John Wyma. But
it has also been represented by a well-known Republican lobbyist, Tony Leone,
according to the secretary of state's office.
According to the
Sun-Times, another firm may compete against GTECH for the keno contract. That
company, Scientific Games, is represented by Blagojevich campaign fundraiser
and Springfield lobbyist Milan Petrovic. Scientific Games has also been
represented by Leone in the past, according to the lobbying list.
Just to give those of you
an idea of how things work, according to the state's lobbyist list Petrovic's
firm has done work with PAR Solutions, which has lobbied for Scofield
Communications, which is a company owned by the governor's campaign spokesman,
Doug Scofield. PAR is run by Paul Rosenfeld, who has been a Blagojevich friend
forever.
It's all one thing in
Illinois.
Many corporations
routinely seek out the most politically connected lobbyists they can afford,
believing it gives them an advantage in the game. Does this mean that the
system is completely wired? Not necessarily.
If you look at any major
contract bidding process or legislative battle, you'll see connected lobbyists
working for every company on every side of the matter at hand. It's both an
insurance policy (in case things really can be wired) and a standard business
decision (as with most things, if the other side has something, then companies
think they'd better have one as well).
The problem for Governor
Blagojevich is that he pledged to end "business as usual" in
Springfield and he obviously hasn't. In fact, he probably can't. Unless he bans
lobbying by everyone connected to him, there's no way he can prevent these
sorts of stories.
And he won't ban lobbying
by his friends and supporters because lobbying is the ultimate form of
patronage for the highly connected. Midlevel employees of legislative leaders
and the governor often move on to bigger and better things, usually with the
blessing and even help of their former employers. But their top people almost
always end up making fabulous amounts of money in the lobbying game, which
frees them up in the off-season to help out on campaigns.
And those super-lobbyists
are usually good hires. Beyond the "good will" that they may engender
with the powers that be, they know how things are done and they know the people
who can get them done.
Lots of people tried to
warn Blagojevich that he was setting the ethics bar way too high when he first
came into office, and now routine matters like who is lobbying for what have
become front page stories. Those pay to play articles then feed on each other
and reinforce the message that he is no different than anyone else, despite his
protestations to the contrary.
Wyma claims that he never
lobbied for keno on behalf of GTECH. Blagojevich's office claims that it never
talked to Wyma about keno and didn't even know Wyma was working for GTECH. All
of that may be true, but how many people will believe it?
Not many.
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Rich Miller also publishes
Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter. He can be reached at thecapitolfaxblog.com.