A Little List

More concrete information coming out on Governor Blagojevich's hiring practices, as the Feds' investigation continues and someone leaks a clout list to the Sun Times:

The computerized list obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times was created and stored off state property, a source said, and the administration used it to track favors it handed out if Blagojevich needed something in return from the employees' patrons -- a charge the governor's office vehemently denied.

The political sponsors on the 2003 list include top Blagojevich fund-raisers Antoin "Tony" Rezko and Christopher G. Kelly, identified as "TR," "CK10" and "CK."

And the subpeonas issued last November to the governor's administration are prompting more revelations:

The list's disclosure comes as a federal probe of the governor's hiring practices heats up. Last week, two former state employees said they were dismissed and made scapegoats for refusing to guide poorly qualified, politically sponsored job applicants through the hiring process. The FBI has recently contacted the two.

Last November, the Blagojevich administration was hit with a wave of federal subpoenas seeking hiring records. At the time, the governor insisted that qualifications always trump politics when it comes to handing out state jobs.

"Qualifications all the time," he said.

Of course, if your major qualification IS political, no problem, right?

This reminds me of another little list, that inspired a song in the Mikado, "of people we could do without who never would be missed."