Friday, November 27, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

Rezko, Rezko . . . Where Do I Know That Name From?

In Illinois, Tony Rezko's banker is running for Senate.

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias confronted questions about his family’s Chicago bank as he sought to boost his bid for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by his friend President Barack Obama.

Broadway Bank, with $1.2 billion in assets, has clouded the political career of Giannoulias since his first bid for office in 2006, when at age 30 he became the youngest U.S. state treasurer.

The controversy stems from Broadway loans made to a convicted bookmaker and to convicted Illinois influence peddler Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

“Tony Rezko’s company has received loans from many banks in Illinois,” Giannoulias said at a Chicago news conference called to discuss expanded financial regulation.

Giannoulias, 33, is a former senior loan officer and vice president of the bank, founded in 1979 by his deceased father, Alexis Giannoulias.

Must be nice to have a dad who owns a bank — helps you get the title "bank vice president" by the time you're 33.

In case you've forgotten, the current secretary of state had a disagreement with the current president last year, telling him she was fighting for Democratic policies while "you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago."

11/27 12:08 PMShare