Will County Gazette

Republican Congressional candidate Rick Laib argues it’s not hard to figure out why Springfield Democrats always seem to fall in line with House Speaker Mike Madigan the way they do.

“The speaker has positioned himself as a provider within his party,” Laib, who is now running against U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) in the 11th District, told the Will County Gazette. “The burden of campaigning is off many Democrats if they are within the graces of Madigan as he controls and directs many political campaign donations. This is attractive to many Democrats.”

With a bipartisan Special House committee now convened to look into some of the speaker’s more questionable behavior related to the ongoing ComEd federal corruption probe, Madigan recently let it be known he has no intention of answering questions about his suspected involvement before the bipartisan panel. The state’s longest-tenured lawmaker made his feelings clear in a three-page letter he sent to committee members in which he also forcefully defended his widely known practice of patronage hiring as not “ethically improper.”

“Anyone rejecting the process to subpoena Speaker Madigan to appear before the committee either has never conducted an investigation of this scope, or just isn't taking it seriously,” Laib added of Democrats on the panel who have reportedly been hesitant about forcing him to appear.

In the end, Laib said he wonders how much the panel can accomplish without the benefit of hearing from Madigan directly.

“It's a committee formed to look at the actions of Mike Madigan, without Mike Madigan being part,” he said. “It's unclear to me why they're even moving forward. Questions will be raised but the answers can only be speculated without his actual involvement.”