MEET CHICAGO'S ALEXI GIANNOULIAS AND HIS PERFECT STORM

If ever there was a politician in danger of being at the center of a perfect storm he created for himself, it might just be Illinois Senate candidate and current Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D). In April, Giannoulias lost millions of dollars when his family's bank closed; his state is facing a $12 Billion deficit and failing to pay day to day bills; he's been subpoenaed as a witness in the Blagojevich trial; and he's made multiple conflicting statements about his dealings with Blagojevich over Obama's Senate seat.

MONEY WOES

h/t to Red State. Check out Giannoulias' website. Take note of what's right up front and center:

Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias serves as the state’s banker. His primary responsibility is to protect and wisely invest taxpayers’ money.

State lawmakers budget almost all of the tax dollars collected each year, but that money is not spent all at once. At any given time, the State Treasurer manages about $17 billion in state and local funds.

Let that sink in for a minute. As Treasurer, Giannoulias is responsible for managing $17 billion, right? So why is his state failing to pay its daily bills while operating under a $12 billion budget deficit? A better question would be how someone who is failing at his job as miserably as Giannoulias is, coming anywhere close to sniffing a run at a U.S. Senate seat? There's nothing quite like promoting incompetence. In the private sector, such a move would be on par with promoting a Regional Manager who has run his business into the ground, to an executive position. When making money is a priority, that doesn't happen. However, in politics, spending money - other people's money - is the priority and it happens quite a bit.

VIa the New York Times, Alexi has a bit of a problem with his state's finances:

CHICAGO - Even by the standards of this deficit-ridden state, Illinois's comptroller, Daniel W. Hynes, faces an ugly balance sheet. Precisely how ugly becomes clear when he beckons you into his office to examine his daily briefing memo.

He picks the papers off his desk and points to a figure in red: $5.01 billion.

"This is what the state owes right now to schools, rehabilitation centers, child care, the state university - and it's getting worse every single day," he says in his downtown office.

Mr. Hynes shakes his head. "This is not some esoteric budget issue; we are not paying bills for absolutely essential services," he says. "That is obscene."

For more on the bank closure that lost Giannoulias millions, click HERE.

THE BLAGOJEVICH TRIAL

Like Giannoulias, Hynes had aspirations for Barack Obama's Senate seat in 2008 - the one Blagojevich gave to Roland Burris. In fact, on one of the tapes presented at trial, Blagojevich makes reference to four candidates Obama viewed as acceptable. Hynes was on that list along with Tammy Duckworth, Jan Schakowsky, perhaps best known for this rant, and Jesse Jackson Jr.

Speaking of the Blagojevich trial, Giannoulias has made statements publicly that indicate he was being sought out by Blagojevich regarding the Senate seat vacancy that was to be left by Obama in 2008. However, quite curiously, a recorded phone conversation between Blagojevich and his then Chief of Staff John Harris on November 7th, 2008 - three days after the election - reveal that Blagojevich didn't even want Harris to talk to Giannoulias. What's more is that in testimony on June 30th, SEIU official Tom Balanoff testified that Giannoulias expressed interest in the Senate seat when it became apparent Jarret would not be a candidate. Now, here we are in 2010 and Giannoulias is running for that same seat. There is a long line of inconsistencies when it comes to Giannoulias. A partial list can be found at Blago Files.

In listening to the many released tapes of Blagojevich, it became obvious that Chicago politics were eating him up and he wanted out. In light of the recent developments there relative to that $12 billion budget deficit, it would seem Giannoulias has similar motives.

h/t to Red State and Blago Files