After a year in which Illinois politicians passed landmark laws to rein in moneyed interests, candidates for governor are having no qualms about cashing big checks while they still can to keep their campaigns running.
Until 2012 limits are enforced, Illinois remains one of the few states where donors can give as much as they want to any candidate, as long as it is periodically disclosed.
"It is very difficult in a completely unregulated system to say unilaterally, 'I'm not going to raise money,'" says Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at UIS.
And despite the economic recession that has sent unemployment to double digit levels, Redfield said there will always be a pile of cash for politicians.
Redfield's comments were featured in a January 24, 2010, article in the Daily Herald.Download a PDF of the article:
20100124-DailyHerald-bigchecks.pdf
