Two lucky politicos from Oak Lawn were appointed to fill terms in the Illinois General Assembly in 2010.  And in what the Chicago Tribune  calls a “Quinncidence,” after voting for Gov. Patrick Quinn’s huge 67% state income tax increase, they landed cushy jobs with cash-strapped Cook County.
John O’Sullivan and Michael Carberry were selected by house Democratic leaders to replace Rep. Kevin Joyce (D) and Rep. James Brosnahan (D). The votes of the tax-raising twosome were needed to push through Quinn’s state income tax increase.
According to a spokeswoman for the Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, they were both “highly qualified individuals.”
Although Preckwinkle was forced to cut her own budget by 20% and close Oak Forest Hospital, she nevertheless found funds to hire these two “highly qualified individuals.” O’Sullivan was hired as a regional superintendent in the Cook County Forest Preserve District at $85,000 a year. Carberry was appointed a deputy director in facilities management for Cook County at $99,833 a year.
This February the Chicago Tribune reported that while St. Rep. Bob Flider (D-Mount Zion) stated in July 2010 that a state income tax increase was “the absolute last thing we need to be doing,” by January 2011 he had changed his tune, and during his final day in office, he voted for the 67% state personal income tax increase. House Democrats managed to pass the bill with one vote to spare. Not a single House Republican voted for it.
Senate Democrats also approved the income tax increase with no Republican support.
In February 2012, Quinn appointed Flider head of the State Department of Agriculture, paying $133,273 a year.
The Tribune pointed out that Flider, if confirmed by the State Senate, would be the fourth of 12 House Democrats who as lame ducks voted for Quinn’s 67% state income tax increase.
“Not only is Quinn an inept governor,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA), “but he is blatantly corrupt. To reward politicians who voted for his state income tax increase is positively obscene. All Springfield Democrats should be thrown out of office this November.”

By on February 21, 2012   /   Commentary, Latest, News Releases