LaHood For Transporation Is A Cynical Choice

President-elect Barack Obama is naming U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) as his choice for Transportation Secretary. Obama will point to the appointment as a show of bipartisanship within his administration because LaHood is a Republican. More accurately, LaHood should be described as an Illinois Republican who is a part of The Combine which Chicago Tribune political reporter John Kass has decried often. These are members of both parties who operate Illinois government like an organized crime syndicate, using the purse strings of government to reward friends and punishing those who get in their way. LaHood despised a real Republican, Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, because he recommended an outsider to run the U.S. Attorney's Office, Patrick Fitzgerald, who has spent the last eight years trying to break up the syndicate. LaHood and other members of The Combine went after Sen. Fitzgerald with a vengeance, promising to do all they could to defeat his re-election in 2004. Secure in the knowledge that Patrick Fitzgerald could get the job done without him, Sen. Fitzgerald opted not to seek re-election. This opened the door to Barack Obama, an acceptable choice of The Combine. Obama owes LaHood deeply for his efforts in getting rid of Sen. Fitzgerald.

LaHood, who is of Arabic descent, can be aptly described as a career political hack. He started out working for U.S. Rep. Tom Railsback decades ago until Railsback got ousted because of a sex scandal involving a lobbyist for the dairy industry. LaHood then joined the staff of House Republican Leader Bob Michel, an affable but "go along to get along" Republican. LaHood returned back to Illinois and successfully ran for a seat in the Illinois House in 1992. When his old boss retired two years later, LaHood ran and won the seat in Congress. He won re-election every two years thereafter until he decided to retire this year. LaHood is not anything close to a reformer. He's a big proponent of earmarks. Further, members of Congress make terrible presidential cabinet choices. Unfortunately, Obama is filling up his cabinet with lots of these congress critters. The only sure bet is that pork-barreling will be alive and well at a Transportation Department run by LaHood.

UPDATE: Jonathan Turley has a very negative reaction to the LaHood choice for different reasons.