Though Broadway is not accused of any wrongdoing, Giannoulias has been questioned on the propriety of such loans, and some of his political detractors have whispered that the Giannoulias family’s ties with crime may go deeper than simple loans. Giannoulias himself plays down such assertions.
“It’s politics,” he says. “I think people are sick and tired of guilt by association.”
In the same vein is the claim that Broadway Bank bankrolled Tony Rezko, a political fundraiser convicted in federal court of money laundering and fraud in June 2008. Rezko has ties with impeached governor Rod Blagojevich, and he is accused of writing nine bad checks totaling nearly $450,000 in Las Vegas from a checking account he held at Broadway. The bank did not cover the checks, Giannoulias points out, saying that is proof the bank has nothing to hide. Rezko also received loans from the bank, and he is now considered to be in default, though Giannoulias says he was considered creditworthy when the loans were issued.
“Tony Rezko has never supported me politically,” Giannoulias says. “Republicans like to make that claim, but there’s only one candidate that’s ever taken money from Rezko, and that’s Mark Kirk. I haven’t; he has.”
(Records from the FEC show Kirk accepted $1,000 from Rezko in 2000.)
Planning for the future
If Giannoulias should survive the questioning, the primaries and the general election to find himself in the U.S. Senate, what can we expect from him?
His first priority would be job creation, he says. “This is about jobs, jobs, jobs. We all have neighbors, family members who have lost their jobs,” he says. “Young people are looking at the worst job market we’ve seen in a long time. People who were supposed to be retiring are trying to hang onto their jobs. It’s really scary out there.”
How does he expect to spur job growth?
Cut taxes for small businesses, he says, tax overseas profits for corporations shipping jobs elsewhere, and create a payroll tax holiday for low-to-middle-income individuals. Giannoulias also says he wants to enact better oversight of non-bank mortgage lenders, erase federal budget deficits, end unfair trade agreements with China and a slew of other policy goals.
For now, those are simply ideas floating in the ether. What matters now for Giannoulias is the Feb. 2 primary, when Democrat voters will decide whether he has a shot at following in the footsteps of Obama or whether this has all been a pipedream.
In the meantime, Giannoulias is positioning himself as a public servant in this race, rather than as a politician.
“I’m just doing it because I genuinely believe in helping people, and I think politics is a great avenue for true public service,” he says. “If we can get enough intelligent, capable, passionate, hard-working people in office who really care, we can make this world a better place. I don’t think that’s ever going to change, and the minute I stop feeling that way, I won’t run for office anymore. I’ll step aside.”
Contact Patrick Yeagle at [email protected].
