Gov. Blagojevich hosing taxpayers?

According to John O'Connor, in an article carried by AP, Governor Blagojevich supporter and major contributer, PWS Environmental Inc., has received $522,000.00 in contracts with the state for work that experts say is unnecessary or could be performed less expensively by state employees.
Read the story here.

The quotes below, from the story, make it look like there was blatant corruption in the awarding of power washing and salt storage building cleaning contracts.

"PWS was an early backer of Blagojevich, first giving to the Democrat's gubernatorial campaign in June 2000, according to state records. The company and President William Mologousis have contributed a combined $24,780 to Blagojevich and $5,670 to his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, or Mell's 33rd Ward Democratic organization.
Mologousis said the contributions and contracts were not related. He pointed out that the master contract the company won was competitively bid, although state records show PWS was the only bidder.
PWS Environmental has received contracts for $522,000 in state work this year, up from just $2,860 in 2001. Blagojevich took office in 2003."


This is but the most recent of a growing list of shady deals that seem to keep backtracking to Gov. Blago.
Is Gov. Blagojevich trying to outdo the legacy of George Ryan? Can we expect "the candidate Blagojevich" that claimed to want to change the way things work in Springfield to continue to fulfill his promise? He's changing things, alright. He may be making it dirtier and more corrupt than it ever was.

Illinois needs to cleanse itself of its national image of political corruption. Let's start at the top, and make Illinois a national model of how to serve the people of the state well, instead of how best to hose them.