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Cleaning House

Rahm Emanuel suddenly a man of the people? . . . Blagojevich casts shadow on Emanuel . . . Tony Rezko will testify against Blago in retrial . . . election experts say Emanuel legally not qualified for mayoral run as a non-Chicago resident

The Obama malaise:  world economy decouples from U.S. . . . West is stuck in near-depression . . . U.S. Agency for Int'l Develop. infested with bedbugs . . . 1 in 10 U.S. adults depressed

U.S. border agent charged with smuggling drugs and illegals for cash over 10 years

NY Daily News blasts ex-Luv Guv Eliot Spitzer's new gig on CNN as "hooker-plagued"

Race for NY state comptroller overshadowed by Alan Hevesi corruption charges

Opening arguments in Ridgefield, NJ Mayor Anthony Suarez corruption trial

Closing arguments in ex-Perth Amboy, NJ Mayor Joseph Vas corruption trial

Ex-WV state lawmaker Joe Ferrell pleads guilty to racketeering and tax charges

Three Okaloosa County, FL Sheriff's employees go to trial for bonus kickback scheme

Cleaning House

Chicago, IL fundraiser claims Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. behind $6M Senate seat scheme

Obama Malaise:  Dems compare The Anointed Disappointing One to Jimmy Carter

Sen. Harry Reid guilty of sexual harassment in the workplace?

Jury selection begins in corruption trial of Ridgefield, NJ Mayor Anthony Suarez

Ex-NJ Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith gets taxpayer-funded defense lawyer 

Ex-Southfield, MI Councilman William Lattimore starts 18 month sentence

Two Jersey City, NJ union leaders charged with embezzling $375K

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Cleaning House

Rasmussen:  Obama approval rating at all-time-low of 42%

Government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac delisted from NYSE

Housing starts and permits tumbled in May:  largest monthly drop since Jan. 1991

NYC crane inspector James Delayo gets two years for taking bribes

East St. Louis, MO deputy liquor comm'r Walter Hill pleads guilty in bribery scheme

Judge:  citizens can recall indicted Ridgefield, NJ Mayor Anthony Suarez

Michael Schaffer admits funneling bribes to Hoboken, NJ Mayor Peter Cammarano III

Closing arguments in corruption trial against Hartford, CT Mayor Eddie Perez

NJ Corruption Allegations: The Key Players

The New York Post runs an easily-digestible story on yesterday's corruption arrests, including three mayors and five religious leaders, in New Jersey:

All the suspects in both investigations were brought down by the same shady developer, who wore a wire for three years while he bought off politicians, passed supposedly dirty money for laundering and even arranged for a $160,000 kidney sale. * * * At the center of the stings by the FBI and the IRS was Solomon Dwek -- a real-estate developer busted in May 2006 for trying to rip off $50 million from PNC Bank through a check-kiting scheme. * * * Once flipped by the feds, the 36-year-old posed as a crooked businessman looking to launder proceeds from fraudulent bank loans or sales of fake designer handbags to accomplices who would launder the money through charities in the United States and Israel. They moved "at least tens of millions of dollars through charitable, nonprofit entities controlled by rabbis in New York and New Jersey," [acting US Attorney Ralph] Marra said.* * * Dwek, who ran a Deal, NJ, yeshiva that catered to Sephardic Jews, also offered to bribe officials to smooth the way for his real-estate projects. That phase of the ruse ensnared the politicians. * * * The investigation was described by the feds as "dual track," because the political corruption and laundering probes were separate.