Lynne Kiesling
The big story in Chicago for the past few days has been the FBI storming of Alderman Arenda Troutman’s office to arrest her on bribery charges. Chicago politics always has some aspect of theater to it, and this instance is no exception.
But what is exceptional is her frank honesty:
Troutman, 49, was caught on video and on a wire talking frankly about taking bribes and other misdeeds, authorities said.
“Well the thing is, most aldermen, most politicians are ho’s,” Troutman allegedly said. At another point, court documents indicate, she boldly asked of a potential developer, “What do I get out of it?”
It’s not often that we have such a direct datum that is so consistent with public choice models of lobbying and influence …