Who Else Could Lie About a Hiring Freeze but The Government?

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Almost 1,300 people were added to the Cook County payroll in the months after Cook County Board President John Stroger suffered a stroke that left him incapacitated and unable to run county government.

Stroger's campaign manager and his chief of staff's daughter were among those added to the payroll -- even amid a hiring freeze -- while more than a dozen others who were hired have ties to powerful political machines, records show.

But the idea of a "hiring freeze" is a bit misleading, county officials admit, as positions continue to be regularly filled, provided officials show they have a "critical" need.

Hiring peaked with 829 employees added to the payroll in May and June, compared with 344 in the same months last year, according to records obtained by an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request.

Since the county's fiscal year began in December, records show, leaders of the cash-strapped government found $41 million available to fund 1,648

Attention Moody's and Standard and Poor's do you really believe the financial data Cook County gives you?