Mayor Daley Praises Convicted Felon Illinois Governor

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Mayor Richard Daley, seeking more cash for Chicago Public Schools and construction money for the CTA, sounded Tuesday as though he's longing for the good old days of Gov. George Ryan.

Though the mayor declined to single out Gov. Rod Blagojevich or any particular legislator for criticism at the lack of progress in Springfield on those two fronts, Daley did concede more business got done under Ryan, the former Republican governor whose felony-conviction appeal the U.S. Supreme Court rejected earlier in the day.

"He understood that infrastructure is always important the first day you arrive, because he had the experience in government, and he always knew it was important," Daley said of Ryan. "And people trusted him, they did."