Chicago Pays Out More in Lawsuits Than LA, Houston, Phoenix, Philly, and Dallas put together

The Chicago Reader reports:

Chicago pays out more than almost every other large city in the country. From January 2005 through June 2008, we paid about $230 million in settlements and judgments; Los Angeles, which has a larger population, paid about $77 million. Houston, with about 77 percent of our population, paid about 6 percent of what we did, about $14 million. Only New York, with about three times as many residents as Chicago, paid more, but its city government has a wider scope—it oversees jail and hospital systems, for instance. In Chicago those are the county’s responsibility.

Is Mayor Daley the man handing out the money? Guess again.It's Alderman Burke.The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

When city workers get hurt on the job, they usually turn to a handful of lawyers tied to City Hall.

And the city often fights back by hiring lawyers with ties to Ald. Edward M. Burke, chairman of the City Council Finance Committee, which has sole authority to settle workers compensation claims against the city.

Who slates all the judges in Cook County? None other than Alderman Burke. Who's got more money in his campaign fund than Mayor Daley and the 49 other Aldermen put together? Alderman Burke. Click on the link to watch Patrick Fitzgerald announce the John Burge indictment.