The time has come to unmask Carol Mosely Braun. Even though she has been the darling of the media since her primary election victory, Mrs. Braun can run for office but she can’t hide from her tainted record.

She has made ethics a centerpiece of her campaign. Unfortunately, Carol doesn’t practice what she preaches! Carol can talk the talk of ethics. She has stated that, “Politicians should be held to a high standard, purer than Caesar’s wife.” In Springfield this year she said, “We’re setting new standards of ethics and accountability in government, and isn’t it about time that we can use the words ethics and accountability in the same sentence?” You can, but if you are talking about Mrs. Braun then you have to end the sentence with, NOT! Finally, at the masquerade ball known as the Democratic National Convention, the queen of spending stated that, “The people who serve in high places are the servants and not the masters of the people who elect them.”

Unfortunately for us, Carol can only talk the talk of ethics. Her tainted record shows that she can’t walk the walk.

As an attorney-legislator, Carol performed $100,000 in legal business for the city of Chicago that even she admitted she was unqualified for.

Carol has voted to raise her salary twice and when the Cook County Board of Commissioners denied her yet another pay raise, she claimed the board was a group of racists. Sorry Carol, better luck next time!

What will she do without another pay raise from our wallets and purses? Time for a plan. Instead of spending her time working for the people like she is well-paid to do, Carol went to her good friend Ethel Skyles, state senator. Carol’s accomplice, Senator Skyles, was rated the least effective senator last year, my what a coincidence.

In fact the only bill that Senator Skyler introduced last year that passed was a bill designed specifically to give her partner in crime, Carol Braun, a pay raise.

For this favor Carol pays well. Carol got Senator Skyles a second paycheck of $55,000 from the office of the Recorder of Deeds, headed by her good friend Carol. Now that’s a true friend!

To put it simply, Carol Braun rewards her friends well. The only problem is that the money she passes out like candy is the money that was taken out of your paychecks each week in taxes!

We have been victims of Carol Braun’s tricks and schemes. For our hard-earned tax dollars we got an overpaid, under-worked state senator who collects consultant fees and a similarly overpaid Recorder of Deeds named Carol Braun.

Just imagine what she could do with your money out in Washington. To send Carol Braun to the U.S. Senate would be like giving an unrestricted credit card to someone with a history of financial recklessness. Now that you have seen the true face of Carol Braun, isn’t the choice easier to make this year?

Kevin Hir

Political Science