Over the weekend, the Tribune offered a fairly helpful run-down of an issue that has left many Democrats scratching their heads in recent weeks -- the public disagreement between Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and State Sen. Debbie Halvorson over the proposed third airport in Chicago's south suburbs. While the article didn't delve deep into all the recent accusations, it did explain the basic disagreement:
Halvorson and Jackson agree a south suburban airport would be an economic engine for the region. But Jackson wants mayors from Cook, Will and Kankakee Counties to sit on an airport board. Halvorson trumpets "local control," shunning all Cook County representation.
More importantly, the Tribune reports on how Halvorson's GOP congressional opponent, Marty Ozinga, has been milking the intra-party spat: "trying to be all things to all sides":
[Ozinga] has seized on the conflict and appears to be trying to be all things to all sides. Ozinga said Friday he favors a revised version of Halvorson's airport plan and opposes Jackson's version, but also pushed Jackson's allegations about Rezko.
"When fellow Democrats are making serious allegations that Halvorson did Rezko's bidding, those allegations need to be taken seriously," Ozinga said.
Ozinga's fellow Republicans say they developed Halvorson's airport legislation, which is stalled in the House.
"I've spoken with [Ozinga's] office and basically outlined our process from June of '05 to the present, as I understand it, to make sure he's aware of how the legislation was developed," said Jim Roolf, who is a Republican and chairs the Will County Center for Economic Development business labor coalition.
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