“Are they helping me make money? Yeah.”

-Democratic Party Contributor John Simmons
St. Louis Post Dispatch
February 19, 2005

Although not identified specifically in the Dispatch article, one has to wonder who Democrat powerbroker John Simmons is referring to when he asks and answers "Are they helping me make money.? Yeah".

The article points out that after giving state Dems more than $900,000 (including $28,000 directly to "Friends of Blagojevich"), the governor allocated $3 million towards a new stadium in Marion "that would become the property of Metro East lawyer John Simmons." Said Simmons in the article,"I want to avoid the appearance of impropriety".

Helps explain a little bit more about the deep friendship among the "Friends of Blagojevich".