The Economist - USA (2022-03-12)

22 United States The Economist March 12th 2022

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arnegievioletdog-fullerlivesa

happylifeinHollywood.Sheenjoys

munchingicecubesandlisteningto

SnoopDogg.Lifewasnotalwayssoeasy.

FoundasaninjuredstrayinSantaMon­

ica,shespenttimeina rescuecentre

beforebeingadoptedbyGreggandLind­

sayFullerlastyear.Theyreckonedshe

wasa FrenchBulldogmix.Butadnatest

revealedhertobemoreAmericanStaf­

fordshireTerrier(39%)thanFrench

Bulldog(24%),withsignificantPomera­

niangenes(16%).“Wewereshocked,”

admitsMrFuller.

Genealogywasoncethepreserveof

elitedogs.Theirbreederstakea special

interestinkeepingbloodlinespure,to

createnewchampionsandtoraisethe

pricesofpuppies.Nowcommonmutts

arehavingtheirpedigreestraced.Wis­

domPanel,a firmthattestspetdna, said

onMarch3rdthatitsdatabasehadex­

pandedto3manimals(over95%ofthem

dogs),upfrom1min2018.EmbarkVeteri­

nary,a similarfirmwhichhas1mdogsin

itsdatabase,wasvaluedat$700minJuly

aftera $75minvestment.

Duringthepandemic23mAmericans

adoptedpuppies,accordingtotheAmer­

icanSocietyforthePreventionofCruelty

toAnimals.RebeccaChodroffForan,

researchdirectoratWisdomPanel,

thinksthistrendhascollidedwithan­

other:thegrowthofhuman­dnabusi­

ness.Owners“nowconsidertheirpetsto

bekeymembersofthefamily”,shesays.

Animaldnatestsworkmuchlike

humanones.Theycomparegenetic

markerswitha databaseofpetswith

verifiedpedigrees,revealingcanine

lineageandpotentialhealthproblems.

Embarkclaims99.9%accuracy;Wisdom

Panelclaimsover98%.

Someownersarehorrifiedtodiscover

thattheircostlycrossbreedisinfacta

mixofentirelydifferentbreeds.But

ownersofadoptedandrescuedogs,

whichmakeup67%ofWisdomPanel’s

database,arekeentolearn.Murray,who

livesinNewYorkwithhisownerErica

Hyman,lookslikea JackRussellbutwith

uprightears.Heturnedouttobea mixof

23 breeds.“NowI justtellpeople‘He’s

justa dog!’,”saysMsHyman.

ChicoLopez,whobreedsAmerican

PitBullTerriers,thinksdnaisa decent

investmentformutts.Hecomparesthem

tosecond­handcars:“Youdon’tknowif

theenginecomesfroma Toyota,the

transmissionfroma Bugattiandthe

tyresfroma littlemotorcycle,soyou

needto...findoutwhatisgoingtobreak

first.”Butthosewantinga pureblood,he

says,shouldnotrelywhollyondna, as

reputablebreedersalreadyhaveaccurate

knowledgeofa dog’sancestors.

Ownersofadopteddogslikesearch­

ingforlong­lostkin.About12%ofdogs

onEmbark’sdatabasediscovera sibling,

parentoroffspring.And,aswithhuman

dnatesting,thereisthepossibilityof

stumblingona familysecret.Somedog

ownersarenowfindingthattheirsweet

poochfathereda litterinanotherstate

beforeabsconding.Pawform.

Genetictestsforpets

Sonof a bitch

Testingdogs’DNAisincreasinglypopular,andfullofsurprises

Onebigyappyfamily

Chicagolandpolitics

Fading of the

machine

I

s itcorrupttorecommendsomebody

for a job? That is the core of the case made

on  March  2nd  by  the  United  States  attor­

ney’s office in Chicago, which charged Mi­

chael  Madigan,  until  last  year  the  speaker

of  the  Illinois  House  of  Representatives,

with racketeering. Before he quit last year

Mr  Madigan  was  the  longest­serving

speaker in any statehouse in American his­

tory, having held the role for 36 years, from

1983  to  2021.  His  power  in  Springfield,  the

state  capital,  was  legendary.  Going  by  the

nickname  “the  velvet  hammer”,  he  could

make and break careers. “He was the most

powerful  figure  in  Illinois,”  says  Dick

Simpson,  a  political  scientist  at  the  Uni­

versity of Illinois in Chicago.

In  the  Land  of  Lincoln,  however,  such

power rarely comes without great respon­

sibility—in particular, to help out the peo­

ple who got you there. The indictment al­

leges that Mr Madigan used his position to

“cause various businesses to employ, con­

tract  with,  and  make  direct  and  indirect

monetary payments” to his political allies.

The  main  business  in  question  was

CommonwealthEdison, an electricity sup­

plier,  which  admitted  to  its  part  in  the

scheme  in  2020  and  paid  $200m  in  fines.

Mr Madigan denies the charges. He argues

that  “the  government  is  attempting  to

criminalise  a  routine  constituent  service:

job recommendations.”

The indictment is the biggest of several

cases unfolding at the moment in Chicago.

Edward  Burke,  a  veteran  alderman  (city

council  member),  is  due  to  go  on  trial  for

allegations  that  he  used  his  position  to

drum up business for his property­tax­ap­

peals law firm—also one of the allegations

against  Mr  Madigan.  Last  month  Patrick

Daley  Thompson,  another  alderman  and

the  nephew  and  grandson  respectively  of

the  two  Richard  Daleys  (Chicago’s  mayors

for  most  of  the  period  from  1955  to  2011),

was convicted of tax fraud, having written

off  interest  that  he  never  actually  paid  on

loans from a failed South Side bank. There

are also various corruption cases pending

in the city’s suburbs.

Some  hope  that  the  cases  signal  the

winding down of decades of patronage pol­

itics  in  Chicagoland.  Mr  Madigan  was  a

protégé  of  the  first  Daley,  who  used  his

power to distribute jobs to build up not just

local  but  national  power.  That  model

works less well these days, however, partly

thanks to a series of federal court rulings,

known  as  the  Shakman  Decrees,  which

banned  appointing  people  to  non­policy

jobs based on political loyalty. The number

of  jobs  in  the  Chicago  region  that  can  be

handed  out  to  allies  has  fallen  from  over

40,000  in  the  Daley  heyday  to  less  than

5,000 now, says Mr Simpson. Federal pros­

ecutors  jump  on  anything  that  resembles

the  old  style  of  politics.  “We’re  coming  to

the last gasp of the old machine,” he says.

Yet  even  as  Mr  Madigan  faces  trial,

some  are  raising  questions  about  the

state’s governor, J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire,

who  was  interviewed  as  a  witness  to  the

Madigan  case  by  the  fbi.  According  to

wbez,  a  Chicago  radio  station,  the  gover­

nor employed 35 people recommended by

the  former  speaker.  Among  Mr  Pritzker’s

projects  in  recent  years  has  been  to  at­

tempt  to  dismantle  federal  oversight  of

hiring. The machine may be stuttering,but

it has not yet stopped completely.n

CHICAGO

Signs that traditional political

patronage is in decline