This week, Illinois Senate minority leader Christine Radogno, a Republican, reached for some inspired words during the state's heated budget battle: the rhymes of New York hip hop legends Wu-Tang Clan. It's not clear what the context of the debate was but she sounded pretty confident in its resonance.

Their advice to us is, 'the most precious thing in the world is the financial security and well-being of your family. You want to send your little ones to the best school and in the end you want to know you left them with peace of mind. Nowadays, we all know that cash rules everything around us, C.R.E.A.M., get the money, dolla dolla bill ya'll.'

Huh. Perhaps Radogno, a Republican, was trying to defend her party's anti-rap reputation following the Common controversy? We have no idea. But here's the track ("C.R.E.A.M." not "C.R.E.A.U." of Radogno's formulation) she's referencing:

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John Hudson