Well, the Illinois/Blago/Burris political landscape once again looks a little different this Monday morning than it did even last Friday afternoon. Over the past 24 hours, it seems that U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is signaling he has reduced his reliance on the technical signature requirements of the U.S. Senate (which previously was an unbroken rule that simply couldn't be overlooked) and may now decide that Secretary of State Jesse White's signature on just about any document will do. Yet another about-face for Durbin, who really must be getting dizzy.
But this spells woe for the Illinois Dems, who will be not only dealing with the political fallout from the disgraced governor for years to come (just as the GOP was saddled with George Ryan), but will also face the generally unwelcome situation of having Roland Burris (who not only hasn't won a public election for years, but will be forever known as "Blago's pick") at the top of the Dems' ticket in 2010. And whose fault is that, you ask? Well, the Illinois GOP is poised to make sure voters don't forget.
So, the latest gambit in the Illinois Dems' desperate attempts to shift and escape blame for allowing Governor Rod Blagojevich to appoint the replacement to Barack Obama's senate seat is Michael Madigan's claim that "had a bill gone to the governor's desk providing for a special election, Blagojevich would have vetoed the bill, made his appointment and then there'd be a matter of a motion to override in the legislature. But the appointment would have been made."
The Chicago Tribune, at least, seems determined not to let the Illinois Dem leadership, especially Durbin, off the hook, and continues its call for a special election. But, we must be fair to Roland Burris, some say! The Tribune thinks being fair to the citizens of Illinois is a bit more important, and I whole-heartedly agree.
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4 comments:
TA,
I agree with the Trib. But there are far too others interested in protecting Madigan and company for this whole fiasco. Bottom line is THEY (Madigan as co-chair and ALL the other DEMS that ran with Rod in 2006) should be held accountable.
It was in 2006 that both Speaker Madigan and Senate Prez Emil Jones agreed to a closed budget hearing. When I state closed, I refer to the fact that NO REPUBLICAN was allowed to be a part of the budget process approved by the House, the Senate and the Governor. Why is this important?
Because it was at this meeting that the new budget, including $650MILLION dollars in UNALLOCATED pork spending was approved.
What is UNALLOCATED? It refers to the fact that the Dem's $650 MILLION in pork is HIDDEN FROM THE TAXPAYERS. They refused to show WHERE THE MONEY WAS GOING.
Repeated FOIA requests from Senate Republicans were refused. I believe (but may stand corrected) that the Senate may have even gone to court over the matter.
WHY DO I BRING THIS UP? Because if the DEMS refuse to tell us where the $650 MILLION WAS SPENT, then is it not possible it was spent TO GET THEIR TICKET (FROM BLAGO TO MADIGAN TO GIANNOULIS TO HYNES) RE-ELECTED using taxpayer dollars?
I believe it is more than just a "possibility" - more than likely a reality. SO THAT MY FRIENDS IS THE FIRST BAILOUT. A BAILOUT TO A PARTY THAT COMPROMISED THE FISCAL INTEGRITY OF THE STATE IN ORDER TO GET GOVERNOR ROD BLAGOJEVICH RE-ELECTED DESPITE INVESTIGATIONS INTO HIS OFFICE THAT STARTED IMMEDIATELY UPON HIS ARRIVAL IN 2003.
And now they claim, "I can't recall the last time I spoke to him...I have not talked to him in over 2 years"....yeah, yeah, yeah
What Illinois needs is top quality reporters willing to do research and confront the Mike Madigans, Emil Jones' and Lisa Madigans of the world. Any takers???
The trib stinks, to their credit, Democratic bloggers sometimes do a better job at digging up dirt up than the trib does. The dems have a hack outfit run by a former Charles Schumer staffer named Melanie Sloan called the Citzens for Ethics Watch CREW in d.c.
Outside of John Kass the paper is a waste of dead tree. Way too much Obama oogling and populist stuff.
The Democrats who control the Illinois General Assembly could have taken the high road and enacted legislation calling for a special election. Then allow Blagojevich to veto it or sign it depending upon his mood swings.
If anything, a Blagojevich veto would have given the Senate some additional arguments to avoid seating a Blagojevich appointee.
But the Democratic leadership of the Illinois General Assembly elected to avoid the high road. And they have no one to blame but themselves.
Those who called for a special election then backed away from it (such as Durbin and Quinn) too had a chance to take the high road by sticking to their initial positions no matter what. They backed away and elected to travel down a different low road.
Only Democrat Jesse White stuck to his guns by refusing to sign a single piece of paper. He kept his word.
And for his principled stand, Jesse White got thrown under the bus by his fellow Democrats. Blagojevich style.
Oof!
Louis G. Atsaves
King Louis,
When you get your ass kicked, in business, law or politics, you learn what the other side did right, you did wrong and what you should do for the future.
Mark Kirk nearly joined every other moderate GOP congressman in retirement because the democrats tagged him as George W. Kirk, it is high time now to bring it in asking how serious a reformer Karen May, Nekritz, Garrett, Link, Schoenberg, and every other one of those coots can seriously be if they supported blago and are in their party.
This isn't 2006 when people hate the gop, they are willing to listen and we have to sing them the sweet tune of how awful these blago-buddy legislators are.
FOKLAES
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