* 9:33 pm - The House impeachment committee will publish its report to the full chamber at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning. The report will be the “introduced version,” and possibly subject to amendments. It’ll be on this web page.
* 6:04 pm - Roundup. First, the committee has issued another subpoena…
A panel of Illinois lawmakers considering the impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich ordered his campaign committee to turn over the names of every donor and the amount of money involved. […]
The subpoena requires Blagojevich’s campaign to disclose details about every contribution received from July 1 to Dec. 31
The governor’s lawyers are fighting the release of the surveillance tape snippets…
In a filing today, Gov. Blagojevich’s lawyers say they object to the release of the recordings to a house impeachment panel. The recordings are part of a federal investigation into the governor. Attorney Ed Genson said he will make his arguments against the release at a later date.
Attorney Edward Genson informed U.S. District Chief Judge James Holderman of his objection late Wednesday, whether they are redacted in any way or not, and indicated he would outline the objection in writing by Jan 20. […]
A lawyer for Monk, identified in the materials as an unindicted interceptee, said he would “preserve all potential objections,” and would like to see the documents that led to the taping. An attorney for Rob Blagojevich said he would likely be making a motion to suppress the statements, but also needs to see documents including the application for the intercepts to make a determination.
An attorney for Johnston filed a response indicating Johnston does not object to the tapes being released.
* 4:28 pm - I told subscribers about this potential move. But they can’t ask you questions if you don’t show up…
Illinois lawmakers are once again meeting to talk about impeaching Governor Rod Blagojevich, but the embattled governor’s lawyers are not.
Blagojevich’s legal team of Chicago attorneys Ed Genson and Sam Adam Jr. did not give a reason for skipping the start of the fourth week of impeachment proceedings against Blagojevich.
But some lawmakers say they wanted to ask Adam Jr. about his now revealed role as a go-between for the governor and U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris.
* 3:54 pm - Former IG Z Scott’s report is now posted on the impeachment committee’s page at the General Assembly’s website. You can find it by clicking here.
* 2:45 PM - Listen or watch here. Not sure if CNN is gonna have the feed, but the Tribune has often carried it live. The hearing begins at 3, and as noted below, it should be interesting. I’ll be in attendance for at least a while, so I’m not sure how much I’ll be live-blogging. It’ll be up to you.
The response makes it clear that the Secretary of State has done everything he is legally required to do regarding the Burris appointment. […]
Instead, what is at issue here is a form that is not required by law, but is merely “recommended” by a Rule of the U.S. Senate. Moreover, a U.S. Senate Rule cannot impose a legal obligation on the Illinois Secretary of State.
Standing Rule II of the U.S. Senate provides, “The Secretary of the Senate shall send copies of the following recommended forms to the governor and secretary of state of each State wherein an election is about to take place or an appointment is to be made so that they may use such forms if they see fit.” (Emphasis added.)
In contrast, when the U.S. Senate creates a mandatory requirement for a Secretary of State’s signature and seal, they enact a law, and they have not done so in this case.
For example, under federal law, when a U.S. Senator is elected, the State must certify the election under state seal, and the law explicitly requires that the certification of election “shall be countersigned by the secretary of state of the State.” 2 U.S.C. §§ 1(a), (b).
There is no law requiring the Secretary of State to sign a “recommended” form of the U.S. Senate.
The decision to treat the U.S. Senate’s “recommended” form as a legal requirement is a decision of the U.S. Senate. It remains up to the U.S. Senate to seat Mr. Burris.
By the way, Reid said at his press conference that the Senate rule in question has never been waived in the history of the US Senate.
Also, keep in mind that the IL Supreme Court hasn’t uttered a word one way or the other as of yet. They could step in and force a resolution, or they could take the Madigan/White advice and declare there is no legal issue here and punt as well. The other option is just to stay low and hope the heat blows over before they have to make a decision. They’ve already ruled in favor of Blagojevich once (when they rejected AG Madigan’s petition to have him removed from office). You wonder how far they’ll go for the guy.
…Adding… As someone just pointed out to me, this will require Harry Reid to devise yet another way to cave in to Roland Burris. As mentioned above, Reid said the Senate rule has never been waived, but if the Supremes go along with White’s logic, then White will never have to sign the appointment form. Reid will then have to backpedal some more to get this issue off his back. And he’ll look even weaker and more duplicitous. We’ll have to wait and see what the Supremes do.
…Adding again… It appears Ben and I are anonymously crediting each other for the “Reid will have to find another excuse to cave in to Burris” line. lol
On Dec. 30, after Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris to the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid and assistant leader Dick Durbin of Illinois said no, plain and simple.
They declared, “Anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic caucus.”
After…
Said Durbin, after he and Reid smiled for photos with Burris at the Capitol: “I think it was important that the United States Senate say — and we did, as a Democratic caucus unanimously — that we were going to carefully scrutinize and review the process by which this Senate seat would be filled if Governor Blagojevich was involved, and that’s what happened.”
Blagojevich is from Chicago, and some say that city is a breeding ground for corruption. But Bill Daley, brother of Chicago’s current mayor and a former commerce secretary under Bill Clinton, says the real problem lies to the south in the state’s capital.
“It is more about Springfield and not about Chicago,” Daley told me. “Springfield is away from the big city, there is not a lot of press down there, it is incestuous — all one club — and can be a cesspool.”
* The Question: Is he right or wrong, or what? Explain fully.
On Monday night, on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight,” State Rep. Patti Bellock, a Republican from Woodridge and a member of the House Impeachment Inquiry, put a spotlight on it. Bellock said that while Blagojevich fiddles with the feds, a state of crisis is building in this state when it comes to critical health care and health providers.
Bellock said a doctor called her office six weeks ago. “She was in tears” saying the state was $200,000 behind in Medicaid payments to her family clinic and that soon they may have to close their doors.
When that call came in, Bellock said, she called Blagojevich’s office. “It was two days before the governor was arrested,” Bellock recalled later. “I talked to one of his aides” but the aide quickly quit or took a leave of absence after his boss was taken into FBI custody. Just one of too many examples of how state government has been frozen by this scandal. “The chain of communication is broken,” she said.
Another of Bellock’s regular calls comes from the COACH Care Center in Naperville. COACH stands for Coordinating Action for Children’s Health.
“We take care of medically fragile children,” CEO Debbie Grisko said by phone Tuesday. “Children with trachs, ventilators, feeding tubes.”
Seventy-eight percent of Grisko’s clients live at or below the poverty level — families from Champaign to the Wisconsin border, who can’t keep their kids in hospitals forever and who need help learning how to care for them at home.
“Our bills are five months behind in being paid,” Grisko said. And the irony, she points out, is that her agency estimates it actually saved the state $4.6 million in the last year by helping children transition into home care and out of more expensive facilities.
And it’s gonna get much, much worse.
The state is simply running out of money. It may not even be able to make payroll in a couple of months, from what I’m getting.
I think if I was Rod Blagojevich I’d resign even if I hadn’t been arrested. The calamaties ahead will be severe and there will be no way on God’s Earth to simply cut our way out of this problem.
* The best thing the Obama administration could do on its stimulus plan is to eliminate the state and local match for capital projects. Illinois doesn’t have the money to capture the $9 billion already out there, let alone the new projects.
A proposal to increase the motor fuel tax by a modest 8 cents a gallon for transporation projects only has drawn howls of derision in southern Illinois, the home of the bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Rep. John Bradley…
Sure, gas is selling today for less than $1.70 per gallon in many locations across Southern Illinois, but does anyone really believe that will last for an appreciable length of time? The production cuts now being made by our “friends” in OPEC and the other oil-rich nations are destined to drive the barrel price of oil upward - which will affect the price at the gas pump.
What in the world was Bradley thinking? The impact of another 80 cents for a 10-gallon purchase may be inconsequential for upper-income motorists, but it would impose an unfair burden on the people who need wheels to travel between the several part-time and minimum-wage jobs that sustain a growing number of struggling, hard-working people.
“I think the whole pricing system is a sham,” Goines said. “I totally disagree with a new gas tax.”
The Reagan/Blagojevich/Bush/Etc. way has been to tell people that they can get lots of neato stuff for nothing. Well, them days is over. Somebody has to pay.
And the motor fuel tax is just the beginning.
Welcome to the governor’s office, Pat Quinn. Have a nice day.
The focus turns back to Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday as a House committee weighing his political fate delves into alleged hiring irregularities and prepares for a crucial stretch that may culminate in his impeachment by week’s end. […]
At the heart of the impeachment committee’s look at hiring irregularities is a confidential 2004 report by the governor’s handpicked executive inspector general, said House Majority Leader Barbara Currie (D-Chicago), the panel’s chairwoman.
The report, which the Tribune disclosed as Blagojevich ran for re-election in 2006, concluded that his patronage office was the “real machine driving hiring” in a state agency for jobs that were supposed to be free of political influence.
“This effort reflects not merely an ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law,” according to the report written by Zaldwaynaka Scott, who was Blagojevich’s first executive inspector general.
The hearing begins today at 3 o’clock. Don’t miss it.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s official calendar shows he met with a top union official in his Chicago office the day before Barack Obama was elected president — just as federal prosecutors say the governor was scheming to trade Obama’s Senate seat, possibly for a cushy union job.
The meeting with Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, also was attended by Tom Balanoff, president of the Illinois chapter of the union, which has been Blagojevich’s largest campaign contributor. […]
Prosecutors allege one of Blagojevich’s plans was to use his power to appoint a Senate replacement for Obama to get a high-paying job with “Change to Win,” an SEIU-affiliated political action group.
That’s actually only part of the story. The criminal complaint reveals snippets of recordings that show the governor was allegedly trying to cut a “three-way” deal with Obama and SEIU, but only two parts of the three were ever revealed.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was preparing to issue an executive order prior to his arrest last week that would have allowed union organizing of home-care workers that could have benefited a labor union with close ties to the governor. […]
The executive order would have enabled the SEIU or another union to organize about 1,200 workers in the state who care for developmentally disabled people in their homes and would have augmented one signed by the governor in 2003, said Michelle Ringuette, an SEIU spokeswoman. […]
Ms. Ringuette said the SEIU was aware of the executive order but didn’t know what role, if any, the union played in developing it. She said other unions would have been able to organize the workers as well. But a rival union said it was unaware of the order, while SEIU staffers and outside experts say the SEIU had already begun actively seeking the support of workers. […]
Charlotte Cronin, executive director of Family Support Network of Illinois, a Peoria-based advocacy group for the developmentally disabled, confirmed that union organizers knocked on doors this past summer, and that some relatives of the disabled found them “overly persistent.” She said the union, which she believed to be SEIU, was able to get home addresses because they are a matter of public record.
Curious.
Keep in mind, however, that SEIU flatly denies any deals were ever made. This could’ve just been all in the governor’s head, for all we know.
*** 12:20 PM *** I suppose now would be a good time to point out how wrong I was about the US Senate Democrats. I thought they might have more backbone. Wrong. I also thought that the national media wouldn’t be such a bunch of easily manipulated goofs who would fall for Rod Blagojevich’s blatant racial play. Wrong again. In fact, they seemed to enjoy reveling in the goofiness.
*** 11:36 AM *** I missed much of the presser because I had no cable, but this seems like a good enough summary from the Washington Post…
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), following a meeting with Burris this morning, praised Burris as “candid” and “forthright” and seemed to lay out a two-pronged path by which the former state attorney general could end up in the Senate.
The first is for the Illinois state Supreme Court to rule on whether or not Burris can be seated without Secretary of State Jesse White signing the certification of his appointment. (White, for his part, appears to be distancing himself from his decision not to sign the certificate — arguing he was never opposed to Burris.)
The second is that Burris appear before the state legislature to answer questions about any and all of his ties to embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich who appointed Burris to the post. Burris is scheduled to do so tomorrow.
“Once that’s done, we will be in a different position,” said Reid.
The Democrats have been desperate to make Roland Burris’s Senate appointment about Rod Blagojevich and not about Burris, himself. If this is about Burris, then the Dems will appear to be picking on an elderly African-American. Not good.
Still, those of us who know him best have an obligation to point out that Burris isn’t quite the elder statesman that the Democrats anbd the national media are making him out to be. For instance, here’s Mark Brown…
[Burris is] proud and pigheaded and wants this one last star on his chest so badly that he is similarly delusional.
“By accepting the appointment, you are supporting the governor,” said Jay Stewart, director of the watchdog Better Government Association. “You are allowing him to exercise his authority and show up the rest of the world.”
In our view, anyone who would accept anything from Blagojevich at this point automatically exhibits a serious lack of judgment. Burris’ acceptance of this appointment in particular — knowing it was opposed by the Senate, virtually everyone in Illinois and even the man whose historic election created the vacancy — exemplifies such a lack of judgment. […]
If Burris didn’t know when he accepted Blagojevich’s offer that all of this would happen, then he lacks the minimal foresight we expect from any competent public official. If he knew this would happen and accepted anyway, all the worse.
[Mary] Kenney, an attorney for the Cook County Public Guardian, said Tuesday that Burris’ acceptance of Gov. Blagojevich’s appointment “brings to mind how, in the Cruz case, Mr. Burris failed to realize the ethical obligations of a criminal prosecutor and how, now he again fails to recognize the difference between right and wrong. . . . There is a cloud over his appointment. He should have declined it.”
Ultimately, Cruz was acquitted. By then, DNA evidence linked Brian Dugan to the murder. Dugan, who is serving a life sentence for two other similar murders, is now awaiting trial in that case. […]
Attorney Lawrence Marshall, one of the lawyers who helped obtain Cruz’s acquittal in 1995 and who is now a professor at Stanford Law School, said in a separate interview, “Then and now, this is really the same person and the same behavior, which is that — although I don’t think Roland Burris is an evil man — I do think his career has been about one thing and one only — the advancement of Roland Burris.”
Marshall said that in the Cruz case, Burris “lied to the public . . . and refused to take responsibility one way or another. He came up with a bogus story that it wasn’t his job to decide whether to prosecute the appeal. Now, he is acting consistently — he is saying, ‘I don’t care. I’m not going to worry about what’s right. I’m going to worry about what’s best for Roland Burris.’”
* And Brown had this stark warning for African-Americans who are backing Burris’ bid…
For those who see this as a matter of racial pride for the African-American community, let me point out that in taking the seat for the next two years, Roland Burris is destroying any chance of an African American holding it during the following decade.
In the first place, he’s not going to get elected. Most Illinois voters wanted nothing more to do with him before this, and now he’s finished. But he’s going to run anyway because his ego is so big, and in the process, he’ll keep any another African American from getting through the 2010 primary.
That’s the certain math of racial politics in Illinois, the only state in modern history to elect two African Americans to the Senate and certainly capable of making it three with the right candidate.
Since the 17th Amendment established procedures for filling vacancies in 1913, only 60 of the 180 men and women appointed to the Senate — an even one-third ratio — have won the next election in their own right, according to records kept by the Senate.
Of the remaining 120, 63 did not run, 56 ran and lost, and one, South Carolina’s Alva Moore Lumpkin, died two weeks after his appointment in 1941.
While a slim majority of appointed senators who sought election did win, their success rate pales in comparison to the overall incumbent-retention record in the Senate, with a low of 64 percent and a high of 96.9 percent in the 25 elections dating back to 1960.
The Illinois General Assembly must act this month to restore $9.25 million in restricted funds “swept” to pay state bills or risk losing millions in federal dollars for fish and wildlife management.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office a letter Dec. 19 stating that any transfer of hunting and fishing license fees to pay other state expenses would be violate federal law.
With Gov. Blagojevich facing impeachment, Mayor Daley is trying to engineer a political end-run around Springfield when it comes to Chicago’s share of the $800 billion economic stimulus plan being crafted by President-elect Barack Obama.
Representatives and an attorney for the union representing Republic employees said that they hope the NLRB will order Gillman to return the machinery to the Chicago plant, facilitating the potential reopening of the factory under a new owner. Members of Gillman’s family formed a new company, Echo Windows, which bought a windows-manufacturing plant in Red Oak, Iowa, shortly before the Chicago plant closed.
“The union is asking the board to demand, among other things, the return of the machinery, the clients and the jobs to Chicago,” said Laurie Burgess, the attorney filing the charges. “The workers at Republic are standing up for their rights and demanding a stake in their future.”
The head of Chicago’s Federation of Labor is bracing for the possibility of more layoffs in city government. That’s after Mayor Richard Daley Tuesday opened the door to additional job cuts as the economy continues to sour.
Since October, Chicago-area homeless shelters have reported increases of anywhere from 5 percent to 39 percent in people needing immediate housing, compared with the same time the previous year. The number of homeless students enrolled by Chicago Public Schools in November was 9,132—up 28 percent compared with November 2007, a spokeswoman said.
The father of a Chicago alderman wept moments before he was sentenced to 4 years in prison Tuesday for his role in a fake ID ring operating from inside his Little Village photo studio.
“If I did something wrong, I’m sorry; forgive me,” Elias Munoz, father of Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd), said in a mixture of Spanish and English.
Prosecutors alleged that the elder Munoz took in at least $180,000 a year for about 13 years snapping pictures for phony driver’s licenses and other documents.
Last winter, Cook County Highway Department maintenance employees called in sick, took vacation or paid time off on the same days they earned overtime compensation, a Chicago Sun-Times review of payroll records shows.
On February 1, for instance, three employees at the LaGrange Park garage worked seven hours overtime and also were paid sick or vacation time for their regular shift. Each of those workers were compensated for 18.5 hours that day.
The bleached-white streets of Chicago over the last few decades would seem to indicate Mayor Daley heeded the lesson former Mayor Michael Bilandic learned the hard way in 1979: Chicagoans want their streets salted and plowed immediately after the snow falls.
* 11:42 am - I suppose it’s the least the governor can do for his newest (and perhaps most effective) human shield…
Now that Roland Burris has been turned away from the Senate, where will he hang his hat?
Since Burris has not been sworn in as a senator, he doesn’t have an office in the Russell, Dirksen or the Hart Senate Office Buildings that house the nation’s 100 senators and support staff.
But will have a Capitol Hill view if he chooses.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has offered Burris space in the state’s Washington office, which rests at the foot of Capitol Hill.
CNN has updated its post…
Update: A Burris associate tells CNN that Burris rejected Blagojevich’s offer to use his office space.
* 12:08 pm - Not a lot of news from hizzoner, but I’ll post it anyway…
But in a clear reference to the federal corruption charges and impeachment proceedings against the governor, [Mayor Daley] added that Burris “has a cloud over him because of the uncertainty in Springfield.”
And…
Daley also said he has no preference in the coming election to select a new congressman as a replacement for Rahm Emanuel, the new White House chief of staff. The mayor said he doubted that he would endorse anyone in the special election for the 5th Congressional District.
* 12:15 pm - Roland Burris will testify to the House impeachment committee Thursday at 3 o’clock. So, it appears our Senator-Designate is coming home soon.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) broke with her party’s leadership Tuesday in calling for Roland Burris to be seated in the Senate once his paperwork is signed by the Illinois secretary of state.
[Sigh] Didn’t Feinstein sign the letter to Blagojevich warning him that whomever he appointed wouldn’t be seated?
And Republicans are taking full advantage of a bad situation…
Congressional Black Caucus members and Feinstein – along with some senior Senate Republicans — are siding with Burris’ fight to be seated.
* 12:44 pm - Not that anyone cares what the rest of the country thinks, but here you go…
A majority of Americans say Roland Burris should be blocked from taking a U.S. Senate seat and Illinois should hold a special election to fill the vacancy he was appointed to fill, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. […]
Interest in the dispute is high — six in 10 are following it closely — and support for Burris is scant. By nearly 2-1, 51% to 27%, those surveyed say the Senate should block him from taking his seat. A similar majority, 52%, say Illinois should hold a special election as soon as possible to fill the office.
* 12:47 pm - I’ll post this as soon as I get a copy…
In a formal affidavit, Roland Burris says he had only one limited conversation with Governor Rod Blagojevich before accepting his appointment as a U.S. senator. […]
Burris says he was approached by a Blagojevich attorney about taking the Senate post on Friday, December 26. Two days later, he accepted the appointment in a phone call with the governor.
* 12:56 pm - Statement from the governor…
“The people of Illinois are entitled to be represented by two senators in the United States Senate. As governor, it is my duty and obligation to appoint a senator when there is a vacancy. I have done that by appointing Roland Burris, a good and decent man with a long history of public service in Illinois. Any allegations against me should not be held against him and especially not the people of Illinois,” Governor Rod R. Blagojevich said.
* 12:59 pm - To read Roland Burris’ affidavit, click here.
* 1:03 pm - According to the Burris affidavit, he was approached by Sam Adam, Jr., the governor’s criminal lawyer. After speaking with some lawyers, including former prosecutors, I think that’s gonna open up a huge can of worms on attorney/client privilege for both Adam and Blagojevich.
* 1:12 pm - 5th Congressional District Democratic candidate Tom Geoghegan has been getting a lot of favorable write-ups on the Left side of Blogistan, and he now has a recommended diary at DKos.
* 1:20 pm - US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke about Burris on the floor today…
And Burris almost walked into traffic this morning…
In case you missed it, here’s Burris’ presser…
* 1:46 pm - From the Belleville News-Democrat’s editorial page…
Poor Burris, he’s so impressed with his own self-importance he can’t see that he’s just a distraction from fellow Democrat Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s trouble with the law.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich could be out of a job by Feb. 4. That’s according to a tentative timeline taking shape among some state lawmakers, who are moving toward impeaching the scandal-plagued chief executive in the coming days.
A special House panel is expected to recommend later this week that the 52-year-old Democrat be impeached. If the full House follows suit, the Senate could start its trial of Blagojevich on Jan. 26.
I told subscribers about the Senate start date the other day. I figured two weeks, but they’re apparently gonna run this thing on a compressed schedule…
State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, said lawmakers have been advised that the impeachment trial in the Senate could take at least nine days, minus one Sunday, putting Feb. 4 in the cross hairs as Blagojevich’s possible final day in office if the Senate finds him guilty.
’’If it’s any longer than that, it won’t be much,’’ said Rutherford, a member of a special Senate committee drafting rules for the Senate impeachment trial.
Be patient. That’s just four weeks from now.
The Senate committee met in Chicago for two hours on Monday to decide how it will carry out the trial. It will also meet Friday in hopes of having all the rules determined by the time the new legislature is sworn in on Jan. 14.
They’ll start taking pleadings and motions on the 14th, maybe the 15th. This thing is gonna wrap up quick.
* Also, this is a pretty good projection for the House’s schedule…
Rep. Jim Durkin of Western Springs, the ranking Republican on the impeachment committee, said Monday that he thinks “we can do both (the committee and House votes) on Friday,”
Plus…
The revised schedule also means the committee should be able to hear from Roland Burris, selected last week by Blagojevich to fill Illinois’ vacant U.S. Senate seat. The committee had subpoenaed Burris to appear Wednesday to explain the circumstances surrounding his selection. Blagojevich was arrested in federal corruption charges for allegedly trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder.
Burris told the committee he can’t appear until Thursday. The new schedule should accommodate that.
That could be interesting, particularly if they get into some of the stuff mentioned in this post.
* Related…
* What might be on the secret Blagojevich tapes - Conversations involved a bill that diverted Illinois casino revenue to the horse racing industry
* A commenter posted a memo about this ethics training session on the blog yesterday. I meant to frontpage it, but forgot. The Tribune had a piece about the subject today…
As legislators weigh impeaching Gov. Rod Blagojevich and federal prosecutors prepare to indict him on corruption charges, his acting chief of staff and a deputy governor will be keynote speakers Wednesday at an “Ethics in the Workplace” seminar for some 200 state employees.
The governor’s acting chief of staff, Clayton Harris III, is new to his post; his predecessor, John Harris, was arrested the same day as the governor and resigned Dec. 12. Deputy Gov. Dean Martinez started his job a month ago.
But is it wrong for any members of the Blagojevich administration to instruct state workers on ethics?
“That’s a real tough question, but … I don’t see the irony really,” said Rev. Tim Fiala, executive director of University of Illinois at Chicago’s Integritas Institute, an ethics forum.
Ha! The irony is that the director of the Integritas Institute didn’t catch the irony in the memo. Hilarious. Only in Illinois, baby. Only in Illinois.
Don’t miss the fantastic speakers and great round table discussion! You will receive continuing education credits and you will pay no registration fee. The seminar will be simulcast throughout the state so you will be able to watch it at a location near you!
This will be Illinois’ first multi-agency, simulcast ethics seminar.
View the 2009 brochure including agenda.
Featured Speakers and Round Table Participants:
Dean Martinez, Deputy Governor
Clayton K. Harris III, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Governor
J. Dennis Hastert, former United States Speaker of the House of Representatives
Anne M. Burke, Illinois Supreme Court Justice of the First District
Rodger A. Heaton, United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois
James A. Wright, - Illinois Executive Inspector General
Sydney R. Roberts, - First Deputy Illinois Executive Inspector General/Chief Operating Officer
James M. Brennan, Illinois Ethics Commission Member and Director of Compliance for Reyes Holdings, L.L.C.
Michelle T. McVicker, Special Agent in Charge USDOT-OIG Chicago Office
John (Jack) B. Tieder, Senior Partner in the law firm of Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, L.L.P.
James E. Wolfe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Knight Engineers & Architects.
* Speaking of ethics, Abner Mikva makes some excellent points today…
A half century ago, Paul Simon, Anthony “Tony” Scariano and I introduced an ethics bill in the state legislature. We ignored the callous boast of Paul “Shoebox” Powell—then the Illinois speaker of the House who was found after his death in 1970 to have had more than three-quarters of a million dollars in cash stuffed in a shoebox and other containers in his hotel room in Springfield—that “You can’t pass an ethics law I can’t beat.” It didn’t matter: We couldn’t get the bill out of committee.
On Jan. 1, a strong ethics bill took effect in Illinois and that’s good. But I’m beginning to wonder whether Powell had a point. […]
Unfortunately, even if all the ethics laws that have been proposed over the years had been in place, they at best would have added an extra count to the criminal indictments of a Blagojevich or a Ryan. Keeping such disasters from happening is much harder than just passing ethics laws.
But he adds…
We had better become more thoughtful about our partners: A nice hairdo or a firm handshake ought not be enough.
The media is just as culpable here. The Tribune, for instance, portrayed Glenn Poshard as the unethical bad guy in 1998 because he bent some of his self-imposed contribution limits. Rod Blagojevich was able to get away with smearing both Jim Ryan and Judy Baar Topinka with his dinky little charges.
Yes, most political reporters did their best to expose Blagojevich in 2006, and it wasn’t enough. Voters deserve the lion’s share of the blame.
But, in the future, we all need to look at the big picture.
* Mikva also came out forcefully for contribution limits, a sentiment echoed by the SJ-R editorial board…
Federal elections have shown that campaign contribution limits are no panacea. Outside interest groups circumvent them. Candidates enlist fundraisers to package together groups of people willing to contribute the maximum together, a practice known as bundling. Those who bundle probably get their phone calls returned pretty quickly when they have an issue that a senator, congressman or the president has to weigh in on.
Nevertheless, limiting campaign contributors to a dollar amount might stem the pigs-at-the-trough campaign finance mentality that has flourished under Blagojevich and is central to his alleged crimes.
Congress has proved Paul Powell right time and time again. they’ll always find a way around reforms, but I’m wondering if you think limits will do any good.
* 10:24 am - Attention national media: In addition to the stories below about Roland Burris’ not-so-great past, the Daily Herald has dived into the vault and come up with a few other stories. I’ve reformatted the piece a bit, so go read the whole thing…
* Feb. 2, 1992: Burris borrowed $28,200 from his campaign fund - A spokesman for Burris said the Chicago Democrat used the money to increase his state pension benefits.
* Feb. 4, 1985: Burris firm linked to probe of school - Illinois Comptroller Roland W. Burris, who paid $442,508 in disputed state scholarship funds to a Chicago college, is affiliated with a law firm representing an official of the same college in a federal grand jury investigation.
* March 8 (probably 1985): Burris intervened in pal’s conviction - llinois Comptroller Roland Burris urged a federal judge last month to place a Chicago pharmacist, who contributed to Burris’ campaigns, on probation after the man was convicted of defrauding Medicaid out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
* 10:01 am - Burris’ attorney, Tim Wright, is now speaking.
Wright says his client has “several options,” including going to court or continuing to negotiate with the Senate.
Roland Burris entered the Secretary of the Senate’s office on the 3rd floor of the Capitol to present his credentials. The media was gathered around the corner - several abreast stretching down the hallway.
Terrance Gainer, the sergeant at arms who would be charged with blocking Burris at the Senate chambers door if necessary, escorted him into the office. The secretary’s office is one floor above the entrance to the Senate chambers.
Leaders have been negotiating what Burris will do today - and there was some word that Burris might accept his rejection in the secretary’s office. Guards initially had told they were to treat Burris as they would a senator, easing his path through the Capitol entrance, but were later told to take him through security as any visitor.
“We’ve been back and fourth four times,'’ a Democratic aide said of the choreography of the morning.
I’ll add more to this post in a bit, but I wanted to get it online as quickly as possible considering the breaking news value. Live updates will be at the top. Additional content from existing stories will be posted below.
During Roland Burris’ first full fiscal year as Illinois attorney general, more than half of the money his office awarded for outside legal work went to campaign contributors, according to a book published by Illinois Issues magazine and the Springfield State Journal-Register.
In FY 1992, Burris’ office issued roughly $4 million in outside legal contracts to individuals and law firms, according to the book, Illinois For Sale, which was published in 1997. More than $2.25 million of that amount went to contributors to Burris’ campaign or to the main Democratic fundraising committee.
During the last three years, two Englewood community organizations founded by Rep. Bobby Rush in his role as church pastor have received more than $2 million in state funding from Gov. Blagojevich’s administration.
I point it out because I’ve been thinking it might help explain why Rush is so gung-ho to help Blagojevich put Roland Burris in the U.S. Senate.
Did Roland Burris’s business partner, Fred Lebed, have anything to do with Patti Blagojevich landing a full-time job as development director of the Chicago Christian Industrial League?
Lebed, who served on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s transition team, also serves on CCIL’s Board of Directors.
The question was raised on Sunday night by political pundit Bruce Dumont on his XM Satellite radio show “Beyond the Beltway.” I was a guest, along with writer Salim Muwakkil and Judy Baar Topinka, the former state treasurer who ran against Blagojevich for governor.
“You know, prior to this, I had a great deal of respect for Mr. Burris,” Mr. Schock said. “He served the state well.” But, he added, that the appointment not only called Mr. Blagojevich’s judgment into question, but that of Mr. Burris.
“I don’t think he should pursue it,” said the Illinois lawmaker, a former president of the Peoria Board of Education. “I’m disappointed that he is doing this.”
He added: “Most of my colleagues are not just fed up with Blagojevich, but also with Roland Burris.” This is “not the way you reinstill faith in the electorate,” he warned, adding that it helped explain why the state’s lawmakers are trying to expedite the impeachment process, with a vote in the Illinois House as soon as Jan. 15.
* Keep race out of it : This is not about race. Despite what U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush has said explicitly, and others have implied, the bid to keep Roland Burris from claiming Illinois’ vacant Senate seat is not about race. It is about denying power to a governor who has gone off the deep end. It is about ensuring a taint-free appointment for the citizens of Illinois.
* Mary Mitchell: Blinders not a good look for Burris : I believe Burris genuinely doesn’t get why anyone would think he is doing anything wrong. The fact that he doesn’t shows how badly Illinois needs change.
* Burris pick contrary to Obama message, some say: In the midst of all the political hoopla surrounding the Burris pick, his modern-day credentials had largely escaped scrutiny and raise the question of exactly why Blagojevich thinks Burris is best to carry on in Obama’s place. “It’s a great question. I don’t think anyone has taken the Burris appointment seriously enough to engage that question,” said David Morrison, assistant director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
Ald. Tom Allen (38th) said Monday he would not be a candidate in the March 3 special primary election to succeed former U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, opening the door for City Council colleague Pat O’Connor (40th) to nail down the Democratic Party’s pivotal endorsement.
Why do I say that? Here’s one reason…
Ald. William Banks (36th) said Monday he will convene the slatemaking session in two or three weeks, giving a field that once included 22 candidates a last chance to narrow.
“Whoever has the weighted vote becomes the candidate of the party. If nobody does, it becomes an open primary,” Banks said.
Banks is likely to end up with Rep. John Fritchey, who announced his candidacy yesterday via his FaceBook page. Fritchey also has a high profile position on the impeachment committee, which is getting him a ton of earned media right now. And he’s a ward committeeman himself.
UPDATE: Ald. Banks, I’m told, is supporting O’Connor for the seat.
When developer George Ardelean came to Ald. Patrick O’Connor seeking support to build a senior housing project in the 40th Ward, he already had a long-standing business relationship with the alderman’s wife.
Barbara O’Connor had sold luxury town homes elsewhere in the city for the builder, who now wanted the alderman’s backing for the proposed nine-story, 187-unit apartment building at 6000 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Patrick O’Connor did everything in his power to promote the project, and Barbara O’Connor sold more homes for Ardelean.
Oof.
The rumors about him being a placeholder for Rahm Emanuel might not sit well with voters, either.
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) said Friday she has raised $300,000 in her bid to succeed Rahm Emanuel in Congress, making her the early fund-raising leader for the seat vacated when Emanuel joined the Obama White House. […]
University of Chicago economics lecturer Charlie Wheelan has announced he has raised $100,000. Former Homeland Security official Justin Oberman reports raising $140,000. Doctor Victor Forys says he has raised $160,000. County Commissioner Mike Quigley said he expects to match Feigenholtz’s numbers. Several aldermen and others are weighing a run.
Feigenholtz has to be treated as a serious contender as well.
* Bored Now takes a look at candidate websites. One caveat: Deborah Mell is out of the race.
hearing in a lawsuit that seeks to stop the state from closing a central Illinois prison has been delayed indefinitely, and the lockup could remain open for some time.
Spokesmen for the Illinois Department of Corrections and the union that represents prison workers say Monday’s hearing in Vienna was pointless.
That’s because an injunction issued in another lawsuit over the plan to close the Pontiac Correctional Center is keeping the prison open.
A federal appeals court has given the green light to red-light cameras that have pumped out more than a million Chicago tickets and generated $100 million in sorely-needed revenue since 2003.
The ruling by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals preserves one of the city’s few revenue sources not subject to the economic downturn — and clears the way for a major expansion that will install cameras at more than 330 accident-prone Chicago intersections by 2012.
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger stood firm Monday on his effort to issue $740 million in bonds, saying every penny was needed to pay for big projects while maintaining services at the county’s massive public safety and health care systems.
