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Jacobs: Blagojevich should resign

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Illinois

* Forget recall, Sen. Mike Jacobs says, the governor should resign…

A state senator who has a history of confrontations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich called on the governor to resign Wednesday.

State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said revelations about corruption that are surfacing in the federal trial of one of the governor’s former top advisors are the main reason he wants Blagojevich to step down.

“No one has confidence in the man,” Jacobs said. […]

“State capitols are known for being full of hot air. That’s all this is,” said [a Blagojevich spokesperson].

* More…

Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said he is troubled by testimony emerging from the Tony Rezko trial. Rezko, a top fundraiser and a close adviser to the governor, is on trial on federal corruption charges.

In addition, Blagojevich has been “derelict in running the state,” Jacobs said.

* On a similar vein, here’s a part of today’s Tribune editorial…

It has been almost a year—351 days, but who’s counting?—since a bill to raise ethics standards in state government whizzed out of the Illinois House on a 116-0 vote and landed with a thud in the Senate. More than three-quarters of the members of the Senate signed on as co-sponsors, a pretty good sign that the measure would pass there, too, given half a chance. But that’s half a chance more than Senate President Emil Jones has been willing to give it.

The “better bill” that Senate Democrats have been working on for almost a year finally squirted out of the Rules Committee on Wednesday… it looks an awful lot like the House bill. […]

Senate Democrats are painfully aware that their reluctance to challenge Jones on this and many other fronts makes them look like a flock of hapless sheeple. So it’s likely the Senate will dither awhile longer and then pass a slightly altered ethics bill on a lopsided vote and send it to the House, instead of to the governor’s desk.

At the end of the day we’ll have two bills and no law. If that’s how it shakes out, smart voters will hold the Senate Democrats accountable.

* More recall/ethics stuff…

* Blagojevich must act now on pardons

* Recall measure could drag down Quinn legacy

* Recall vote allowed Madigan to have it both ways

* Senate expected to bury election recall

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:16 am

Comments

Tough talk from the “Todd Stroger of the Quad Cities” as my friends like to call him.

Must be a slow news day.

Comment by jj Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:22 am
The small communities are getting screwed by the governor’s antics and lack of leadership. Emil Jones is nothing but his puppet. I am in total agreement with Sen. Jacobs on this one. By the way, there are a lot of people in Illinois who do not live in Chicago.

Comment by Russ Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:29 am
I am completely baffled by this perspective that the Tribune currently has and the goo-goos always have, that if we just had the right ethics laws the problems we face would be solved (right, just like gun laws prevent gun related deaths and crimes). It’s delusional. The problem is the quality of people we select to run government, not the quality of the rules we have them operating under.

Comment by steve schnorf Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:31 am
Hey, someone must have been reading my blog. I said something like this months ago and probably for different reasons that Sen. Jacobs. One could say the Gov. is a lame duck. He can’t get anything done. He was a lame duck last year! And he had just gotten re-elected.

Comment by Levois Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:32 am
Jacobs is speaking for Downstate, we think Emil should go with the Gov. This nonsense is the reason we will end up with a Con Con which is Scary.

Comment by He makes Ryan Look like a Saint Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:33 am
This is exactly why I hope there will be a con-con. Business as usual isn’t working and we need to change the status quo. I don’t know why a con-con would be scary. Obviously voters are going to elect the same jokers who are causing the gridlock we are seeing right now.

Comment by Levois Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:37 am
I am surprised the Repubs have not been able to get more traction on potential Senate match up against the Dems. Jones is all but handing them the keys to the Senate.

The step down stuff is not unreasonable, Spitzer and others have stepped down over a lot less. WHile the though is not unreasonable, Jacobs call for a step down by a Gov who clearly would never do so makes the whole discussion pointless. Jacobs needs to stop trying to make headlines. If he wants to truly remove the Gov, then he should be pushing for the house to impeach and seeking to gather a support base. Do or do not, enough with the talk.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:59 am
You can say anything you want, but until you do something, the words are meaningless a la Sen. Jacobs’ remarks.

The Trib may be beating a broken drum on “ethics.” More definitive rules may be desirable as an explicit reference for behavior by public officials, but as Mr. Schnorf implies, it is the personal ethics of those officials we elect that give us ethical government.

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” See if you can identify any elected official that seems to make a habit of even 4 of those 7.

Comment by anon Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:05 am
Jacobs is staking a claim that a downstater should be on the 2010 ticket for a constitutional office. It remains to be seen if there will be an open spot.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:07 am
Sorry if this is a beginner question, but why do Jones (and Madigan) have sole control over what legislation is considered? Is it part of IL Constitution?

If so, one improvement I could see from a con-con would be to draft a constitution that would prevent the Madigans and Jones of the world from single-handedly deciding what legislation goes forward. Letting state senators and representatives actually pass legislation without the blessing of the big tops could reduce the effect of ego wars.

Comment by South Side Mike Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:11 am
Ethics are a tricky thing. Just remember, Kelvin Sampson is the former chairman of the NCAA ethics committee!

I agree that we have more than enough reason to ask Blago to step down. Spitzer was forced out for basically a moral issue, that had nothing to do with his performance in his elected position. If our governor cannot and will not govern, while at the same time committing atrocious betrayals of public trust by handing over the reigns of our state to swindlers and drug addicted con men, why should he be able to comfortably remain in office for two + more years and continue to drive us into financial ruin??

Comment by BigDog Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:12 am
Between this and the tax holiday, we see once again that the State Senate is about grandstanding in public and jobs for the boys in private.

But today’s Republicans are too hung up on ideological purity in order to take advantage. The result is ever worse government.

Comment by Angry Chicagoan Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:16 am
I’m no fan of the Governor, but I think Sen. Jacobs should resign as well. Legislative seats shouldn’t be passed down from father to son and kept in one family like a House of Lords.

Comment by M Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:27 am
–Spitzer was forced out for basically a moral issue, that had nothing to do with his performance in his elected position.–

Perhaps, Big Dog, but Spitzer’s resignation had everything to do with his performance in the position he elected.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:28 am
Of course they’re not motivated to move an ethics bill. Blagojevich isn’t running against Rich Whitney anymore, so there’s no competing proposal to beat. This is one reason I love having additional candidates in an election–competition in the political marketplace of ideas.

As far is Quinn is concerned, if he’s willing to give up those corporate contributions, perhaps he should consider coming over to the Green side.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 12:00 pm
I believe Jacobs has won 2 primary elections and a general election to maintain his senate seat. M, that’s old news.

Comment by RR Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 12:15 pm
To M - it’s somewhat common for a seat to pass to someone else when a legislator leaves office early. It can be due to death, illness, or like a recent house of rep member did - he just retired.

Comment by on my lunch Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 12:17 pm
Steve,
Thanks you for being a voice of reason. As if an “ethics bill” is going to cure the cancer of corruption and low-life lawmakers.
The Trib’s upset that it can no longer influence statewide politics, so if it can bully lawmakers into passing an ethics bill, it can pat itself on the back and smile as the deck sinks beneath the waves.

Here’s some perspective: If I keep buying crappy cars, it doesn’t matter how many laws one passes on salesmen requiring them to tell me its a crappy car. If I keep buying it, it’s my problem.

Voters keep buying it.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 12:35 pm
The people of this state have no one to blame but themselves. All of the elected officials are Democrats, from North of I80 as well. How can we expect them to care about the rest of the state. As long as the State of Chicago is satisfied. The Senate and House are both controlled by the Democrats. They all believe more of your tax dollars are the way to resolve any problem. They do nothing but argue amongst themselves and nothing significant gets accomplished. Management by crisis. The only way to resolve the issues is to vote them out of office. As long as the public is willing to keep putting these clowns in office, Illinois deserves exactly what it receives. We have a governor who has not missed an episode of Hannah Montana and a Senate President which you can’t even understand half the time when he’s talking. The problem is, there are no Statesman. It will take a generation to clean up the mess which has been created in the last 5 years. Our poor Children and Grandchildren.

Comment by CapitolView Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 1:39 pm
Who voted for these people? Who provided cash for the campaigns? Rage all you want about any politician, but if they keep getting elected they are doing something (regardless of ethics, pork, or patronage) that enough people feel is right to vote for them regardless of how stupid or illegal the remaining people may think it is.

Will there come a time when the senators/reps develop a viable alternative to current their leadership? Will the GA ever function together to make sure what they get what they want when the governor disagrees? My guess is it will never happen regardless of any verbage because of the problems of herding cats/egos that function by a “what is in it for me” and “what can you get me” philosophy. Working together means giving up something you want to get a bigger something. All I see happening is non-ending turf battles over my way or the highway. When I was kid and someone pulled the “I am taking my ball and going home” bit, you found another ball or changed activities. The GA looks like they are willing to wait until they are told what is allowed. The results are evident everyday.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 1:56 pm
Well if most people are in agreement that ethics are personal attributes and are not programmable, then why do state employees, who are not getting free dinners or trips or golf clubs, etc., have to keep taking the pitiful excuse for an ethics test each year. THEY have ethics - they show up for work every day and get the job done despite the public’s derision. Plus, since the Governor’s demand that open positions not be filled, most are doing the work of 2 or 3 people. However, the job freeze in only for the little ethical people, not for those who have the governor’s ear.

Comment by Disgusted Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:09 pm