Blagojevich picks Obama's replacement; Senate Democrats say no

Honorable pick.

This would have been a decent pick a month ago. But now, not so much...

Just so stupid.
Why they can't simply FIRE this annoyance is beyond me.
Can you imagine if this happend in Mass.?!

Wait, I bet you can...

If the person he picks is qualified the Senate should recognize them. Any potential payoff has to be gone, right?

Now we will see who stepped up with a payment

There is a Separation of Powers issue - he can't be fired. Impeachment is the only remedy. Many law professors also believe that the U.S. Senate cannot refuse to seat Obama's replacement, no matter how the pick was derived.

Rather than allow the seat to go unfilled, the INCOMING Illinois legislature should weigh in, then the US Senate should do some serious vetting before this nomination is accepted. For the Senate to pre-judge (and reject) the nominee solely because the current Governor is under investigation would simply be hypocritical indignation.
The confidentiality of any federal investigations should trump efforts at the state level to gain access to evidence for impeachment procedings, yet the people of Illinois are entitled to full representation in the Senate... probably sooner than they can safely get any evidence from Fitzpatrick.

"wide-ranging "play to pay" corruption scheme. "...uh pay to play

blago's defense attorney is probably aiming for a dismissal of the tape evidence. simply hearsay if there are no revealed witnesses or uncovered testimonials. if there's no evidence of harm, no foul. it may as well mean no revision to the flawed appointing system and continued corruption of high end figures. politics as usual.

It does and has happend in MA. Check the history of MA politics. James M. Curley went to federal Prison and was re-elected. etc.

Run Jesse Run . . . and don't look back

Mike, in a perfect world, that woudl be true..
But, he's making the pick as part of his defense strategy. An honorable man would have resigned and not tried to make a pick in a process already tainted.
Becasue the process is tainted, The Senate can't take anyone he picks.

Anyone that accpets this nomination knows they have no chance at being acccepted. So, either it's throwing a long time party servant a bone, or the party is usng the nominee as a sacrifice to shield the real candidates.

So what was the high bid? He picked the AG that did NOT investigate him.

Um, who gives a crap?

You have to be kidding me this felon still going pick obama's replacement , this country is betterthan somlia

Hey....is Buddy Cianci moving out there?

Given that there would otherwise be ZERO African-Americans in the U.S. Senate, it appears to me that Rod ( "the Fox") Blagojevich has out flanked the Dems. I truly want to see Harry Reid & company vote NOT to seat this man, and see how that plays out in the "progressive" MSM.

Was he picked because he was qualified or because his check cleared?

Here's the problem: Whomever he picks will be beholden to him. Somewhere down the line, this moron will be paid off.

But, the Senate will refuse to seat him, or anyone else the governor chooses... and that's a good thing. I'm tired of people not doing the right thing.

Sigh. I just moved here from Illinois and the level of shame citizens feel about our governor is high. Any pick is a bad pick, because he lost that right. No one will accept anything he does as being just. They need to impeach him and send him on his way. And they're trying to. It's just not a simple process.

The pick should be deleted immediately. There should be a special election.

Can't this Blagojevich give it a rest? Why is he wasting all of the resources his position entails? He knows he's going to be either impeached or jailed. Or both.

But my bid was higher!

Blogo is a smart man......he will now be granted immunity for replace one minority for another.

Brilliant pick by Blago. Illinois Senate supposedly won't approve, neither will the US Senate Dems.

Question, are they now racists?

These are special times in politics and I believe Blagojevich should not be allowed to pick Obama's successor. He's so much a part of the process, he can't distinguish right from wrong. Perhaps Burris is a fine candidate but the process is tainted badly. Illinois has a long, long run of corrupt leaders and this is far from a clean deal. We all deserve better than this!

He is trying to do the right thing not that he is going to change. He is the people
that will never do the right thing if he is can get away with it so. So many white
people are like him in government and nongovernment area.

>

I could care if they guy is green with purple stripes. Is he qualified?

Demographics should never be qualifications of employment.

Since Obama is the messiah, why can't he be the president and a senator at the same time? After all, he is Barack Obama.

The Illinois Senate needs to stop dragging their feet & Fast Forward the process to get Blago impeached & thrown out of office. It is obvious that he has no respect for the office or the people of the State. Now the Illinois Senate is putting powers in the federal government on the line here. The longer this drags on, the more people & entities get sucked up into this mess. It's Obvious that Blago would have no qualms if he was found guilty & was still running his office within a Federal Prison Cell, while the Boobs in the Illinois Senate figure out what they are doing. Just one question... Which State is worse when it comes to scenarios like this? Illinois or Massachusetts?

The idea of the Illinois legislature and the Senate Democrats being outraged at this is insulting. Everyone knew that there was a good chance the Governor was not going to quickly resign and that impeachment might take some time. In the interim, he was free to appoint someone and there is some credit to the argument that he had a responsibility to the people of Illinois to make sure they had full representation right away.

The Illinois Legislature could have, in the course of one day, passed a piece of legislation taking the power to appoint away from the Governor and instead requiring that the replacement had to be filled via a special election to occur within 90 days. (Just like the Massachusetts legislature did when they feared Mitt Romney would be able to appoint a replacement for John Kerry if he won the 2004 Presidential Race). The Democratic controlled state legislature didn't want to do that since there was a good chance that a Republican could win the seat. Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats also had the same fear.

The Democrats put politics before principles and now try to take the moral high ground.

Have they no shame?!?!?!

Isn't the "right" move here by Roland Burris to decline the nomination on stand on a stage with the disgraced Governor?

Sounds like Mr. Burris wasn't on Mr. Obama's short List!

Very clever! Appoint the AG who didn't investigate Blago, a Black man so that Reid is a fool for opposing him, all the while throwing more dirt and suspicion on Zer0-Bama. This is going to be fun four years!

How about appointing an Eskimo?

This is one of the most asstute political moves in years.

Honorable choice, particularly if he pledges to not run in 2010.

As long as the Constitution of Illinoi says Blagojevich the sitting Governor can exercise that power then what the fuss is all about,he can appoint whomever he wants.The authority and power is still with Blagojevich until he is no longer a governor but that doesn't mean we sided with him of what he has done.This is a good reason to encourage the studies of all these constitution in our homes whether be federal,states or local governments so our children and grandchildren understand what purposes these constitution are for and not just ink on paper.

I am remembering The Old Mayor Hizzoner's friend Paddy Bauler's infamous quote: CHICAGO AIN'T READY FOR REFORM!

Is Chicago ready yet? Is Illinois?

A few weeks ago I heard someone on radio mention that Obama got the US senate seat because Chicago pols wanted him out of the state instead of in the Illinois governorship -- they didn't want him playing in their back yard anymore.

The Blago office-selling flap raises interesting questions.

Let's all watch to see if any dots appear between ethics changes that Blago wanted and the US senate seat 'scandal'.

Chicago has seen much worse than the sale of political office, and in fact speaking of sale of political offices, if local pols are so offended about the sale of a senate seat, where were they when Mayor Daley held back Cook County's vote talley the night Cook County elected Jack Kennedy? And which judge promised Joe Kennedy his kid would be elected by Chicago?

This paragraph from the ethics change story is something that for sure would set Chicago machine policians' hair on fire:

"Blagojevich last month used his amendatory veto power to expand the contractor donation ban to lawmakers and all state officeholders. He also tried to change how pay raises would be voted on, bar lawmakers from holding most other government jobs and require them to more fully disclose lobbying work"

With lawmakers and state office-holders' 'donations' from contractors, self-voted pay raises, and other sources of off-the-books income in jeopardy, you better believe that the whole state legislature, not to mention every Chicago machine politician past, present, and future would want Blago gone.

From the 'reform' story: “Let’s go ahead and give the people of the state of Illinois what they want and what they deserve,” Fritchey said

Oh yeah. And he was using the one-finger salute to let his audience know exactly what he meant.

Cynical? Yes, but I've been living in and near Chicago since Hizzoner was king...er, I mean Mayor.

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"Is Illinois ready for ethics?

The House undid in about two minutes the sweeping ethics reform rewrite Blagojevich spent two months putting together.

The House voted 110-3 for the original version of House Bill 824 that lawmakers passed in May. That version would bar people with state contracts worth $50,000 or more from making political donations to state officeholders overseeing the contracts.

Blagojevich also issued an executive order effective Jan. 1 barring people with high-dollar contracts with agencies under his control from giving donations to any state officeholders or lawmakers.

Blagojevich last month used his amendatory veto power to expand the contractor donation ban to lawmakers and all state officeholders. He also tried to change how pay raises would be voted on, bar lawmakers from holding most other government jobs and require them to more fully disclose lobbying work.

Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, said lawmakers should consider the changes in separate bills that he filed Wednesday, not in a take-it-or-leave-it vote.

“Let’s go ahead and give the people of the state of Illinois what they want and what they deserve,” Fritchey said.

The vote came just hours after Blagojevich had urged lawmakers not to override his changes because he fears they will be stalled if they’re put into separate bills.

If the measure isn’t voted on in the Senate within 15 days, the entire bill and the changes die."