Blago Guilty

Of course, it's only on a count of lying to the Feds.

A federal jury today convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of only one count against him: lying to the FBI. Jurors said they were deadlocked on the other 23 counts against the former governor, and all four counts against his brother Robert.

Blagojevich, who faces up to 5 years in prison, pursed his lips and shook his head slightly.

Patti rested her head on the chair in front of her and shook her head no several times.
Blagojevich looked at her with an annoyed look on his face.

This is similar to the charges that Martha Stewart was found guilty of and Blago will likely receive roughly the same amount of time. The Feds have said they intend to try him on the other charges so we may have this circus.

Blago Won't Testify

The entire media world is totally disappointed.

After being given the night to think it over, attorneys for Rod Blagojevich will formally tell a federal judge this morning whether the former governor will take the stand in his defense.

The lawyers told U.S. District Judge James Zagel on Tuesday that Blagojevich would not testify and that they were prepared to rest their case without calling a single witness, sources told the Tribune.

After conferring that message privately to Zagel and prosecutors in a lengthy sidebar, the defense team was told by the judge to mull the decision overnight

...

Just a Reminder...Blago's a Bad Guy

The opening statements for the trial of Rod Blagojevich started today and the prosecution set up the crimes of the former Governor. First, US Attorneys said that Blagojevich was deep in debt, $200k on a credit card and a home equity line of credit. This, according to the Attorneys, was his motivation for this series of crimes.

Blagojevich initially planned to appoint Obama's preferred replacement, Valerie Jarrett, who had played a key role in the 2008 presidential campaign, Hamilton said. In exchange for the appointment, however, Blagojevich wanted to be named U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. And barring that, he wanted millions of dollars donated to a charitable organization that he would control after leaving office, the prosecutor said.

When it became apparent the Jarrett plan would fall through, Blagojevich turned his interests toward U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Chicago). Hamilton said an intermediary, who had supported Jackson and Blagojevich in the past, informed the then-governor's brother and co-defendant Robert Blagojevich that Jackson's camp would raise $1 million in exchange for the appointment.

In the same opening statement, US Attorneys also alleged that Blagojevich attempted to extort campaign funds from the CEO of the non profit hospital Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Meanwhile, some media were commenting on Blagojevich's penchant for holding press conferences and tweeting during the trial. Judge Zagel warned Blagojevich about both. That's part of Blago's persona. He has that sort of goofiness that makes him entertaining.

Of course, he's innocent until proven guilty. Still, the crimes alleged are very serious. This is a massive breach of trust and abuse of power. Hopefully, people will remember that and not the side show.

A Second Job Offer

My buddy, a huge Detroit sports fan, said this after Isiah Thomas' alleged sexual assault scandal broke,

I love Isiah, but it's getting awfully tough to defend him.

After all, Thomas, upon retiring, had blown up the CBA, the Knicks, and now he was involved in a sexual harassment scandal.

I suspect some of Obama's defenders are thinking the same thing right now. The latest jobs scandal is being billed by Fox News as Obama's Jobs Stimulus.

The White House faced fresh questions over back-room dealmaking after it acknowledged one of President Obama's top advisers had suggested to a Democratic candidate the potential for an administration job

in lieu of challenging the candidate whom the president favored in the Colorado Senate race.

This one comes with its very own email further implicating the White House. In a case like this, it's very difficult to prove criminality. That's because you have to prove intent. That requires knowing what was in someone's head.

That said the court of law is significantly different than the court of public opinion. Just this week, Robert Gibbs held a press conference that could only be described as painful. It was the Obama version of the Abbott and Costello "who's on first" skit. The White House press corp grilled Gibbs on discrepancies in the memo it released on Friday and Gibbs responded by telling the questioners to refer to the memo for answers.

There's only two possibilities. First, Gibbs is hopelessly incompetent and he can't verbalize the White House position on this scandal. Second, Gibbs is being told to evade any and all questions and he's made to look like buffoon for the good of the "team" now in full evasion mode.

Now, we know that a second Democratic politician has been offered a job. The whole affair has inspired Andrew Malcolm of the LA Times to say this.

As a public service, The Ticket today is officially launching a comprehensive list of Democrats who have not recently been offered jobs by the Obama White House to not do something. It can't be too long a list, so just leave your names in the Comments section.

The White House looks corrupt and incompetent. They're the Rod Blagojevich's of corrupt politicians. Not only are they incapable of doing it right, but they're incapable of hiding their corruption.

Previewing Illinois

Finally, the political world revolves around the state of Illinois for one day. Illinois is the first in the nation to hold its primaries and so the nation will have its electoral eyes on Illinois. Nationally, the two big races will be for the U.S. Senate and Governor. Republicans have a realistic chance of winning both in November.

The Democrats are putting up Dan Hynes and current Governor Pat Quinn. For self interest, all Republicans should be rooting for Pat Quinn to win. Quinn's first act as Governor was to raise that state's income tax about 50%. As the former Lt. Governor to Blago, that taint will likely stay with Quinn. Meanwhile, Hynes, the state's current Comptroller, has been surging in the polls.

Both are Springfield insiders in a year when that's a very bad place to be. On the Republican side, three candidates have been playing whack a mole with each other. Those candidates are Andy McKenna, Kirk Dillard, and Jim Ryan. Each would have the insider's label attached to them. Because each has waged a bloody commercial battle against each other. Dillard appeard in an ad in favor of then candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 election cycle. Both Dillard and Ryan are attached to tax increases. Meanwhile, McKenna has been attached to corruption as head of the Illinois GOP.

I believe that all three will knock each other out. Meanwhile, Adam Andrzejewski and Dan Proft were both vying for the candidate of the outsider. Recently, Andrzejewski has surged after being endorsed by Lech Walesa. That endorsement has lead to an endorsement by stalwart Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck yesterday. That race remains wide open but my pick is Andrzejewski.
In the Senate side, Alexi Giannoulias, the state's current Treasurer, has been dogged recently by his connection to his family's bank, Broadway Bank. He's facing David Hoffman, the recently former IG in Chicago and Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson. Hoffman has gained traction attacking Giannoulias' big stock withdrawals over the last couple years. This has all happened while Broadway Bank has been losing tens of millions and is on the verge of being taken over by regulators. Meanwhile, Giannoulias was a loan officer at Broadway when he worked there. In fact, when he ran for the State's Treasurer office in 2006 he was dogged by loans made by the bank made to reputed mob boss in the area. Meanwhile, Hoffman has gained a reputation as corruption fighter. He was initially supposed to be a typical IG in Chicago but then waged several high profile battles with officials close to Daley. Hoffman has been dogged by what has been characterized as a terribly negative campaign including several retraction.

Once again, self interest would mean that Republicans are rooting for Giannoulias. Giannoulias was ahead as of the last set of polls but the race has taken on national significance and further exposure in the last week. That race remains up in the air. The last time the Democrats elected a true anti corruption fighter it was Mike Quigley to represent the 5th District in the U.S. House. He then cruised to victory in the special election. Hoffman would be a much tougher candidate in November. Meanwhile, Giannoulias would be tainted and bruised coming out of the primary. Jackson's campaign has been running third throughout.

On the Republican side, North Shore Congressman Mark Kirk has been leading throughout. His opponent, Patrick Hughes, is another favorite of the Tea Party movement. Kirk became its scourge following his vote in favor of cap and trade. He's also socially moderate. Still, while Hughes has been gaining recently, Kirk is the overwhelming favorite. He'd also be a favorite against Giannoulias. Against, Hoffman it would be a toss up.

While those two races will have national intrigue, the most compelling race is for the Cook County Board President. The current incumbent, Todd Stroger, has been an also ran throughout. The favorite originally, Dorothy Brown, has been dogged by some new ethics revelations recently. She's the current Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court. She instituted a policy which laid a $5 fee for any employee that wore jeans to work. She's been unable to account for that money. There's been other questions about her employees contributions.

Questions about jeans day follow previous stories about Brown raising money for pet causes from workers in her office, which has more than 2,100 employees. She's also raised campaign money through her employees and they've been asked to contribute to gifts for her.

Today, Brown's staff acknowledged that there's no comprehensive accounting of the jeans day cash contributions that reach the tens of thousands of dollars each year. She said the office tries to verify that the number of permission stickers issued equals the number of contributions. Employees also are supposed to write their names on envelopes when they contribute for jeans day, she said. The comptroller in her office tracks the money, Brown added.

With corruption a main topic in Cook County, Brown has become vulnerable. That leaves the race open for Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and the head of the water reclamation district Terry O'Brien. That race also remains wide open.

On the Republican side, Roger Keats is facing off against John Garrido. Keats is the Candidate of the Republican Party in Cook County and he's being backed by Cook County Republican stalwart Tony Peraica. Keats remains the frontrunner in that race.

Meanwhile, the Green Party has been able to field no less than 19 candidates for offices in the Chicagoland area. This includes three candidates for the new head of the Water Reclamation District, Jack Ailey, Diana Horton, and Nadine Bopp. This includes a candidate for Governor, Senator, every Congressional district in the area, and about 70% of the Cook County offices.

The Extraordinary Powers of the Illinois Governor

When Rod Blagojevich was in trouble, he decided to slip in free rides on all CTA, Metra, and RTA public transportation into the transportation bill.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Thursday he'll sign a bill to increase sales taxes in the Chicago area and the real estate transfer tax in the city to fund local mass transit systems, but only if the legislature approves free bus and train rides for senior citizens.


The governor plans to use his amendatory veto powers to require that senior citizens do not have to pay to ride public trains or buses in Illinois. The House and Senate would have to approve such a change and neither chamber is scheduled to return to Springfield anytime this month, meaning another special session would be needed.

"I'm particularly concerned about seniors who live on fixed incomes and who don't have the ability to absorb a higher sales tax without making cuts in other areas," Blagojevich said.

In this showdown, Governor Blagojevich used something called the amendatory veto. What is an amendatory veto? It's the governor's ability to change parts of a law sent to their desk and send a new AMENDED bill back to the legislature. In Illinois, the legislature would then need 60% of the votes to override the veto. They could approve the changes by a simple majority.

By the state's Constitution, the Governor is allowed to change, OR AMEND, parts of the bill as long as the changes being made were made to a transportation bill. Blagojevich, looking to curry favor with any constituency, suddenly said he would only sign a bill that gave all seniors the ability to ride all Illinois public transportation for free. He used his amendatory power to do this. He sent the transportation bill back with his change, and now, in Illinois, all seniors, regardless of income, ride Illinois public transportation for free.

In using this power, the Governor uses legislative power even though the office is an executive office. It's also one of several powers granted to the governor's office that make it one of the most powerful in the country. Many of these were on display during Blagojevich's most desperate years.

The Illinois law also states that the governor has the power over Mandamus. Mandamus is a Latin term that means to command. In the case of the State of Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court, through a series of rulings, have ruled this power void against the governor. In other words, in the state of Illinois, no court can compel the governor to do anything they don't want to do. Now, of course, it's not that simple. There are all sorts of other powers and laws that must be followed. For instance, if the governor were to check into rehab, but refused to give up their power temporarily, there is specific language in the Constitution that allows citizens to render the Governor incompetent. That was in fact used by Attorney General Lisa Madigan against Governor Blagojevich after his arrest.

It has been used by governors to not swear in appointments of previous administrations. Because no court can issue a writ of Mandamus against the Governor, no Governor can be forced to swear in an official they don't want to.

Another power the Governor is the power to manipulate funding. The legislature passes a bill for the Illinois budget. That bill earmarks certain amounts to each and every department. Then, the Governor has the power to cut up to 8% of said budget in any given department. There is no maximum that they can add so presumably a Governor can cut eight percent from every other department and add all that money to say the Department of Education.

Beyond that, the Governor has exclusive power within each department to dole out money as they see fit. For instance, the University of Illinois often gets several hundred million dollars from the state in any given year. For instance, when Governor Blagojevich was pushing his ill fated Gross Receipts Tax, he threatened the U of I board with cutting off all funding if they didn't support the tax.

The Putback Amendment

Everyone knows that things in Springfield, Illinois are broken. Everyone knows that the government of the State of Illinois is inefficient and corrupt. That's all true, however, to truly understand the problems in Springfield, we must look at the structure of the legislature.

By its design, the legislature in Springfield consolidates all power in the hands of four people: Tom Cross, Christine Radogno, Mike Madigan and John Cullerton. Those are the Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Power is consolidated through the process by which bills see the light of day. In the Illinois legislature, there's only one way for a bill to be heard and debated: the rules committee. Not surprisingly, each of those four folks are head of the rules committee for their side in the House and Senate. As such, the head of the two rules committees have carte blanche over what bills will and won't see the light of day. So, if any legislator wants their bill to get a hearing in the House, Michael Madigan must approve. You can see how such a process could corrupt, and does.

Second, there's absolutely no transparency. At the beginning of each legislative session, the legislature is allowed to pass any number of "shell bills." These are bills that literally are blank, or shells. Then, when leadership, Madigan et al, feel it's time for that bill to become law, they go into a backroom somewhere, negotiate, and come out with a full bill. They wait no more than 24 hours and force a vote. Even if a legislator wanted to read the bill, they wouldn't have time. So, bills become law and then media scrutinizes them and leaks all sorts of embarrassing details, only by then it's still law. We're seeing a similar process playing out in the current national health care legislative process.

This process played out to a t in the campaign finance reform legislation. After Blago's indictment, public pressure was so extreme that Madigan et al's hands were forced. They brought a campaign finance reform bill to the floor. Then, at the last minute, they went into a back room, cut a weak compromise, and put a watered down version to the floor. This should have come to no one's surprise. The four people in charge are the main beneficiaries of the current campaign finance structure and they are the ones in charge of "reforming it".

This process also played out in Emil Jones' last term. (he was head of the Senate until this latest term) He was allied with Blago. Meanwhile, Madigan opposed Blago. As such, legislation literally came to a halt. All Blago proposed bills were killed in the House and all Blago opposed bills were killed in the Senate. So, nothing got done.

The problem of course was that the power struggles of three pols played out for the entire legislature. That's because the power of the legislature is centered in only four people.

So, what's the solution? Illinois activis, John Bambenek, has proposed the Putback Amendment. Here's what the amendment would do. First, it would create a unicamarel legislature. Each district would be represented by three Representatives. There would still be primaries but a minimum of two candidates would come out for each party. Second, it would impose a term limit of four terms. Each term would last two years. It also eliminates the "shell bill" process and forces only texted bills to the floor. Beyond this, it would create a discharge petition process. If leadership refuses to give a bill a proper viewing, the sponsor can get 25 of 177 legislators to sign a discharge petition and this would force said bill to the floor. Finally, it would create a mandatory seven day period between when a final bill is finalized and voted upon. That way the public would have time to digest it and embarrassing details would come out before it passed not after.

Currently, Bambenek is collecting signatures. He needs 500,000 by May to get the amendment on the ballot in November. If it's on the ballot, it would either need 50.1% of all the voters or 60% of those that vote on the amendment. Typically, far fewer people vote on amendments than vote in total.

Citizens can in fact add amendments to the Illinois constitution as long as they are "structural and/or procedural" in nature. Because that's a vague description, all potential amendments wind up in front of the Illinois Supreme Court. In fact, only six such amendments have been attempted in history and five have been ruled unconstitutional and never passed that stage.

Beyond having its constitutionality challenged, Bambenek expects the validity of each and every signature challenged. There are 102 counties and 110 voting jurisdictions in Illinois. As scuh, the amendment could be challenged in the Illinois Supreme Court and in 110 separate election jurisdictions all simultaneously. If it happens to pass but passes in a close vote, you can also bet
that a vote recount will be requested. All of this will have to adjudicated as well.

The Illinois political machine is the one to challenge this amendment and it will be the machine and its lawyers that will challenge each and every phase of the amendment though Bambenek tells me he's prepared for each and every potential litigative step.

Here's the full text of the bill.

Here's part two and part three of this analysis.

ACORN's Jobs Scheme

We all know that ACORN is having some serious short term financial difficulties. Ever since the video tapes made by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles were released, ACORN's image has suffered. With that image in decline, so to has funding begun to dry up. First, several governmental agencies began to cut off funds. Then, Bank of America cut ties. With funding drying up, ACORN is having all sorts of short term funding issues.

Like any other organization, when you're unable to generate revenue, you are forced to lay off and even fire. Unlike most organizations, ACORN isn't simply laying off its employees. Members of ACORN 8 have received correspondences with employees from several different ACORN offices. These employees are reporting a very troubling directive coming from management of these offices. The employees are being told not only that they will be laid off or fired, but they are encouraged to continue to volunteer at ACORN and collect unemployment at the same time.

By doing so, rather than having ACORN pay their salaries the U.S. taxpayers will do it. If you are collecting unemployment you must make a good faith effort to find new work. This is a very difficult to enforce directive however it is rooted in the law. By suggesting to their employees that they continue to volunteer while collecting unemployment, ACORN is suggesting to their employees that they skirty employment law.

Furthermore, many ACORN employees are true believers. As such, they believe in the cause, so to speak. So, many of them, presumably, believe that ACORN will get over this rough patch. They will then want to come back and work at ACORN once it has recovered financially. This directive puts pressure on all those being fired and laid off to comply. That's because it is a sign of loyalty. It's very easy for an employee to presume that those that follow this directive will be first to get their jobs back. As such, this directive could easily be viewed as a sign of loyalty by an organization built on true believers.

It's important to note that the employees themselves don't know where in ACORN this directive originated from. Those that I spoke with that said they received calls said that it came from multiple offices and so it can't be explained away by blaming it on one "rogue" manager. What's stunning is the brazen nature of this directive. Bertha Lewis is all over television claiming she's cleaning up the corruption. Meanwhile, management sees an opportunity to try and take advantage not only of the tax payers but their low level employees. They're doing all this at the time when the spotlight on much of their corruption is burning brightly. I was stunned by the hubris of then Governor Rod Blagojevich who engaged in bribery knowing he was being investigated. ACORN is committing a similar level of corruption. Knowing that the spotlight is on them, they still commit a similar brazen act of corruption.

Of God, Taxes, and Corruption

There's a smell test that I usually use when a politician invokes the deity into a political debate. Does it seem out of place? Is this something that the politician does consistently or are they suddenly invoking the deity? For instance, Bill Clinton could be found at church only when there was political heat on him. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, evokes the lord a lot and so if she were to evoke the lord I wouldn't be quite as skeptical. (though, I understand that this would give her more license)

Last summer, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger orchestrated a massive sales tax increase on Cook County. It was widely criticized in the press. In fact, the Tribune has a continual running clock that tracks the number of days since it was passed and the number of days until the primary election, where presumably we can remove Stroger. Ever since, Stroger's opponents on the Cook County Board were constantly attempting to try and roll back some or all of that sales tax hike. All seemed to finally come together for a partial roll back.

First, there was the issue of Robert Maldonado. He was a Commissioner that recently left to become a Chicago City Councilman. County rules give ward bosses the power to choose a replacement and in this case that power laid with powerful City Councilman, Richard Mell. (and yes, the father in law of former Governor Rod Blagojevich) At first, Mell appeared to be dragging his feet. The vote was scheduled for yesterday and it initially appeared as though Mell wouldn't get around to holding the necessary vote to choose a replacement. At the last minute, Mell scheduled a meeting for last week and Edwin Reyes was chosen.

Second, was the issue of the draconian rules necessary to override a veto. In the County government, there needs to be 80% of the votes to override a veto. Yet, it appeared as though opponents of the sales tax appeared to have 14 of the 17 commissioners on their side. Then, at the last minute, Commissioner Deborah Sims went from their side to siding with Stroger. How did she justify her sudden switch a day before the vote?

we have so many unanswered questions

...

This is a decision I made talking to my God, whether I fall on the sword or not this is the decision I made and I will live with it.

Now, I don't know Commissioner Sims and so I don't know that she didn't consult with God before voting to continue the nation's highest sales tax. All I can say is that I hope she is being disingenuous. That's because if God advised her to allow the citizens she represents to continue to pay the largest sales tax, we're all going to be disappointed in the after life.

The history of corruption in Cook County is long and well documented. Todd Stroger has been linked to a series of patronage jobs, most at six figures and more, and the latest scandal involves one Tony Cole. Cole is a basketball playing buddy of Stroger. Cole was hired to work for the County despite having a criminal record. He was even promoted nearly immediately. While he worked for the County, he was arrested twice. On one occasion, Stroger's cousin used her own credit card to bail Cole out of jail. Cole wasn't removed until all of this reached the media.

Corrupt governments always claim that hospitals will have their funding cuts without tax increases. That's the M.O. That's exactly what's happening here. Stroger is threatening that if these taxes are cut, he'll have no choice but to cut crucial hospital services. That's what Sims is alluding to when she says that there are "a lot of unanswered questions". There certainly are. How long will the corrupt and bloated County government justify their incompetence and corruption by threatening to cut crucial services? How long will corrupt county governments be allowed to flourish with antiquated rules to require 80% votes to override a veto? How long will we cynically allow politicians to invoke God to justify bad policy?

Patronage Pays off For Stroger Cronies

The Chicago Sun Times has the latest in a string political corruption revelation in an area in which this appears common place.

Patronage workers with the Cook County Forest Preserve District are seeing more green these days -- in their paychecks.

With people everywhere facing tough financial times, the 28 forest preserve patronage workers who've been on the payroll since 2006 all got hefty raises in the following two years, an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association has found. They're among 38 forest preserve workers who are exempt from the Shakman court order that bans political political hiring in city and county government.

On average, the exempt employees were paid $98,071 last year. Nine of them saw their salaries increase 19 percent or more between 2006 and 2008.

Between the fiasco surrounding former Governor Blagojevich, the scandal at the University of Illinois, and the growing scandal surrounding the Olympics, we might all forget that the Cook County government challenges all in the area for sustained and brazen corruption.

This story is remarkable not only for its brazen corruption, after all "patronage" is used in the story as though its expected, but by how the culture of corruption in the area has allowed it to happen.

In 1970, Michael Shakman became an independent delegate to the Illinois Constitutional convention. He became a champion against one of the many corrupt political practices in the state, political patronage. He then engaged in a nearly fifteen year battle against the powers that be in the political system and won. In 1983, the Shakman Decree was created. The Shakman Decree made it illegal to hire and fire city, county and state workers based on political factors. (excluded were those in a position of policy making and anything else where political ideology is important to the job) As such, about 40 city, county, and state offices disallow the practice of political patronage.

As it turns out, the victory was short lived. For the last twenty five years, the city, county and state have systematically assaulted the Shakman Decree and made more and more offices "exempt" from it. Mayor Daley is at the top of the list of those that try and muddy the waters on Shakman so that cronies can get cushy jobs.

The settlement is the result of the "Shakman case," first brought by attorney Michael Shakman in 1969.

Shakman challenged the city's legendarily corrupt patronage hiring system and won, but the city has been shown to have engaged in massive politically sponsored hiring despite court rulings to end the practice and assurances from city officials that the federal court decrees have been followed.

Daley has spent most of his administration fighting the federal Shakman decrees and continued the fight even after federal prosecutors last year won the convictions of four aides who allegedly rigged hiring to favor pro-Daley political workers.

Daley has managed to avoid being directly linked to corrupt hiring practices that have benefited his political campaigns and political allies.

The Cook County Board President, Todd Stroger, is also no stranger to this very assault.

So, just what exactly is it that 500 political employees hired by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger do all day?

For two years, a court-appointed watchdog has been asking Stroger that question. For two years, she has not gotten an answer.

Cook County Compliance Administrator Julia Nowicki, a former Cook County judge herself, made public Tuesday in a resignation letter that, as part of her quest to root out patronage abuses, she asked Stroger's administration to provide a job description for each of the 500 so-called "Shakman exempt" political employees Stroger can hire.

This brings us back to the latest scandal. The workers in question work for theCook County Forest Preserve District. The Cook County Forest Preserve, for unclear reasons, was given an exemption from Shakman and so it hired these 24 and likely more "patronage" employees. As the Sun Times reports, most of these folks are consistent contributors to the campaign of Todd Stroger or the 8th Ward Regular Democratic Organization which Todd's dad, John, controlled when he was alive. For their exercise of their first "first amendment" right (since a political contribution is your first amendment right), they were rewarded with a cushy raise of an average of near 20%. Well, I should clear up. There's no proof that these raises were the result of their contributions. All we know is that they just happened to occur all at about the same time period.

It's important to note that the county of Cook has one of the nation's highest sales taxes after Stroger pushed through a massive sales tax increase. (it's currently north of 10%) The sales tax increase came in response to a budget crunch and was passed in the summer of last year. It goes without saying that the budget crunch didn't affect these particular salary increases.

The Burris Tapes Put Illinois Corruption Back in Spotlight

Had Nancy Pelosi not meltded down herself only weeks earlier, the meltdown by Roland Burris yesterday would have gone down as something more extraordinary. That said, there should be no doubt that Burris has not been honest, very little doubt that he at least deserves to be investigated, and certainly a strong suspicion that he only received his Senate seat through a quid pro quo. It's of course the irony of ironies that prior to all of this coming out everyone portrayed Burris as an individual of impeccable character and ethics.

I didn't know that much about Burris however I found it hard to believe that he rose as far as he did within the swamp of Illinois politics being someone of "impeccable character and ethics". The tapes have been characterized as Blagojevich's standard operating procedure. Commentators have taken to the air to proclaim that under Blago this is how business got done. I don't doubt this but Blago didn't learn this on his own.

Blago has been the consummated political insider since he married the former Patti Mell. Patti's father is powerful Chicago City Council Man, Dick Mell. It was Mell's influence that moved Blago through the political ranks in Chicago. It was Mell's influence that secured Blago's fifth Congressional seat from 1996-2002 and Mell's influence that helped land Blago the Governorship. Blago didn't learn pay to play and other forms of corruption all on his own. He learned them because pay to play and corruption is standard operating procedure for Illinois.

It is the same system that wound up spring boarding Burris to the State's Attorney General's office. So, the thought that he was an individual of impeccable ethics always seemed to be naive. Now, the corruption in Illinois is yet again in the front pages of the national media. He's now not merely an embarrassment for Illinois but for the nation. Burris, and all his Illinois corrupt baggage, are now the problem of the U.S. Senate and the Democratic leadership.

Right now, the Illinois House, lead by Michael Madigan, is debating a non binding resolution to send to the U.S. Senate to demand that Burris be removed from his seat. That's right, here in Illinois even a no brainer non binding resolution needs to be debated when it comes to taking any stand against corruption. Pat Quinn, who took over for Blago, is making his first major legislation a 50% increase in the income tax rate. That's because in this corrupt state cutting spending in order to balance the budget is simply not an option. Too many folks have been paid off with that spending.

Meanwhile, Burris is defiant and isn't planning on going anywhere. He's even making plans for a run in 2010. Why shouldn't he be? Given the environment he's from, he really hasn't done anything any different than his colleagues.

Reporting From the Open Meeting For Replacing Mike Qugley on the Cook County Board (Update)

Prologue: As of this writing, no one has yet been selected to replace Mike Quigley, now a U.S. Congressman, to the Cook County Board but I will update as information rolls in.

This morning I strolled into Truman College to witness the open meeting to select the replacement to Mike Quigley (now a U.S. Congressman elect replacing Rahm Emanuel in the 5th district) to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The entire spectacle was a study in the inner workings of government, irony and dichotomy. The meetin was open and easy to find and as the chosen head, Tom Tunney (my alderman in Chicago), to maximize transparency. Of course, the selection of a new board member won't be voted on by the public. Instead, a committee of 8 committee men will select the replacement. In fact, their votes won't even be equal. Here is the breakdown.

44 - Tom Tunney - 20.5%48 - Carol Ronen - 19.9%46 - Tom Sharpe - 19.1%43 - Michele Smith - 17.1%40 - Pat O'Connor - 8.8%39 - Randy Barnette - 5.8%50 - Ira
Silverstein - 3.8%49 - David Fagus - 2.3%32 - John Fritchey - 1.9%45 - Patrick Levar - 0.3%41 - Mary O'Connor - 0.3%

This breakdown is based on the weight of the vote for Quigley in his last election for Commissioner. For most of the rest of the country, this selection is a non issue. Here in Illinois this is of utmost importance. That's because Quigley was genuine agent of change, reform, and anti corruption, and unless he is replaced as such the County government will move towards the corrupt machine again.

The first candidate to speak was Committee Woman Michele Smith. If that name sounds familiar, it's because she is also on the committee to decide the candidate. She was also able to ask the other candidates questions. In the greatest bit of irony, she asked three questions of each including "what will you do to reduce the conflicts of interest in County government". (the county commissioners hold second jobs and often their private business comes in front of them as Commissioners). Now, I could state the obvious, but I will let my readers come up with their own thoughts about someone running for office, on the committee to decide said candidate for that office, and on the panel asking questions of said candidates asking questions abou CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.

The main themes of the meeting were: reform, the cook county sales tax, hospital funding, and efficient government. This happened for three reasons. First, again, Quigley has been a genuine agent of reform. Second, the indictment of Rod Blagojevich has made corruption the issue du jour. Third, Todd Stroger and his massive sales tax increase has made the issue of corruption especially relevant in Cook County itself. Furthermore, between the bloated budget and massive new sales tax, Todd Stroger did manage to cut the budget on Cook County Hospital also known as John Stroger Hospital.

Speaking of Todd Stroger...I decided to the some simple mathematics. At the beginning of the meeting, I decided to count the number of times that the name Todd Stroger was mentioned by either the candidates or the questionners. The exercise turned out to be easy because the number of times was ZERO. Stroger became the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Todd Stroger is the Cook County Board Commission President. He took over when he orchestrated a backroom deal in 2006 to replace his father, John, then President of Cook County, on the ballot when his father fell into a coma during his own run for re election. Since then, he has been the subject of so much corruption it is frankly to long to list here. (go here for a fairly full list)

With Stroger being the ghost, the candidates went through litany of promises for budget reform, consolidation of departments, and a series of boring and technical reforms of process. To me, much of this is pie in the sky. The reason the budget is bloated is because the County is run as a machine. To fix the budget, we need a commission ready to take on Stroger and the machine that runs it. Both the words CORRUPTION and PATRONAGE were also mentioned exactly ZERO times by both the commission candidates and questionners.

One of the easiest ways to get the budget under control is to cut some of the 25000 employees now employed by the County. That was one thing not suggested by anyone, though cutting employees takes real political courage because that means making an enemy of about 5000 very powerful and connected voters.

The favorite of both the Chicago Sun Times, Tribune, and the crowd at Truman College was Kimberly Walz. That's because for the last eight years Walz has been a top deputy to Commissioner Quigley, as both his budget director and most recently his chief of staff. His accomplishments have become her own. White male, Jim Madigan, pronounced that if he were elected it would be historic. That's because he would be the first openly gay politicians at the County and the state. (Tunney, it should be noted, is the only openly gay alderman in Chicago)

To truly understand the absurdity and irony of this "transparent" meeting, you had to stay till the end. The public was welcome to the speeches and to the question and answer session, though not allowed to ask questions themselves. Then, Tunney announced that the committee would retire in private where privately they would debate, horsetrade, and ultimately choose the next Commissioner. All right, he didn't characterize it as such, however this process would be in private. As such, the public was allowed to the dog and pony show of the speeches and the question and answers, however the public couldn't witness the process of voting for our new Commissioner. Transparency is alive and well, and Smith's curious view of conflict of interest, the whole spectacle smells much like corrupt politics as usual.

(Update)

Bridget Gainer, a former park district and city hall employee (and currently an executive at Aon), won the private vote to replace Quigley.

Democratic committeemen bypassed Mike Quigley’s top aide as his replacement on the Cook County Board, instead choosing today to seat former City Hall and Chicago Park District official Bridget Gainer.

Gainer, 40, was one of eight candidates — including Quigley’s former chief of staff Kimberly Walz — vying to serve out the remainder of Quigley’s 10th District county board term.

“I’m very pleased with the outcome and I’m looking forward to getting to work,” said Gainer, who works for Aon Corp., but previously had worked for the park district and in the city’s budget office.

Gainer was mentioned in the Tribune's editorial which ultimately endorsed Walz. I wish her luck in her new endeavor.

Taking Stock of Blago's Indictment

After months of a surreal spectacle that took the former governor on a whirlwind tour in which his bizarre behavior became so absurd that many folks became entertained, we have finally come back again to the realization that he isn't just a goof and a freak but that he is likely a corrupt criminal. Today's indictment is a laundry list of seedy criminal activity all done in direct conflict with the public trust. Many of the co conspirators are behind the scenes power players like William Cellini. The crimes make up each and every portion of RICO (Racketeering, Influence Corruption Organizations).

My prediction is that Blago won't actually spend all that much time in jail. Here's why. Ultimately, Blago is a clown and punk but also a somewhat bit player in an overall machine for which the overall corruption is much bigger. I don't think that Blago's conviction is the endgame for Fitzgerald. I believe that Fitzgerald would gladly offer Blago some sort of a deal if it means that he rolls on a lot of other folks. Of course, Fitzgerald has Blago dead in his cross hairs and he won't deal without some very significant cooperation.

That's where I believe that Blago can be quite helpful. One thing I am very confident of is that Blago can be very "helpful" if he feels there is enough in it for him. He knows quite a lot about how the corrupt Illinois political system works and he also quite a lot about specific corruption at all levels of government. Blago can be the one key player in bringing down a very significant portion of the entire corrupt political structure in Illinois. I believe that if Fitzgerald has an opportunity to bring a whole lot of people down, that he would allow for some sort of sweetheart deal for Blago. Make no mistake, a deal would be predicated on rolling on all sorts of people.

As for President Obama...his main vulnerability lies in Emil Jones. Jones is the recently retired President of the Illinois Senate. He is also Obama's original political mentor. He has been operating deep inside the Illinois political machine for decades. Finally, a couple months before Blago and Jones stood side by side against the entire Illinois political apparatus in blocking a tough bill against pay to play. If Jones were to be indicted, that would be a politician very close to Obama and he could no longer cry ignorance.

This story is just getting started and I believe the citizens of Illinois will soon be in for relief as a plethora of corrupt politicians will soon face the same fate as Blago himself.

Will Corrupt, Incompetent and Bloated State Governments Assure Economic Disaster

This morning my email was flooded with many local and state watch dog groups warning me that our new Governor, Pat Quinn, is planning on raising the state's income tax a whopping 50%. Cook County, the state' largest county, is already battered by the massive sales tax increase instituted about six months ago. Unlike President Obama's dubious promise, these taxes affect every single citizen. If enacted, try and imagine what a tax increase would do to the economy of the state of Illinois if it's done into the teeth of the recession.

Unfortunately, the state of Illinois is NOT the only state currently raising their taxes. More troubling is the list of large states doing it. The biggest offender is the state of California which raised several taxes amounting to a $13 billion added bill for California residents.

The revenue proposal would raise the state sales-tax rate to 8.25 percent from 7.25 percent and boost vehicle license fees to 1.15 percent from 0.65 percent of the value of an automobile. The package doesn’t include a gasoline tax increase that was included in previous versions.

It also adds 0.25 percentage points to all personal income tax brackets for two years. A resident currently taxed at 8 percent will face an 8.25 percent levy. That increase would drop to 0.125 percentage point depending upon how much money California receives under the economic stimulus measure signed by President Barack Obama. The budget anticipates at least $7.8 billion in such federal funds.

Now, just try and imagine the economy of the state of California, already ravaged, and what will happen to it once taxes are raised into the teeth of a recession. The state of New York is looking at some radical tax increases.

Gov. Paterson's proposed $121 billion budget hits New Yorkers in their iPods - and
nickels-and-dimes them in lots of other places, too.

Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an "iPod tax" that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other "digitally delivered entertainment services."

"We're going to have to take some extreme measures," Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget.

The proposal, which needs legislative approval, did not include broad-based income tax increases, but relied on smaller ones to raise $4.1 billion from cash-strapped New Yorkers.

Movie tickets, taxi rides, soda, beer, wine, cigars and massages would be taxed under Paterson's proposal. It also extends sales taxes to cable and satellite TV services and removes the tax exemption for clothes costing less than $110.

The state of New Jersey is looking to add a punishing income tax increase only to those making $500,000 and more. The state of Maryland is proposing to raise the tax on alcohol. Michigan plans to raise its gas tax.

On and on it goes. Most states will face a budget shortfall in 2009. Most of these states are very unlikely to cut spending. As such, they will only be able to borrow, if it's allowed, or raise taxes. So, throughout the country tax payers will have all sorts of taxes go up: income, sales, property, alcohol, gas, etc. This will affect each state in its own unique way.

One thing that no one can get around is that raising taxes into the teeth of a recession is totally counter productive. It only ecacerbates the recession. The United States is a collection of fifty states. If New York, California, and Illinois lead a host of states all raising their taxes, it is a terrible burden on the economy of the entire country. It will be very difficult to see any sort of a recovery if state governments, of most of the large states, are ensuring that their own states see their economies worsen even more into the teeth of the recession with a plethora of new taxes.

Not every state is doing it for sure. So far at least, the state of Ohio for instance has not announced any tax hikes. The state of Florida is only looking at an alcohol tax hike. The state of Pennsylvania is proposing a very modest increase in the state's cigarette tax (about 10 cents a pack), but Governor Rendell is also floating the idea of allowing counties the ability to raise their own individual sales tax. One need only go to Cook County to see what effect that has on any local economy.

Still, while this won't be seen everywhere in the country, it will be seen in a lot of places. In each of these places, for the most part, these tax increases will have a localizing effect of perpetuating the recession. Of course, it will be damn near impossible to have any sort of recovery when California, New York, and Illinois move toward economic abyss. The recovery is hard enough without an endless stream of states and localities raising taxes to make things even more difficult.

This is happening for a number of reasons. In Illinois, a combination of corruption which lead to then Governor Blagojevich simply buying votes through things like near universal health care and free public transportation for seniors contributed to this budget short fall. In California, the state was bloated with all sorts of social services not to mention a massive debt piled on by its growing illegal immigration policy. Whatever the reason, almost no state showed any fiscal restraint throughout the beginning of the decade when revenues were much higher. As such, they now all face budget shortfalls with no cushion. Furthermore, it is rare to find the politician with enough courage to propose spending cuts. As such, states all over will raise taxes on their citizens as we enter the teeth of the recession. By doing so, all these governments have just made the task of overcoming the recession just that much harder.

Some Thoughts On the Special 5th Election

With little fanfare, the 5th District of Illinois, held the primaries for the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel in the Congress. The turnout was below 10% of the overall size of the district. That should be disheartening to all in this district. The area is extremely corrupt and that corruption occurs in part because of voter's apathy to it. The turnout in this one is not the start of any new day where voters aren't apathetic.

The election had some surprising and even couraging results. The winner on the Democratic side was Mike Quigley. Quigley, the Cook County Commissioner in the area, was not only running as an outsider, but rather, he was an outsider. He made his name being a thorn not only in the side of Mayor Daley but Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Quigley has become a thorn in the side of Daley over Tax Increment Financing (TIF) which Daley uses to help move money to "friends and colleagues" on a variety of projects. Furthermore, Quigley has become an opponent of Daley's brother, John, on the Board.

Quigley made his name in opposing much of Stroger waste and corruption. Quigley opposed Stronger's massive tax increase, though he endorsed Stroger and also voted for Stroger's first budget.

Still, the machine candidate was Pat O'Connor and he finished a distant fourth. Sarah Feigenholtz, also a long time insider, finished second. Quigley's victory is an affirmation that the corruption of Blagojevich, Daley, Stroger, et al is on its way out. The election of a candidate that made his name as an outsider taking on the machine is a good start for this area.

On the Republican side, the most troubling aspect was that Rosana Polido, the winner, received as many votes, just over 1000, as the Democratic candidate way down the list. Whereas Quigley exceeded ten thousand votes, Polido's vote total was only one tenth of that.

Polido has made her name as a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment as well as local leader of the Minutemen Project. Still, the election of Polido plays on all the perceptions of the Republican as a party of extremists. Her association with the Minutemen may play well with faithful within the party however it will do nothing but turn off independents. The election of Polido insures that the general election will be a bloodbath for the Republicans in this district.

The Never Ending Saga of Rod Blagojevich Continues

When Roland Burris was chosen for the U.S. Senate by Rod Blagojevich, most in the media, and elsewhere, assured us that Burris was a man of unquestioned character. Most also agreed that there was nothing untoward in Blagojevich choosing Burris, himself, for the Senate seat. Both were dubious proclamations to me. After all, Burris had spent his entire career in Springfield. There are very few politicians that have spent their entire career in Springfield and wind up pure. In Springfield, there are three types of politicians. The first type are those that are corrupt themselves. Those are politicians like Blagojevich himself. They account for a significant number of the overall political class. The second type of politician are the enablers of the corrupt politicians. This sort of politician isn't corrupt themselves, but they do little to challenge their colleagues despite knowing that most of them are corrupt. This class includes the current President and Burris himself. He may not have been involved in much corruption himself, but he certainly did little to stop it while it occurred. The third are the genuine reformers though those are few and far between.

It also didn't make sense because while he was likely never in serious consideration, Burris was always a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat. In fact, he reached out to Blagojevich himself. I believe that Blagojevich was nothing if not thorough in his corruption. As such, it would only make sense that he would send out feelers to even Burris.

As such, the latest development in the Blagojevich saga shouldn't really be surprising.

On Saturday, Burris' spokesman told FOX News that Blagojevich's brother asked Burris for up to $10,000 in campaign donations before he was appointed to the U.S. Senate by then-Gov. Blagojevich of Illinois.

Sen. Burris didn't make the donation but failed to disclose the request under oath before an Illinois House impeachment panel.

The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on its Web site Saturday that Burris made the disclosure in a new affidavit sent to the head of the state committee that recommended Blagojevich be removed from office.

According to the newspaper, the affidavit is dated Feb. 5 -- three weeks after Burris was sworn in to fill President Obama's former Senate seat.

Burris says he sent the affidavit to Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie when he realized his testimony before the committee wasn't complete.

So, not coincidentally, but conveniently, Burris initially claimed that there was nothing untoward between himself and the Blagojevich camp, then, after he was sworn in, he admitted there were more contacts. Now, it comes out that Blagojevich's brother, Robert, asked for campaign donations in return for consideration of the Seat.

I can't get into Burris' head and so I don't know what he was thinking throughout the affair. This is however the M.O. for most Illinois politicians. If, in fact, he is impeached and removed, it will likely be because he underestimated the mood of the State toward corruption. This is the standard operating procedure of most corrupt politicians.

Burris has coveted the U.S. Senate for a while. If the current admission had come out right away, he would not have been allowed to get the seat. Admitting that prior testimony was "incomplete" is just the sort of thing that a politician usually skates from in normal times in Illinois. After all, how do you prove what someone did or didn't remember at any given time? It's just the sort of thing that a politician would get away with most of the time. Of course, now, most Illinois politicians have a renewed sense of integrity, and suddenly, the mood here in Illinois is toward honesty and integrity. It's just the sort of position that one can't get away with today.

Illinois Politics At Its Most Cynical

Even before Rod Blagojevich allegedly attempted to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat, the Illinois legislature attempted to stamp out the practice of pay to play with a new Ethics Bill that would forbid any politician from taking any money from any company in front of their committee that would be in a position that get any contract worth $50,000 or more. This ethics bill grew out of the scandal that ultimately convicted Anton Rezko on similar acts of pay to play.

The Ethics Bill just passed however there was an exemption for transportation contracts. Now, this local ABC report details just how deep in the pockets of major transportation contracts Blagojevich is.



Now that Blagojevich is under a dark cloud one would think that legislators would stay as far away from Blagojevich as possible. Not so. Last summer, legislators from both sides supported something called the Capital Bill. This is a $30 plus billion bill that would update the infrastructure on the highways in the state of Illinois. Now, just recently, they watered down the Ethics Bill to exempt transportation contracts from the legislation. In other words, any company that stands to be the recipient of any part of this $30 billion can continue to contribute to the very campaigns of each and every politician in a position to make this law, including the Governor. As the ABC report details, many of them have and continue to contribute in the very way that leads to pay to play.

So far, while all politicians on both sides have stood in unison in trying to remove the Governor from office, none of them have come out against their initial support for the Capital Bill. As such, the Capital Bill stands to possibly be passed with the Governor's signature as one of his last pieces of legislation before these same politicians remove him from office. Not only that, but it will be passed leaving in place the very structure that lead to the corruption that will likely remove him.

Blago, Burris, and the Democrat's Identity Politics

There is word reported from several media that prior to choosing Roland Burris, Governor Rod Blagojevich offered the U.S. Senate Seat to Congressman Danny Davis. Davis, like Burris, is African America. If you think this is mere coincidence, then I have bridge in Gaza to sell you.

To understand just how much this has the potential to rip the Democratic party apart you must understand the nature of the Democrat's race and identity politics.

Imagine, you are a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. You are now choosing between siding with the first African American President, who has gone on record as saying that Burris shouldn't be seated, and Burris, who would be the only African American Senator. There is the definition of threading a very sharp needle. If you are a member of the Congressional Black Caucus you are not necessarily in a much easier position.

What Rod Blagojevich has done is guaranteed a Democratic political civil war and he has guaranteed that race would play a major factor in the war. Nothing could have been more music to his ears than the sound of Congressman Bobby Rush uttering this blatant piece of race baiting.

to not hang or lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer

The introduction of race into this selection means that there is no easy way out for the Democratic Party. Unlike Republicans, which are much more based on ideology, the Democratic Party is much more based on race and identity. That's why the Democratic party counts among it the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. By introduction an African American candidate, in fact the only one that would be in the Senate, Blagojevich also made sure that race would be a central point in the dispute. African Americans have long been a bread and butter constituency for the Democrats. So much so have they, that often it appears the Democrats have taken that constituency for granted. Now, that constituency is guaranteed to be fractured among several factions.

The worst part of all of this is that Blagojevich has done this for the benefit of only one person, himself. Some people, like for instance Charles Krauthammer, have found amusement in his antics and brash hardball politics. While his antics may in fact be entertaining, their entertainment value should NOT dismiss the fact that they are also purely corrosive and destructive. Governor Rod Blagojevich has guaranteed a political civil war and the injection of race simply so that he can hang on to the seat that he himself abused so much. The Democrats will now be divided on racial and mostly militancy lines. Militants like Bobby Rush will see any rejection of Roland Burris as nothing more than a racist insult. Meanwhile the moderate forces will see any choice of Blago's as unacceptable. While those two factions battle it out, Blago will have achieved one of militarism most basic principles, divide and conquer.

There is no doubt that choosing Burris benefits Blago. Yet, it comes at the expense of his own party, the political system and the country at large. I hope that everyone keeps it in mind as the marvel in amusement at his bold and brazen nature. Political theater is nothing of not entertaining, but this one will be poisonous and destructive. Even this political opponent can recognize that anyone that is willing to stoke racial tension at the expense of his own party is proving once again just how much scum they are.

Blagojevich: Crazy or Crazy Like a Fox?

Only time will tell and I, personally, think that he is still mostly crazy. Yet, if he is crazy like a fox, then here is what he is attempting to do. First, on every level politically and legally, his choice of Roland Burris is one that the folks in both Springfield and in Washington D.C. will have to accept. The Huffington Post has a good break down of his solid legal footing.

Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint Roland Burris to Illinois' vacant Senate seat, even as the governor faces intense criminal scrutiny, is being treated as a crazy political power grab. It also seems very likely to be permanent.

A legal scholar writes in to say that precedent surrounding the Senate's right to not seat certain members seems very likely to fall in Burris' favor.

"My reading of Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, is that the Senate probably can NOT constitutionally block Burris from being seated," writes the constitutional law professor. "Art. I, sec. 5 gives each House the power to judge the qualifications of its own members. Powell holds (inter alia) that the qualifications to be judged are those stated in the Constitution (see Art. I, sec. 3, cl. 3 and the 17th Amendment)."

"Burris has met all of those qualifications: he's over 30, been a US citizen for 9 years, he's an Illinois resident; he was appointed by the executive authority of the state to fill a vacancy, pursuant to Illinois law."

If either someone in Springfield or in D.C. tries to stop Burris from being appointed, it will be challenged and likely heard by the Supreme Court. Legally, it appears the Supreme Court would have to side with Blagojevich. Blagojevich is Constitutionally mandated to choose the next Senator. That's what he's done. There is no evidence that the choice of Burris was untoward and so, there appears to be no legal reason to block Burris. Such a showdown would play right into the Governor's hands and hand him much needed political capital. He's already endeared himself to some elements within the Illinois African American community just by picking Burris.

Now, imagine if his choice was rejected either by the Secretary of State or by the U.S. Senate and then it was litigated in the Supreme Court which decided in his favor. Which side would look as though they are doing their Constitutional mandated duty and which side would look as though they are stepping outside of the Constitution?

Furthermore, how far is the Democratic Party willing to take this given how insulting it would be to the African American community. The reality is that the Governor needs nothing more than a political showdown he can win, and he just found it. The farther his opponents take this the bigger a victory it will be once he wins. Frankly, he has nothing to lose anyway.

We've all heard that his potential impeachment hearing is a political not criminal process. What does this mean? On one level, it means that the Illinois House and Senate merely need to find a reason that everyone will accept to remove him. They need not find any act of criminality. The most obvious reason is that the scandal has made him unfit to Govern. Yet, he has just chosen a U.S. Senate pick and that person accepted. What a political gift Burris handed to Blagojevich. Is there any better proof that he is fit to govern than doing his Constitutionally mandated duty of choosing a replacement for Barack Obama? In fact, by having every other political force near him try and take this duty away, it is they, not him, that look as though they are unfit.

Just think about it. He will make this pick. The entire political world will attempt to stop it and likely the U.S. Supreme Court will side with him. Then, Illinois legislators will say he is unfit to govern. Nothing will sound more absurd if this episode plays out as I just described.

Then, impeachment will hinge on something relating to the idea that what he is alleged to have done is so extraordinary that he can't be allowed to continue. Here, again, if Blagojevich is crazy like a fox, he will still have an angle. I have said over and over that Blagojevich knows where all the proverbial bodies are buried. In such a case, all he needs to do is turn the impeachment into a kangaroo court. What Blagojevich did maybe the most brazen act of corruption, but it certainly is not out of the ordinary. Most of the folks about to accuse him of corruption are no less corrupt, just less brazen. If he turns the tables on everyone and throws accusations back at his accusers, what we'll have is a bunch of crooks proclaiming the Governor is not fit to lead because he's a crook.

As John Kerry once said that's like having Tony Soprano lecturing us on violence. Blagojevich can argue that if he isn't fit to lead, then most of the legislature will need to go with him. If he plays it right, he could even be portrayed as the crusader finally exposing the reality of the system in Illinois. If he did some sort of a vague mea culpa in which he acknowledged "mistakes", he could say that he is ready to use this opportunity to overhaul the system, but that he will not be "lectured on honesty and integrity by the likes of Emil Jones and Michael Madigan". In fact, he will have a point. The audacious irony is that the Illinois legislature is in no position to lecture him on corruption. They are no better. An impeachment in which his alleged crimes are on display would be nothing more than that. If it came down to trying to remove him from office for his alleged crimes, you can bet that every piece of dirty laundry would be aired before he was removed. If he's crazy like a fox, that's exactly what he should do.

Blagojevich's Stunning Power Play

It appears that Governor Rod Blagojevich will stun the political world and name a successor to Barack Obama's Senate seat.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich reportedly is planning to name a replacement to fill Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat Tuesday, even though his attorney said just two weeks ago that the governor would not exercise his appointment powers in the face of Senate objections.

Blagojevich is facing federal charges and impeachment proceedings after being accused of trying to sell Obama's empty U.S. Senate seat. He plans to name former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the vacancy, according to the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal.

If his only goal is self preservation, then this move is a brilliant piece of brazen political jujitsu. Blagojevich is fiercely maintaining his innocence and so he intends to govern. The seat needs a replacement, it's his role to replace the seat, and so he is doing it.

This simple act just made it that much more difficult to impeach him. That's because it affirms his authority. Just by finding someone to accept the nomination, he implicitly shows that he has the capability of Governing. The United States Senate still has the ability to override the pick. I can only assume that Blagojevich thinks that Reid et al don't have the stomach for that or he sees no other alternative to try and maintain his power.

Burris is the former Attorney General, Comptroller, and a product of the same political machine that produced Blagojevich himself. On that level, it shouldn't necessarily be a surprise that he accepted. He has been lobbying for the job since Blagojevich's arrest. Still, I thought that even in the swamp of Springfield no one would ever accept the job from Blagojevich himself. Burris showed that there really is no brazen, corrupt, back room deal too low for the political swamp in Springfield.

Blagojevich continues to be a gift to the Republican Party. If the Senate actually allows Burris to take the seat, that will be used by each and every Republican running for national office in 2010. If they deny Burris, it will set up a Democrat on Democrat food fight in which no one can tell just how much dirty laundry will be aired. Meanwhile, Blagojevich is acting like the political equivalent of a wounded fighter. He is desperately swinging with any political punch he can find. First, he defiantly refused to step down. Then, he demanded that multiple members of Obama's administration be subpeonad. Now, he is announcing a replacement for Obama as though nothing has happened. You can bet that his political gun is nowhere near out of ammo, and the more desperate he gets the more extreme his political moves will become.

The only winners of any of this are the Republican Party both statewide and nationally as well as political junkies like me, who will be treated to great political theater. The Democratic Party is the big loser, but the citizens of both Illinois and the nation will be treated to spectacle that no one really needs.