Roger Eddy Article, Special Impeachment Committee Edition, January 5 th, 2009
First of all, I want to take a second to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I truly hope that 2009 is the best year ever for you and your family. With the economic downturn the United States experienced in 2008 and the terrible lack of leadership here in Illinois that we have experienced for quite some time, let’s all hope that 2009 is a much better year. I have a great deal of faith that it will be.
There were a couple of interesting twists last week in the ongoing impeachment proceedings against the governor. In what was considered a surprise to some people, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald asked a Federal Judge to release a portion of the wiretap tapes that are the foundation for the criminal complaint that led to the arrest of Rod Blagojevich on December 9 th. The Judge will make his ruling on Monday, January 5 th as to whether or not the Special Impeachment Investigative Committee will be allowed to hear a portion of the tapes.
That somewhat surprising request by Fitzgerald resulted in the impeachment committee only meeting for one day last week. However, that one day allowed the governor’s lawyer an opportunity to make his case for why the governor should not be impeached. The presentation lasted about 2 hours. During the presentation, the governor’s lawyer basically stated that the wiretap that led to the governor’s arrest was illegally obtained and that the governor did not abuse the power of the Executive Branch. He referred to the governor’s comments on the wiretap, which included several direct quotes of the governor clearly attempting to trade the U.S. Senate seat for personal gain, as “chatter”. It was just “jabbering” according to the lawyer for the governor.
His argument regarding the governor’s attempts to by-pass the joint committee on legislative rules (JCAR), the procurement and audit problems, plus allegations of illegal hiring and firing was that the governor had perhaps a style that was offensive, but these are not grounds for impeachment. He praised the governor’s efforts and strong-handed “tactics” as attempts to solve problems facing the people of Illinois.
The other significant development was the fact that the governor decided to name a replacement for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama. It was not very long ago that the governor’s lawyer stated that the governor would NOT name a replacement. There are very few people who believe that any appointment by Blagojevich can pass the “smell test”. In what most consider possibly a final act of defiance, Blagojevich named former Attorney General and Comptroller Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate seat.
Whether or not Burris ever takes a seat as the next U.S. Senator from Illinois is now a matter before the Illinois Supreme Court. If the Illinois Supreme Court sides with Burris, it is likely that the U.S. Senate will attempt to block him from taking office. That will then be the subject of additional court cases at the federal level and could lead to the U.S. Supreme Court. It will be interesting to see what happens with that process. However, the fact of the matter is that it should never have come to this.
A few weeks ago, the General Assembly was called into session for the purpose of hearing legislation related to a special election to fill this U.S. Senate seat. The legislation was never called for a vote and the way was paved for the governor to make a case that he should go ahead and name the replacement. The failure to advance legislation that would have allowed for the people to decide who would be the next Senator from Illinois is clearly the responsibility of Speaker Madigan and Senate President Emil Jones. They have once again enabled Blagojevich in much the same way they have for the past six years.
Don’t think for a second that Blagojevich has been able to do all of this without the majority party supporting him for the past six years. Try as they might to distance themselves from him now, there are several facts that prove the majority party has enabled Blagojevich every step of the way. We could start with the special legislation passed to give Blagojevich unprecedented power to shift money within the budget. How about the fund raids and unbalanced budgets that were passed for several years by the majority party? Or, how about the fact that Speaker Madigan was the co-chair of the governor’s re-election campaign in 2006? Like it or not, these are FACTS and must be exposed during the next several weeks. Just read the hundreds of pages of evidence that has been submitted to the committee investigating impeachment and check out the dates that some of the alleged wrong-doing took place. Some of the allegations come from 2003 and 2004.
The week ahead should prove interesting. It appears as if the impeachment committee will make a decision soon as to whether or not we will recommend impeachment to the full House. Speaker Madigan has scheduled a special session starting Wednesday, January 7 th for the entire week and through the weekend. The impeachment committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday, January 6 th. It is possible that the full House will get a recommendation to consider by Wednesday and the impeachment proceedings could begin in the House as early as that Wednesday special session date.
The House is also scheduled to meet for two final days January 12th and 13 th prior to the swearing in of the new General Assembly on January 14 th. So, there will be other important items that we will vote on as well. I will do my best to keep you up to date on all of the action.
You can follow everything by going to www.ilga.gov and clicking on the link to the Special investigative Committee under the House of Representatives heading and you can also watch the action on the House by accessing a link at that site.
Once things settle down, I will try to give you an update regarding my legislative agenda for 2009. While all of the impeachment proceedings have been going on, I have also been developing a list of important legislative items that I want to pursue this year. With the change in leadership in the Senate and possibly other big changes on the way, I am hopeful that the gridlock which we have experienced the past few years will subside and we can get some important work done for the people of Illinois.
Keep in contact in the coming days and weeks at reddyunit1@aol.com. You can also phone me at 618-563-4128 or 217-558-1040. Check my website, www.peopleforeddy.com for updates as well.