On December 10, Senate Democrats sent a letter to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich writing: ““We write to insist that you step down and…under no circumstances make an appointment to fill the vacant Illinois Senate seat.” The letter further threatened that if Blagojevich ignored their warning, “we would be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated.” Well now that Blagojevich has appointed Roland Burris to President-elect Barack Obama’s old senate seat, most Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Harry …
It has been quite a year for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). As the Los Angeles Times documents today, despite the fact 2008 was filled with SEIU corruption, intimidation, and violence, the largest union in North America still managed to spend $85 million electing Democrats across the country and President-elect Barack Obama to the White House. One shudders to think about the influence this multi-billion dollar racket will have at the federal level in the coming year. But before we get to their coming policy priorities, lets review their …
The arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, may end up being one of the most serious public corruption cases prosecuted by the Justice Department in many years. The 78-page complaint and accompanying affidavit of FBI Special Agent Daniel Cain reads like something out of a Mickey Spillane novel, particularly the snippets of conversations between Blagojevich and Harris (with the Governor’s wife yelling epithets in the background) recorded on the wiretaps placed on the Governor’s telephones. The charges of conspiracy to commit mail and …
Just two days ago, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) stood with about 240 union members inside the shuttered factory of Republic Doors and Windows. The company had closed the factory before providing its 240 workers their due severance pay and accrued vacation time. Blagojevich was determined to bring the full power of the governor’s office to bear to make sure the union members got paid. Blagojevich threatened to stop the state of Illinois from doing all business with Republic’s creditor, Bank of America, if it did not help the laid-off …
December 8, 2008: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) orders state agencies to stop doing business with Bank of America until it reinstates a line of credit for the company Republic Windows and Doors to either keep operating or provide severance and vacation pay to employees. On December 2, the company had announced it was shutting down, and the workers subsequently occupied the plant in protest. December 9, 2008: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) is arrested and charged with attempting to leverage appointment of a U.S. Senator for personal financial gain …
