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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been saying all along that the Senate’s intent to block anyone appointed to the chamber by Gov. Blagojevich is not about the appointee, but about the process of the appointment by the accused gov.
If Blago appointee Roland Burris does get blocked (likely) and does pursue the Senate seat in court (also likely) a precedent will be set because a case like this has never come before the courts.
Larry at ArchPundit, traditional media like the Chicago Tribune, national political pubs like Politico, and many others are all referring to Powell vs. McCormack as a precedent, but that case really was different in several respects.
First, Rep. Adam Clayton Powell was an incumbent Congressman who had been reelected by his constituents in 1966 despite the allegations of corruption against him. There were no allegations of impropriety regarding the actual election process however.
Second, despite his election to the office, the House adopted HR 1 in 1967 refusing to seat Powell and, among other things, setting up a special investigative committee to look into the allegations against him. Speaker John McCormack presided over the chamber as HR 278 was passed later that year, accepting that special committee’s recommendation and again refusing to seat him.
Third, HR 1 passed by 363 to 65 (well above a 2/3rds majority) to exclude him and form the select committee but HR 278 to confirm the committee’s findings and have him excluded and declare his seat vacant passed by only a simple majority (307 to 116).
The key factors in my non-lawyerly opinion (maybe actual lawyer Team America will stop by) are:
- Powell was elected by the people, in an election apparently free from any improprieties
- The House voted to exclude Powell, first temporarily (which passed by more than 2/3rds) and second permanently (by less than 2/3rds). They did note vote to expel him.
There is some gray area here so that is why a precedent will be set if it goes that far.
Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution says each chamber of the legislature is the sole judge of elections, the sole definer of rules for governing itself. It also says that each chamber has the ability to expel a member upon the vote of a 2/3rds supermajority.
Roland Burris has been appointed, not elected. Though it does clearly state the Senate is the judge over the integrity of elections for its members, the Constitution does not state anything about the Senate being the judge of an appointment process to fill an open seat.
The court will need to define whether or not the Senate has the power to judge the integrity of an appointment process as well as the Constitutionally-defined power to judge the election process.
Also, Majority Leader Reid has so far advocated excluding anyone – no matter their qualifications as an individual – appointed by Gov. Blagojevich due to the nature of the allegations against him (in part, that he tried to extort Senate hopefuls who sought his appointment).
The exclusion aspect – not even allowing someone in the proverbial front door – may be a sticking point. Again, the Constitution does not specifically say anything about excluding someone who is otherwise nominally eligible for the office.
The Supreme Court did say in the Powell case that the legislature may not “exclude” anyone who is otherwise qualified under the Constitution’s provisions (for the Senate, a US citizen over the age of 30 which Burris certainly fulfills). But the decision also specifically cites the lack of a 2/3rds majority in the HR 278 vote for said exclusion.
It’s quite likely that more than 2/3rds of the Senate would vote to exclude Burris. And, if the courts force the Senate to accept him because he is “qualified” under the Constitution, the Senate may then opt to expel him which is very clearly allowed under the Constitution (the Constitution does not require that a rationale for expulsion be given by the supermajority voting to expel a member).
Bottom line, there seems to be enough gray area here for Reid to make a good argument that the Senate has the right to exclude an appointee because the appointment process itself was improper and lacked integrity. Further, if Reid can achieve a 2/3rds supermajority for such a move it bolsters his argument for setting such a precedent.
However, if he wants to be extra sure to make it stick he should put a super-majority together to just expel (rather than exclude) any Blagojevich appointee from the 111th Congress outright.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.
Full disclosure, if you read the following you’ll know my involvement with the Wheeling Township Dems… 
The executive board passed this resolution the day the House voted unanimously to form its special impeachment investigation committee:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 16, 2008The Executive Board of the Wheeling Township Democratic Organization adopted the following resolution in response to the current investigation of the Governor of the State of Illinois:
WHEREAS, on December 9, 2008, United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, acting on behalf of the People of the United States, filed a criminal complaint against Gov. Milorad “Rod” R. Blagojevich alleging several instances of corruption; and,
WHEREAS, these alleged activities negatively impact the reputation, endeavors and well-being of the great State of Illinois and her good citizens; and,
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 14 of the Constitution of the State of Illinois assigns to the State House of Representatives the sole power to conduct Legislative investigations to determine the existence of Cause for Impeachment and assigns to the State Senate the sole power to try Executive and Judicial officers for impeachment and removal from office and further states that judgment on impeachment shall not extend beyond removal from office and disqualification to hold any public office in the State of Illinois, meaning that any such impeachment investigation and trial in the Legislature is not a criminal or civil matter but solely a political prerogative of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, on December 15, 2008, the House of Representatives of the 95th General Assembly of the State of Illinois did unanimously vote in support of House Resolution 1650 to create a Special Investigative Committee for the matter of making a recommendation as to whether cause exists for the impeachment of Gov. Milorad “Rod” R. Blagojevich; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that Committeewoman Kathleen L. Sances, President Robert J. Nesvacil and a majority of the Executive Board of the Wheeling Township Democratic Organization – a volunteer-driven organization representing regular members in good standing of the Democratic Party of Wheeling Township, Illinois – do declare our support for the Special Investigative Committee as described in HR1650 and wish them godspeed as they swiftly and judiciously carry out their work.
AGREED, this 15th Day of December, 2008, by the Democratic Committteewoman and a majority of the Executive Board of the Wheeling Township Democratic Organization.
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If you ask me, Blago ought to be exiled…
From AP news reports on Blago being taken into custody:
According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper’s editorial board who had been critical of him fired.
Oy.
We’re all born with a friggin’ conscience. Where’d Blago end up losing his?
Yes, governor, it’s beginning to smell a lot like Watergate, all throughout the state.
The Tribune, NBC Channel 5 (WMAQ-TV), CNN and more are all reporting that FBI agents took Gov. Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris into custody this morning.
Channel 5 has the 76-page indictment. NBC-Chicago reports:
“The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said. “They allege that Blagojevich put a ‘for sale’ sign on the naming of a United States Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism. The citizens of Illinois deserve public officials who act solely in the public’s interest, without putting a price tag on government appointments, contracts and decisions,” he added.
I can’t find the video online yet (it literally happened a minute ago) but the most priceless moment of the TV coverage so far has to be WMAQ’s Maryanne Ahern reporting from across the guv’s Chicago bungalow, with a dog doing his business on the guv’s front lawn in the background… About sums it up.
Can the legislature please impeach him now? Pretty please?
How long must we Illinoisans wait before Gov. Pat Quinn takes to the podium?
This news, while long expected by just about everyone, is still incredibly frustrating and sad on the heels of the guy Blago replaced … convicted felon ex-Gov. George Ryan.
Let me start out like I usually do by saying that I’ve met Mark Kirk several times and he’s always seemed to be a genuinely nice guy.
But why the heck is he severely stretching the truth (ie, fibbing, spinning, and muckraking) about union wages and benefits with regards to the much-discussed “bailout” of Detroit?
On his own Congressional webpage, using House of Representatives letterhead no less, Rep. Kirk claims that:
In sum, General Motors pays $78 per hour of output in pay, benefits, care and pensions. Toyota pays just $35 per hour.
It’s very curious (and highly suspect) that Rep. Kirk offers absolutely no reference, source or evidence for that claim. How could he? While semantically he may be correct by stipulating “In sum” … as I and other honest folks have already explained, those sorts of numbers are based on the fuzziest of partisan math. FYI, common sense tells us $78/hour equals combined salary and bennies of $156,000 ($78 x 40 hours per week x 50 work weeks in a year).
Gimme a break! The UAW ain’t so powerful that they’re able to get Joe and Jane Sixpack 156k a year.
Essentially, to get the highest possible “per hour” number with their wacky math, conservative partisans like Congressman Kirk have taken every single employee (whether currently working or retired) and added up the costs of all the salaries (for those currently working, since retirees don’t earn salaries any more) and all benefits (for everyone, working and retired … insurance, pensions, etc.) and then dividing that big number by only the number of hours of those employees still working. In other words, all the retirees are taken out of the equation even though their benefits are left in.
It gets a shockingly high number… like 78 smackers an hour… but it’s also just shockingly misleading spin. (Who knows where the cons are getting $35/hr for Toyota, but this false range of 70-80/hour for domestic vs 30-35/hour for foreign also seems to be routinely bandied about … even in the not-so-liberal traditional media like – shudder – the NY Times.)
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PS: It’s not even really a bailout. Unlike the current Bush/Paulson plan of just handing out billions to ailing banks as if they’ve just won the lotto, all Detroit is looking for are low-interest bridge loans to help get across the deepest part of the ongoing Bush Recession. And the Big Three’s CEOs, and the unions representing their employees, have said they’re willing to consider strict oversight … again, unlike the unsupervised windfall Treasurer Paulson is doling out to banks and lenders.
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PPS: Congressman Kirk opens has fallacy-based letter with this populist rejoinder, “Their [CEOs'] lack of preparation goes far beyond their travel to Washington in executive jets and failure to economize on executive pay.”
It’s a bit bizarre to see conservatives complaining about CEO pay and private jets, to say the least. What’s that I smell? A whiff of “opportunism” perhaps?
U.S. Steel to idle Granite City Works steel mill
Lower demand for steel used in the automotive and construction industries is leading United States Steel Corp. to temporarily idle the Granite City Works steel mill and two others, the company said late Tuesday afternoon.
As of mid-November, the Granite City plant employed more than 2,100 hourly workers and salaried employees. U.S. Steel would not say Tuesday how many of the area workers would be laid off but said about 3,500 workers across the three plants would be affected.
(h/t Kevin over at CapFax; emphasis added)
I’ve posted twice before (one, two) asking why the heck conservative partisans are blaming unions for Detroit’s economic woes; even noting that cons are using very fuzzy math to promote their partisan spin. Others have been calling the GOP out for its baloney on the issue as well. All indications are that it is completely management’s hands — unions made major concessions, even some mid-contract, and have been advocating for better, more efficient cars for literally decades.
When the execs at HQ decide to push SUVs instead of more fuel-efficient vehicles and use plastic clips instead of metal ones … the unions have no control over those matters.
When the execs at banks and lenders decide to use their newly deregulated options (thanks to Republican Senators in the late 90s) to push ever riskier loans, even falsifying loan docs to ram through more loans, with little fear or forethought of the consequences … the auto unions have no control over those matters.
That said, I do favor limited, highly supervised (ie, “regulated”) bailout options for the Big Three. I was also ok with bailing out the white collar folks at the banks — albeit with the same push for tight scrutiny, which unfortunately has absolutely not happened.
Detroit is looking for bridge loans to make it through tough times. The laissez-faire, let-the-market-decide approach advocated by modern conservatives will have the unfortunate and very direct effect (as seen by US Steel’s action, above) of pushing our year-old Recession even deeper.
We’ve been through this before in this country. When Pres. Hoover was overseeing the Great Depression nearly three-quarters of a century ago his own laissez-faire, let-the-market-decide policies led to long lines at the soup kitchen for out of work Americans. When FDR took over, his progressive, hands-on approach improved things literally overnight … and it wasn’t until he grew overconfident and pulled back the reins a bit that the economy’s improvements actually (again, almost literally overnight) began reverting backwards.
Despite the conservatives anti-union rants and false economic spin, a progressive approach — taking a direct, all-hands-on-deck view of economic policy — is exactly what we need.
…And you can ask those 3,500 families who rely on a job at U.S. Steel why.
(For the record: Yes, it should be regulated. The Bush/Paulson free-for-all clearly hasn’t been working since Congress approved the $700 billion national lottery for bank execs.)
