[Peace-discuss] somebody didn't take thier ethics test ...

Tue Dec 9 12:17:39 CST 2008

The following is the official statement from the Illinois Green Party
on the arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich:

We in the Illinois Green Party are deeply troubled by the arrest of
Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief-of-staff John Harris.  The
Governor is charged with attempting to personally profit from his
power to appoint a person to the U.S. Senate.  While we recognize that
the accused are innocent until proven guilty, we must also admit that
we are not surprised by these allegations.  We have seen a long
pattern of pay-to-play from Blagojevich, and indeed, a long pattern of
pay-to-play throughout Illinois politics for years.  The long sordid
history of corruption in Illinois must finally come to an end.

The Green Party has always stood for accountability, transparency, and
clean government through clean elections.  We reject all corporate
campaign contributions, advocate for public financing, and have long
pushed for at least caps on individual contributions, so that our
elections will no longer be pay-to-play.

We call on the Illinois General Assembly to hold an emergency session to:

1) Develop legislation to give the people of Illinois the ability to
recall their public officials;

2) Consider the impeachment of Governor Blagojevich;

3) Amend Illinois statute to provide for an open process for filling
this and future U.S. Senate seats, preferably through a special
election, as the process for filling the current vacancy has been
irrevocably tainted;

4) Reform the campaign finance system, banning all corporate campaign
contributions, and installing caps on individual contributions;

5) Further reform the campaign finance system to eliminate
pay-for-play, by barring or severely limiting contributions from
political appointees, and mandating that political committees return
donations made from individuals subsequently appointed to public
office, boards, or commissions.

These are the first steps which need to be taken to help instill
integrity, transparency, and accountability to our state government.

Phil Huckelberry
Chair, Illinois Green Party

--- end statement ---

If you want to clean up government and fight back against the corrupt
corporate hacks, PLEASE consider running with the Greens. Especially at the
local level here!

-Walter

On Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 11:17 AM, Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Ill. Gov. arrested in Obama successor probe  By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated
> Press Writer Mike Robinson, Associated Press Writer 30 mins ago
>
> CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on Tuesday on charges
> that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left
> vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.
>
> 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, according to a federal criminal complaint. In return for
> state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's
> editorial board who had been critical of him fired.
>
> A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was
> intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to
> sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and
> his wife, Patti.
>
> Otherwise, Blagojevich considered appointing himself. The affidavit said
> that as late as Nov. 3, he told his deputy governor that if "they're not
> going to offer me anything of value I might as well take it."
>
> "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know,
> and therefore I can drive a hard bargain," Blagojevich allegedly said later
> that day, according to the affidavit, which also quoted him as saying in a
> remark punctuated by profanity that the seat was "a valuable thing — you
> just don't give it away for nothing."
>
> The affidavit said Blagojevich also discussed getting a substantial salary
> for himself at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with
> labor unions.
>
> It said Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate
> boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director's fees.
>
> He also allegedly discussed getting campaign funds for himself or possibly
> a post in the president's cabinet or an ambassadorship once he left the
> governor's office. He noted becoming a U.S. senator might remake his image
> for a possible presidential run in 2016, according to the affidavit. And he
> allegedly said a Senate seat would also provide him with corporate contacts
> if he needed a job and present an opportunity for his wife to work as a
> lobbyist.
>
> "I want to make money," the affidavit quotes him as saying in one
> conversation.
>
> The affidavit said Blagojevich expressed frustration at being "stuck" as
> governor and that he would have access to greater resources if he were
> indicted while in the U.S. Senate than while sitting as governor.
>
> U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that "the breadth
> of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering."
>
> "They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United
> States senator," Fitzgerald said."
>
> Messages left for Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero and at the governor's
> press office were not immediately returned Tuesday morning.
>
> Among those being considered for the Senate post include U.S. Reps. Danny
> Davis and Jesse Jackson Jr.
>
> The affidavit outlined a Nov. 10 call between Blagojevich, his wife, his
> chief of staff — John Harris, who also was arrested Tuesday — and a group
> of advisers in which Harris allegedly suggested working out an agreement
> with the Service Employees International Union.
>
> Under the plan, Blagojevich would appoint a new senator who would be
> helpful to the president-elect and in turn get a job as head of Change to
> Win, a group formed by the union. The union would get an unspecified favor
> from Obama later.
>
> Nothing in the court papers suggested Obama had any part in the discussion.
> In fact, Blagojevich allegedly said in the same conversation that Obama most
> likely would not appoint him as secretary of health and human services or to
> an ambassadorship because of the negative publicity that has surrounded the
> governor for three years.
>
> One day later, according to the affidavit, Blagojevich allegedly told an
> associate he knew Obama wanted a specific Senate candidate but "they're not
> going to give me anything except appreciation." He finished the remark with
> an expletive.
>
> Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an
> attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions.
>
> Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a
> federal investigation involving an alleged $7 million scheme aimed at
> squeezing kickbacks out of companies seeking business from the state.
> Federal prosecutors have acknowledged they're also investigating "serious
> allegations of endemic hiring fraud" under Blagojevich, who has a $177,412
> salary, though it's unclear whether he accepts the total.
>
> Political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko who raised money for the campaigns
> of both Blagojevich and Obama is awaiting sentencing after being convicted
> of fraud and other charges. Blagojevich's chief fundraiser, Christopher G.
> Kelly, is due to stand trial early next year on charges of obstructing the Internal
> Revenue Service.
>
> According to Tuesday's complaint, Blagojevich schemed with Rezko,
> millionaire-fundraiser turned federal witness Stuart Levine and others to
> get financial benefits for himself and his campaign committee.
>
> Federal prosecutors said Blagojevich and the chairman of his campaign
> committee have been speeding up corrupt fundraising activities in the last
> month to get as much money as possible before the end of the year when a new
> law would curtail his ability to raise contributions from companies with
> state contracts worth more than $50,000.
>
> According to the affidavit, agents learned Blagojevich was seeking $2.5
> million in campaign contributions by the end of the year, with a large part
> allegedly to come from companies and individuals who have gotten state
> contracts or appointments.
>
> The affidavit also outlines Blagojevich conversations related to Tribune
> Co., which has been hoping to sell Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago
> Cubs which the publishing giant also owns.
>
> Blagojevich was quoted in court papers as telling Harris in a profanity
> laced Nov. 4 conversation that his recommendation to Tribune executives was
> to fire the editorial writers "and get us some editorial support."
>
> Harris is quoted as telling the governor Nov. 11 that an unnamed Tribune
> Owner, presumably CEO Sam Zell, "got the message and is very sensitive to
> the issue."
>
> The affidavit said Harris quoted a Tribune financial adviser as saying cuts
> were coming at the newspaper and "reading between the lines he's going after
> that section," apparently meaning editorial writers. Blagojevich is quoted
> as saying: "Oh, that's fantastic."
>
> "Wow," Blagojevich allegedly replied. "Keep our fingers crossed. You're the
> man. Good job, John."
>
> Harris allegedly told Blagojevich in his conversation with the financial
> adviser he had singled out deputy editorial page editor John McCormick as
> "somebody who was the most biased and unfair."
>
> After hearing that, Blagojevich allegedly stressed to the head of a Chicago
> sports consulting firm that it was important to provide state aid for a
> Wrigley Field sale.
>
> Blagojevich took the chief executive's office in 2003 as a reformer
> promising to clean up former Gov. George Ryan's mess.
>
> Ryan, a Republican, is serving a 6-year prison sentence after being
> convicted on racketeering and fraud charges. A decade-long investigation
> began with the sale of driver's licenses for bribes and led to the
> conviction of dozens of people who worked for Ryan when he was secretary of
> state and governor.
>
> FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said federal agents arrested the governor and
> Harris simultaneously at their homes at 6:15 a.m. and took them to the
> Chicago FBI headquarters.
>
> He did not have any details about Blagojevich's arrest, only that he was
> cooperative with federal agents.
>
> "It was a very calm setting," he said.
>
> The governor was to appear later Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan
> Nolan to answer the charges. The time was not immediately set.
>
> ___
>
> Associated Press Writer Don Babwin contributed to this report.
> Copyright (c) 2008 The Associated Press.
>
>
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