Mr. Brown Is Ready to Go To Washington

He may be taking a page from Roland Burris' playbook. Remember when Dems threatened not to seat him because they didn't like the way he came into office and Burris showed up on Capitol Hill with the press in tow and embarrassed Harry Reid? Looks like Scott Brown may have similar ideas:

Insurgent Massachussetts Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown told CNN he expects to be installed quickly as Massachusetts' next senator should he win the state's special election Tuesday.

Asked about the state of the race, Brown said he's still campaigning as if he's running "down 30 points."

But sounding confident, the GOP state senator says he's made plans to travel to Washington Friday if he's victorious.

Brown warned any plan to quickly pass health care reform before the results are certified in Massachusetts would send the wrong message to Americans.

The key will be the margin of victory (of course, assuming Brown wins). If the margin looks like what we're seeing in the last flight of polls (6%-10%) the Dems will have a very tough time stalling Brown's seating in the Senate. Anything closer will give them an excuse to wait for certification or the results from a recount if that becomes necessary.

For what it's worth, when Ted Kennedy won that seat in 1962 he was seated in the Senate the following day. It can be done.

Something for Congress to Aspire to

And it's just a short walk from the Capitol:

No known ghosts -- but the Historic Congressional Cemetery is home to a number of storied Americans, including Abraham Lincoln's most famous photographer; one of the conspirators who was hanged for Lincoln's assassination; the original twentieth-century G-Man; and the composer who gave the "Monte Python" gang their start.

Not too shabby for the graveyard long overshadowed by its more famous cousin across the river, in Arlington.

Tucked away in Southeast Washington, a short walk from the Capitol Building, the Congressional Cemetery began as the burying ground for the local parish of Christ Church, and welcomed its first souls in 1807. For decades, the cemetery served as the capital's sole place of burial for members of Congress. In all, nineteen senators and seventy-one members of the House of Representatives lie here.

And the good news is there's room for plenty more.

Chicago Olympic Games Bid Quote of the Day

From Illinois Senator Roland Burris (h/t Bret Baier):

"We have to look what happened in the past years and what the image of America over the past 8 years and the world. And so Obama has not had the time to turn that around on the world stage. And Chicago now is a victim of all that negativism.. created over the past 8 years."

I'm sure Burris is just disappointed that he won't get to carve the 2016 Olympic Games on his marble memorial.

More Trouble for Burris

The saga of Roland Burris continues:

The son of embattled Sen. Roland Burris is a federal tax deadbeat who landed a $75,000-a-year state job under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich five months ago, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Blagojevich's administration hired Roland W. Burris II as a senior counsel for the state's housing authority Sept. 10 -- about six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service slapped a $34,163 tax lien on Burris II and three weeks after a mortgage company filed a foreclosure suit on his South Side house.

A spokeswoman for the Illinois Housing Development Authority indicated Wednesday there was nothing improper about Burris II's employment by the agency, whose mission includes overseeing mortgage programs for low-income home buyers and anti-foreclosure initiatives.

Burris II's hiring, however, raises more questions about Sen. Burris' interactions with Blagojevich and his inner circle at a time when the governor was soliciting Sen. Burris for campaign contributions and Burris was angling to have Blagojevich appoint him to the Senate seat once held by President Obama. ...

Blagojevich appointed Burris to that seat in late December after Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell the vacancy to the highest bidder.

Burris II, 42, once worked at the same law firm as his father: Burris, Wright, Slaughter & Tom. That firm merged with another in the fall.

Burris II had resolved two federal tax liens in 2005 before being hit with the $34,163 lien in July. That lien against his property seeks unpaid taxes for 2004, 2005 and 2007.

A month after the IRS filed the lien, Burris II's lender filed its foreclosure suit. Since Burris II and his wife got the $372,000 mortgage on July 18, 2006, they've paid less than $3,000 on it, the suit alleges. The balance due is $406,685, including interest and penalties.

The fact that Burris II faces foreclosure but is working at a housing-related state agency "reeks of hypocrisy," said state Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), who was the first to call on Sen. Burris to testify before the impeachment panel.

Chicago politics at its best.

Burris Won't Quit But He Won't Run Again Either

That's the message that Sen. Roland Burris will be giving to his senior Senator Dick Durbin:

Lynn Sweet has the scoop: "Burris will also be sending, directly or indirectly (maybe this is it) two messages: he will not resign in the wake of the controversy surrounding his appointment by the ousted Gov. Blagojevich and he will not run for the seat in 2010. Burris has finally realized that not seeking election next year is the least price he will pay."

He's decided to take the Larry Craig route (no, he won't be hanging out in airport restrooms). He knows he's poison but doesn't want to give up a cushy job until he has to. They can't really force him out, at least with what they have on him now, so he's content to ride it out as long as he can.

I wonder if the networks will show any pictures of him during tonight's Obama speech to Congress?

Tough Questions For Democrats

The Chicago Tribune is asking some tough questions of the Democrats who continue to allow Roland Burris to serve in the Senate:

By what he said and what he chose not to say, Roland Burris lied his way into the United States Senate. Our questions, then, for leaders of Burris' Democratic Party:

Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Harry Reid, Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Pat Quinn, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias—what's your moral calculus here?

• Do you think it's acceptable for someone to take a Senate seat by lies of commission and of omission? That is, by saying what isn't true—and by declining to say what is?

• Are you comfortable having Burris represent the people of this state—people who wouldn't trust him if he said in a sworn affidavit that the Earth is round?

• At the time of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's downfall, we heard many of you comment publicly on the need for more ethical government and politics in Illinois. Have you re-read your words lately? Did you mean them?

• Burris, who says he has "absolutely nothing to hide," in fact is hiding behind the excuse of "an ongoing investigation." But a perjury investigation in Springfield, and some Ethics Committee interest from a U.S. Senate that last expelled members for sympathizing with Civil War rebels, doesn't entitle the rest of you to avoid telling Burris to quit. Or do you think it does?

• Your bottom line question here isn't whether you think Burris should be prosecuted or expelled. Your bottom line question is this: Should Roland Burris resign from the Senate seat?

There's more here. They don't seem pleased that their chosen party is so accomodating of this guy.

Dems and the Culture of Corruption

Remember when it seemed there was a scandal a day in the Republican party? The vaunted "culture of corruption" cost the GOP control on Capitol Hill and possibly the White House.

Well, we got rid of our problem children. Now it's the Dem's turn:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration and the new Congress are quickly handing over to Republicans the same "culture of corruption" issue that Democrats used so effectively against the GOP before coming to power.

Freshman Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., is only the latest embarrassment.

Senate Democrats accepted Burris because they believed what he told them: He was clean. Burris now admits he tried to raise money for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who authorities say sought to sell President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

"The story seems to be changing day by day," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday.

The political mess for the Democratic Party, however, isn't Burris' conduct alone; it's the pattern that has developed so quickly over the past few months.

_The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is the subject of a House ethics investigation. It's partly focused on his fundraising practices for a college center in his name, his ownership financing of a resort property in the Dominican Republic and his financial disclosure reports.

_Federal agents raided two Pennsylvania defense contractors that were provided millions of dollars in federal funding by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

_Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on federal charges, including allegations he schemed to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder.

_Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota, abandoned his bid to become health and human services secretary and the administration's point man on reforming health care; and Nancy Killefer stepped down from a newly created position charged with eliminating inefficient government programs.

Both Daschle and Killefer had tax problems, and Daschle also faced potential conflicts of interest related to working with health care interests.

_Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed after revealing he had tax troubles.

_Obama's initial choice for commerce secretary, Bill Richardson, stepped aside due to a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

_While the Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm William Lynn as deputy defense secretary, Obama had to waive his ethics regulations to place the former defense lobbyist in charge of day-to-day operations at the Pentagon.

This list doesn't include the big Dem contributor now suspected in an $8 billion bank fraud and laundering money for Mexican drug cartels.

And he won't be the last.

And for my lefty readers, don't worry, there's still plenty of room for GOP corruption. In fact, the Murtha mess may involve as many as 42 GOP congressmen as well as 62 Dems who had earmarks for clients of a particular lobbying group. The whole bunch of them on Capitol Hill should be flushed.

Make Room Under the Bus for Sen. Burris

Senator Roland Burris may soon be former Senator Burris. The guy who walked him onto the Senate floor for his swearing-in is even abandoning him:

Sen. Roland Burris is rapidly losing any political support he once had among colleagues, with Democrats from the statehouse to the White House raising questions about his entanglements with ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

On Wednesday afternoon, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told the Chicago Tribune, in a phone interview from Turkey, that “at this point, his future in the Senate seat is in question.”

Burris is now hunkering down in damage control mode, saying in a feisty Chicago speech today he has “nothing to hide” and that he has no intention of resigning, despite calls from several Illinois legislators and at least two Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation for him to quit. Burris has canceled his public schedule for the rest of the week.

In the past few days, Burris has revealed much more extensive contacts with Blagojevich associates than he previously admitted, and he also revealed he had been asked to raise money for the impeached governor.

The pressure on Burris is literally increasing by the hour, with the latest damaging comments straight from Air Force One, where Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s spokesman said “the people of Illinois deserve to know based on some of the things that have happened over the past few days, deserve to know the full extent of any involvement” by Burris in raising money for Blagojevich, according to a White House pool report.

Asked if Burris should resign, Gibbs said: “I'm not going to get ahead of investigations and say anything like that yet.”

Oh well, at least he'll still be able to put "Senator" on that fancy mausoleum of his.

"They Didn't Ask Me"

This is the novel excuse Sen. Roland Burris offered for conveniently forgetting to tell anyone that he had been hit up for campaign donations for former Gov. Blago:

They never asked.

That appears to be Sen. Roland Burris' rationale for omitting key details last month about conversations he had with aides to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that preceded his surprise appointment to the U.S. Senate.

State Republicans are calling for Burris to step down in light of revelations that he amended his testimony to the Illinois impeachment committee that weighed whether to oust Blagojevich.

Burris, who had been appointed by the governor in the waning days of his term to fill the seat vacated by President Obama, was a star witness in the probe into alleged pay-to-play activities.

The senator filed an affidavit with the panel on Feb. 5 noting that Blagojevich's brother, Rob Blagojevich, solicited him for donations to the governor's campaign before he was appointed, a point Burris never mentioned during his Jan. 8 testimony.

But does the omission amount to perjury?

It may not be perjury, but it definitely was intentional. Burris knew if he told that part of the story the Senate leadership probably would have refused to seat him. He's trying to play games, but the real loser will be his re-election chances in 2010. I doubt if his own party will support him, let along anyone else in Illinois.

Senator Burris Suddenly Finds Himself in a Scandal

This is starting to get funny:

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, who repeatedly denied anyone tied to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich solicited him for cash in exchange for his seat, now acknowledges Blagojevich’s brother asked him three times to help with fundraising.

In an affidavit Burris quietly filed nine days ago with the head of the House committee that recommended Blagojevich’s impeachment, Illinois’ new junior senator also said he spoke with three close associates of the governor about being appointed to the Senate. Prior, Burris only acknowledged having spoken to one such friend.

Burris said he refused the fundraising request for Blagojevich, who was removed from office after being charged Dec. 9 with corruption, including trying to sell the Senate seat Burris now holds. The new affidavit—filed only after he was seated in Congress—is Burris’ third account of what happened behind the scenes preceding Blagojevich’s decision to pick him as President Barack Obama’s replacement in the Senate.

Are you allowed to lie to the Senate?

Maybe in Obamaland. We already know you can cheat on your taxes.

Political Quote of the Day

From new Illinois Senator Roland Burris' biggest fan, Roland Burris:

“If there was no Martin Luther King Jr. and no Roland Burris, there would be no Barack Obama in the White House today,”

And if there were no Roland Burris, there would be no blog post mocking him.

Burris Gets His Seat

I knew this would happen eventually:

The Roland Burris saga is over, as Democratic Senate leaders have accepted his credentials, clearing the way for him to be sworn in as the junior senator from Illinois by the end of this week.

The decision ends an embarrassing chapter in Democratic politics and allows the Senate to move on after the Burris spectacle dominated the opening week of the 111th Congress

In a statement issued after a 45-minute meeting between Senate officials and Burris’ lawyers, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Burris is the senator-designate from Illinois now that the secretary of the Senate has approved his latest credentials.

“Accordingly, barring objections from Senate Republicans, we expect Senator-designee Burris to be sworn in and formally seated later this week,” the statement said. “We are working with him and the office of the vice president to determine the date and time of the swearing-in.”

The statement marks a major departure for Democratic leaders, who reversed themselves and decided to take their lumps in the media for a short period of time, rather than allowing the issue to drag on indefinitely. After first saying they would never seat an appointee from the scandal-tarred Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Democrats relented and decided to lay out a three-step process to seat Burris.

On Monday, Democrats dropped one of the steps — forcing the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and the full Senate to review the legality of the appointment.

Harry Reid really looked stupid during this whole episode. The Senate Republicans should just back away and let this guy be seated. Let the Dems have all the media lumps.

Stop the Court Case, Harry Reid Has Spoken

I guess Norm Coleman can hang it up, Harry Reid has announced that he'll never ever serve in the Senate again:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered the toughest language he has ever used in arguing that Norm Coleman’s career in the Senate is finished.

“Norm Coleman will never ever serve [again] in the Senate,” Reid told Politico’s Manu Raju. “He lost the election. He can stall things, but he'll never serve in the Senate.”

Al Franken was declared the winner today by the state’s Canvassing Board in the closely-contested Minnesota Senate race, defeating Sen. Norm Coleman by 225 votes. Coleman’s campaign has said it is contesting the result, preventing Franken from receiving an election certificate until all the legal challenges are resolved.

Reid added that he will not be trying to seat Franken in the Senate on Tuesday. When asked if Franken would be sworn in tomorrow, Reid said: "No."

In his victory statement today, Franken said he was “ready to go to Washington and get to work just as soon as possible.” But a Franken campaign spokesman said he has not yet made plans to travel to Washington.

Senate Republican leadership has threatened to filibuster any attempt to seat Franken before his victory is officially certified.

Given how well Reid handled the Roland Burris mess, I'd say there's a better than average chance that when it's all over Coleman will once again be the Senator from Minnesota.

Senate Dems Caving on Burris

Looks like Sen. Dianne Feinstein has more influence on the Senate than Harry Reid. Reid denied Roland Burris a seat in his hallowed chamber, but after Di Fi said Burris should be seated, suddenly it looks like the Dems want to put this disaster behind them:

Senate Democrats plan to accept Roland Burris for President-elect Barack Obama's vacant seat.

Burris was scheduled to meet Wednesday with the Senate's top two Democrats -- Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and assistant leader Dick Durbin of Illinois -- on Wednesday, a day after his paperwork was rejected at the opening of the 111th Congress.

Senate officials in both parties, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly for Senate members, said there is a growing expectation on Capitol Hill that the saga will end with Burris being seated.
Burris was selected by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in late December, and went to the U.S. Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, but he was denied access to the Senate floor.

This was always going to be the end result. I can't imagine why Reid and his counterparts were so insistent on turning it into a media disaster.

UPDATE: Not so fast. Harry Reid is not done sabotaging his leadership yet. He now says they still won't accept Burris unless the Illinois Secretary of State signs the certification, thus giving the SoS the power to overturn the choice of the governor. I fully expect the State Supreme Court to bat that one away rather easily.

Burris will be seated whether Harry Reid likes it or not.

Republican Shadenfreude

Republicans don't have much to give them joy on Capitol Hill these days, but Byron York has a piece on the pleasure the Roland Burris fiasco is giving the minority party:

The sight of the Senate slamming the door in the face of a qualified man who would also be its only black member was apparently too much for some Democrats to stand. Some began to consider ways to accommodate Burris. Perhaps he could be seated if he promised not to run for the seat on his own in 2010. Or perhaps he could just be seated with no restrictions. By the end of the day, Feinstein, who just happens to be chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, which would likely consider Burris’s plight, made a statement that was quite different from that December 10 letter.

"Does [Blagojevich] have the power, under law, to make the appointment?” Feinstein wondered aloud. “The answer is yes. If you don’t seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America. Mr. Burris is a senior, experienced politician. He has been attorney general, he has been controller, and he is very well-respected. I am hopeful that this will be settled.”

As Democrats cracked on the Burris question, Republicans mostly watched. And smiled — to themselves. “More drama,” one wrote to me as the Feinstein news broke. Burris’s appearance was “brilliant stagecraft, if it was all on purpose,” the Republican continued. “He looked sad and cold, wrapped his coat around himself at one point. It was evocative of the 1960s, just in color — a black man being turned away.”

For much of the day, Republicans, who haven’t had much to enjoy lately, felt the satisfaction of watching a mess that was completely someone else’s. "It's not our problem,” the Republican told me. “We would like a special election, but we have zero ability to make it happen.”

At this point I'm not sure the GOP cares much about the immediate future of the Senate seat in Illinois. The damage being done by this circus is almost worth skipping the special election that a Republican just might win.

Republicans will still get a chance at that seat the next time around. I don't think Burris will prove to be that great a candidate back home and there could be a backlash against corrupt Dems similar to the statewide bloodbath the Republicans took in Ohio after all the problems in the GOP in that state.

Di Fi Comes to Burris' Aid

Senator Dianne Feinstein is breaking ranks from her fellow Democrats and is calling for Roland Burris to be seated:

A key Democrat broke with her Senate colleagues Tuesday to support Roland Burris in his controversial bid to assume Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee that soon could take up Burris' case, said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has the right to appoint a senator despite the allegations of corruption against him.

"Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment? And the answer is yes," Feinstein said, urging the Senate to settle the matter. "If you don't seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America. ... Mr. Burris is a senior, experienced politician."

The comments flew in the face of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's assertion that Burris should not be seated in part because the move would be tainted by the Blagojevich scandal. Feinstein's stance is the latest sign of intra-party tensions over the matter.

Di Fi is watching the Senate Dems make fools of themselves over this guy and she clearly wants no part of that. She realizes that Gov. Blago had a perfect right to make the appointment, and there's no legal basis for the Illinois Secretary of State to withhold his signature from the appointment certification. Consequently, there's no legal basis to deny him his seat in the Senate.

Di Fi is trying to stop the Dems from digging themselves in deeper.

Only Black Member Denied Entrance to the Senate

(I know this isn't really a racial thing, but I'm having too much fun treating this story the way the mainstream press would if the Senate was run by Republicans.)

Roland Burris showed up for work as the junior Senator from Illinois but wasn't even offered a seat in the back of the chamber:

WASHINGTON -- Roland Burris was denied admission Tuesday to the world's most elite club as his credentials to be named the next U.S. senator from Illinois were denied.

Participating in the theatrics, Burris was greeted on Capitol Hill by Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer, a door-keeper and an official from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office before going to the appointment desk on the third floor and to the secretary of the Senate. There, he was told his forms were incomplete.

Burris was appointed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested last month and accused of trying to sell the vacated U.S. Senate seat previously held by President-elect Barack Obama.

Senate Democratic leaders say Burris is not qualified to enter the Senate, in part because he is tainted by the governor's political scandal, and now because his certificate of appointment hasn't been signed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.

The Senate was scheduled to convene with its newest members at noon ET on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Burris would not be permitted to take his seat because the appointee "has not been certified by the state of Illinois," a reference to the incomplete paperwork.

This whole thing is silly. Gov. Blago has a constitutional right to appoint Barack Obama's successor, and the State of Illinois has a right to full representation in the Senate. Harry Reid and Jesse White are acting like idiots in this matter.

Just for fun VP Dick Cheney should go over to Capitol Hill and swear Burris in. As president of the Senate he could probably do that.

Senate Rejects Burris

Pop some corn and pull up a chair, it's about to get good:

(CNN) – The secretary of the U.S. Senate on Monday rejected the certificiate of appointment for Roland Burris, named by Illinois' controversial governor to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat, according to an aide to the secretary.

The aide said Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson rejected Burris' appointment because it does not conform with the Senate rule requiring that the secretary of state — in this case, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White — must sign the certificate of appointment along with the governor.

White has declined to sign the certificate, siding with some Senate Democrats who say Burris should not be seated because of the cloud over Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat.

According to a Democratic source and a Democratic Senate leadership aide, without the signed certificate Burris will be denied access to the Senate floor.

I wonder if Roland Burris will have this little career milestone chiseled into his monument to himself?

Burris is on his way to D.C. and is planning to show up for work tomorrow at the Senate chamber. I hope there are cameras showing the Sergeant-at-Arms blocking a black man from entering the Senate. It might be the end of Harry Reid.

God is Picking Senators These Days

That certainly doesn't explain Al Franken, but apparently it does explain Roland Burris:

CHICAGO—Illinois U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris is leaving for Washington on Monday afternoon for a high-stakes showdown on Capitol Hill about whether he'll succeed President-elect Barack Obama in Congress.

Burris, appointed by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was leaving a day after dozens of black leaders and ministers organized by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush gave him a rousing send-of at New Covenant Church on Chicago's South Side.

Also Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the chances of Burris being sworn in are slim. But, Reid said he expected to meet with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Monday evening in hopes "we can solve this issue on a bipartisan basis." Reid added, "I'm an old trial lawyer. There's always room to negotiate."

At the church sendoff, Burris took the stage to a crescendo of drums, organ music and applause as hundreds of supporters cheered his appointment.

"We are hoping and praying that they will not be able to deny what the Lord has ordained," Burris said. "I am not hesitating. I am now the junior Senator from the state of Illinois. Some people may want to question that and that is their prerogative."

God said it, he believes it, and that's it.

Political Quote of the Day

From Harry Reid:

“We determine who sits in the Senate. And the House (of Representatives) determines who sits in the House. So there’s clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to do. This goes back for generations.”

And to think we've been wasting our time voting all these years.

And a bonus quote from the worst Senate Majority Leader in history:

“I really do believe President Bush is the worst president we’ve ever had.”

That's just stupid, especially coming from someone old enough to remember Jimmuh Carter.