To Seat or Not To Seat...That is the Question
So Hot Rod Blagojevich has pulled out his shiny brass orbs once again to show the world they can’t tell him what to do and convinced a fellow Illinois Democrat to commit political suicide to force the issue with the U.S. Senate. Roland Burris has now gone to Washington, been turned away and is grabbing any reporter he can find to make sure to call himself “the Junior Senator from Illinois” every chance he can.
The Secretary of State for Illinois has refused to certify the appointment and the U.S. Senate Secretary has refused to accept the appointment paperwork for Burris because it hasn’t been certified. There are some rumblings of a compromise solution that might seat Burris but chances are they will involve a commitment to not run for the seat when the term vacated by President-elect Obama is up. Short of a compromise deal it will likely be up to the courts to decide the issue.
Some on Capitol Hill are hoping for a protracted court battle as it would give the Illinois legislature time to impeach and remove Blagojevich from office so that his replacement can name the new Senator from Illinois voiding his appointment of Burris. No matter the end result of the current battle over the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama it is unlikely that Roland Burris will have a bright future in the Democratic Party. His acceptance of the Blagojevich appointment flew in the face of the Party and will not be forgotten by the people in the Party that can make or break his ability to fundraise in the future.
Burris is not without his supporters however. California Senator Dianne Feinstein made a statement on Tuesday supporting the seating of Burris saying that in legal terms there was no reason not to seat the appointee. As the outgoing Chairperson of the Senate Rules Committee Feinstein is well versed in the process and can be relied on to interpret the rules regarding appointments but in the current climate in Washington her voice may do little to sway those opposing Burris’ seating in the Senate. Some have posited also that it may be the gubernatorial aspirations of Senator Feinstein that are driving her to speak out. For someone who may seek the California governorship in 2010 it would be a bad precedent to set to disallow an appointment made by a sitting governor for any reason other than impeachment or recall. It would be basically setting a precedent that could limit her own powers if she were to win the California governorship in 2010.
Regardless of the eventual result of this very public debate over the acceptability of Burris to serve in the U.S. Senate, the outcome of this conflict will undoubtedly have an impact on gubernatorial appointments in the future. The mere fact that Burris has been initially refused entry into the Senate opens the door to future challenges of appointed Senators. If Blagojevich is impeached there will likely be repercussions for Burris as well since he has chosen to align himself with the embattled governor. If Blagojevich is somehow cleared Burris may find some measure of validation for standing with him but it is unlikely that the Democratic Party will ever give either man a lot of support in running for elected office. In the end both men will lose politically speaking for their actions of the recent past.
The Realist - Patriot at Large| E-mail Comments on this article. | Click icon to Digg this article
Can the Obama Recovery Package Work?
With the inauguration less than two weeks away the nation is becoming focused on the transition of power from President Bush to President-elect Obama. One of the main focuses of news coverage has been the nearly one trillion dollar stimulus package being proposed by Barack Obama. This package includes over three hundred fifty billion dollars in tax cuts and incentives for business expansion as well as over four hundred billion dollars in infrastructure investment. The question we all need to be asking is will it work?
Most experts agree that the tax breaks so far have been wholly ineffective in stimulating the economy. These tax cuts for average people of $500-1000 will likely not do much to actually turn the economy around but will give some Americans a little more money in their pockets for spending. The tax incentives targeted at businesses designed to create jobs may have some positive impact as it will encourage employers to hire more workers. While most economists give the tax cuts for individuals little chance to bring real improvement to the economy many do praise the idea of incentives given to employers to hire more workers as that would actually lower unemployment and put more wage earners back into the economy.
The piece of the stimulus package that is getting almost universal approval is the infrastructure investment program. With American roads, power grids, schools and public health institutions in decay and operating inefficiently there is a need to improve them. That need coupled with the need for jobs to employ Americans has created a good opportunity for the government to be part of the larger solution. It is a given that this spending will result in deficits which will impact the future but the need for both jobs and infrastructure improvements has made investment into our nation by the government the wisest course of action.
One thing that the President-elect has made clear about his stimulus package is that there will be no earmarks allowed. In a statement made about the package President-elect Obama was definitive in stating his intentions to not allow earmarks in the package so that American taxpayers are not made to pay for pet projects of politicians that have been snuck into the package without anyone noticing. While individual projects may be included there will have to be transparency if Congress wants the incoming President Obama to sign the spending bill.
Whether the stimulus package will work or not remains to be seen but as with all things coming out of Washington it is clearly an imperfect plan. For the sake of our nation we have to hope that it works to the extent that more people will be getting back to work and putting money back into the economy. Hopefully the stimulus package will create growth that is sustainable and that is not able to be derailed by the greed of a few working only in their own self-interest. If not, we will not only have not solved the problem, a larger deficit will have been created making the problem even worse.
Troy Wilson-Ripsom - Staff Writer | E-mail Comments on this article. | Click icon to Digg this article
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