BURRIS' SON GOT STATE JOB FROM BLAGO

[kpete]

Source: Chicago Sun Times

BURRIS' SON GOT STATE JOB FROM BLAGO
SCANDAL MUSHROOMS | He serves as housing authority counsel despite facing foreclosure on his own home

February 26, 2009

BY CHRIS FUSCO, TIM NOVAK AND DAVE MCKINNEY Staff Reporters

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.

Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/burris/1450607,CST-NWS-burris26.article

[GoesTo11]

1. If he can't be impeached, how about making him a Republican

Better this should happen to one of them than to one of us.

[mopinko]

14. duzy

how do you nominate?

[Dinger]

16. Yup, DUzy Nom #2 (nt)

[No Elephants]

24. Impeachment does not apply. The Senate can expel him, though, if it

wishes. It takes a majority vote to commence the proceeding and a 2/3 vote to expel. Several Senators have resigned after the first vote, though.

It has not happened often, to say the least, but it's been done.

[MO_Dem]

2. Oh, Boy!

:hurts:

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. I still have to laugh at the people on DU who defended this guy.

This guy is a typical Illinois political "Tick".....buried so deep you need a knife to dig him out.

He'll never resign from the Senate.

[The Stranger]

4. Then maybe we should leave him alone and see about prosecuting war criminals.

The Republican Junta who have murdered hundreds of thousands and set up concentration camps.

Remember them?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. You won't get any argument from me.

I wrote that seat off the day the appointment was disclosed.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. And what is the connection, pray tell?

Burris's son got the job 2 months BEFORE Obama's seat became open. How is that connected with Burris getting Obama's seat?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. Nothing really... but....

....It DOES show he is another nest-feathering low-life.

[struggle4progress]

20. Exactly what shows who is a nest-feathering low-life?

[MUAD_DIB]

9. Wel...

:rofl::rofl::rofl:


It's connected to corrupt Chicago politics.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

10. Do you really believe that any other applicant

would be even considered for a senior housing authority job with personal foreclosure and tax liens???

INTERVIEWER: Have you ever had foreclosure filed against your personal home? After all, this is what you will be dealing with.

BURRIS: My name is Roland Burris.

INTERVIEWER: Have you ever had tax liens filed against you or a family member?

BURRIS: My name is Roland Burris.

INTERVIEWER: OK, sorry for the questions. You're hired.

[nichomachus]

12. What's the connection?

We know for a fact that Blago never gave nothin' for nothin', which means that Burris had already been involved in Blago's pay-to-play party. Most likely the money for the son's job came from Burris, since the son apparently doesn't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of.

[struggle4progress]

19. "The money for the son's job came from Burris"? Do you just make this $#!%up?

[KamaAina]

17. It was fairly obvious that Obama would become President

as soon as he clinched the nomination last spring.

A potted plant would have gotten as many electoral votes for the repukes as McCain't/Failin'.

[struggle4progress]

21. It wasn't clear to anybody here in NC, where thousands of folk pounded the pavement for months

to help our Dem win by a fraction of a percent

[KamaAina]

22. Your work is certainly appreciated!

but the very notion that NC might actually be in play should have been enough to tell Cindy McCain to hold off on hiring an interior decorator for the East Wing.

[No Elephants]

25. I don't know what the time line has to do with anything. However, Burris had expressed

interest in getting appointed to fill Obama's seat before Obama won the election.

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. So did a dozen other people. How does that impact on Burris'

son getting the job he did?

If Blago was all about 'pay to play', how does it logically fit for Blago to do a big favor for Burris, by hiring his son, and then do another big favor, in appointing Burris? Where is the payback to Blago?

This looks like a real strong case of guilt by association.

[No Elephants]

30. I was replying to your comment in your post # 7, which was

"Burris's son got the job 2 months BEFORE Obama's seat became open. How is that connected with Burris getting Obama's seat?"

As my prior post said, I did not understand that comment of yours to begin with.

I do understand Your payback comment and that is a good point. However, I am not one of the posters on this thread claiming that there is a connection between the son's job and the father's job. I simply made a factual comment about the timing of Daddy Burris's request for his Senate seat.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

34. that is what I call a black hole question,

because its foundation is as dense as a singularity in space.

Duh, do you think that someone may have anticipated that Obama's seat would become vacant, even a year ago? six months ago? And don't you think that some political animals, like burris, would do anything (as he has) to insure that his name was front and center and heading the list? When do you start? Like NY's governor, too late, and too much the amateur operation?

This timing is so obvious, so crediblem and so damaging, only a Burris staffer could find a lack of connection.

[Lost in CT]

6. It's like Illinois (well Chinese) water torture....

Will someone please rid me of this senator...

[crispini]

11. Ew, ew, ew.

Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee YEW!

[struggle4progress]

13. Wait, wait. I'm confused. I thought the issue was whether Blagojevich tried to sell the Senate seat,

and (if so) whether Roland I knew anything about it -- so I'm not sure exactly what this new revelation is supposed to reveal

To date, there's no evidence Roland I ever raised any money for Blagojevich

According to the article, Roland II (like a lot of other people) has recently had some financial problems and a foreclosure issue. Whether he failed to pay his taxes corruptly or as a result of bad planning, I don't know. But under our system of government, folk generally aren't responsible for the behavior of their relatives -- so Roland II's tax/foreclosure issues don't really reflect on Roland I's honesty or competence

At the time of Roland II's appointment to the state housing authority, Roland I seems to have been out of office for more than a decade, working as a consultant, lawyer, and director of a real estate corporation. If Roland I didn't raise any money for Blagojevich in the 2008 campaign, and if he wasn't even in government, it's hard to see how Roland I could have exerted any corrupt influence towards Roland II's appointment

This doesn't make any sense. WTF is the actual issue? For example, is the article suggesting Two months before the November election, Blagojevich decided to bribe Roland I into taking the Senate seat, by offering state employment to Burris II?

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. Obviously, Blago's staff psychic saw that Obama was going to win,

and that a half dozen other potential replacements were all going to turn down the appointment, leaving Burris as the guy who would then burnish Blago's failing reputation by not spurning the appointment, so he pre-emptively rewarded Burris by hiring his son.

Simple, no?

[struggle4progress]

18. o ... well ... i'm glad we could get that cleared up

:o

Hope yer doin okay. Haven't seen ya fer a few years

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. I've been around - doing a little more reading and a little less posting

due to the virulence of the primaries.

Thanks for asking.

:hi:

[No Elephants]

26. Burris has admitted that he tried to raise money for

Blago. Burris said that he wanted the seat, if Obama vacated it. Blago's brother says, try to raise money for the Governor. Burris tries to raise money for the Governor.

Are you saying that failing to raise the money somehow alters the gravity of the above fact pattern?

[struggle4progress]

27. LOL! Here's a multipage list of people who raised $100K - $200K for a Bush campaign in 00 or 04

and then got a Federal appointment before the end August 2004

Rangers and Pioneers Receiving Appointments from the Bush Administration
<pdf:> http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/documents/appoint0804.pdf
<google hmtml from pdf:> http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=bush+pioneer+appointed&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

And I'm supposed to believe a guy who supposedly "tried" to raise money for Blagojevich (but didn't succeed) is corrupt? :rofl:

[No Elephants]

36. Yes. Because he asked for the job, then was told to raise the money and then tried to

do so. Am I supposed to believe that a guy who ADMITTED UNDER OATH (not "supposedly") that he tried to raise money in response is NOT corrupt, just bc he is a lousy money raiser (or so he claims?)

Donating money is not corrupt. Getting a job after you've donated money is not corrupt. The quid pro quo is what is corrupt. So, you may as well stop rolling around on the floor. You'll only get dirty.

[struggle4progress]

28. Of course, your "response" has nothing whatsoever to do with the questiuon raised in my post

[struggle4progress]

31. Gov. Quinn looks into Roland Burris II's employment

February 26, 2009
BY JORDAN WILSON
Staff Reporter/[e-mail]

... The governor said he had no idea if there was any wrongdoing in Burris II’s hiring.

“I don’t think I’m going to pre-judge things, but I think the matter deserves serious review and it <should> be done very quickly,” Quinn said.

Quinn said his chief of staff, Jerry Stermer, and his general counsel, Ted Chung, will look into Burris II’s situation, but no timeline has been set. Quinn said they would make a recommendation to the IHDA board and executive director.

“I want to make sure everything is right and proper,” Quinn said ... http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/burris/1451739,w-pat-quinn--roland-burris-son-review-022609.article

[classysassy]

32. Lets

ask all of the senators that got fat contracts for their husbands and wives to resign.Go over to the lower chamber (house) and do the same.What a bunch of cowards.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

33. People can stop making fun of NJ now

[davsand]

35. Blago had "hiring issues" for a lot of the time he was in office.

I dunno if too many folks outside of Illinois realize it, but Blago and his administration were pretty widely thought to be doing state hiring based on past political favors and party connections. I found a Chicago Trib article on the subject--maybe this will provide a bit of insight:

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2006/sep/17/news/chi-0609170388sep17

I know that there has been a perception in some circles that the Illinois Dems were almost too quick to act in removing Blago from office. I have to admit, however, that as an Illinois Dem I think we waited too long. Blago should never have been afforded time to appoint this Senate seat. Had our legislature actually been doing anything other than sleeping in their seats or grandstanding for the press we would NOT be facing this mess with Burris and that just pisses me off.

We lost Obama as our Senator and just LOOK what Blago gave us to replace him. We got an washed up hack (who was incapable of winning an election any more and had demonstrated that several times over) who now publicly appears to be every bit as dirty as Blago. I dunno for sure if Burris actually is dirty--nobody does--but to the VOTERS it sure is gonna look like it--and we Dems here in Illinois are gonna have to deal with that perception in yet ANOTHER race.

Way to go, Blago! Yet AGAIN you f***ed Illinois Dems in the ass. I swear this asshole is just like herpes--he's the gift that keeps on giving.


Laura