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Committee of the Whole
Under legislative rules and the Illinois Constitution, the House can convene in a committee of the whole and move to a fairly fast vote, or first hold a separate committee hearing, Mr. Fritchey said. If a majority of the House votes to impeach, the matter then moves to the Senate, which could remove the governor if a supermajority of at least 37 of the 59 senators so vote.
Convene. Quorum call if necessary. Move to a Committee of the Whole (this may be redundant–not sure on the rule for convening such a session). Second. Vote. Move to introduce criminal complaint as fact. Second. Vote.
Move to impeach the Governor for malfeasance as specified in the complaint. Second. Vote.
Adjourn.
Fritchey On Top of It
His Facebook updates are hysterical with constant updates about the most recent interviews–Rich has this:
* Democratic Rep. John Fritchey is trying to take the lead…
A leading member of the Illinois General Assembly says he’ll begin immediate impeachment proceedings against Rod Blagojevich if the governor doesn’t quit first. […]
Mr. Fritchey said he already has phoned House Speaker Michael Madigan about moving an impeachment bill.
Trouble is, Madigan hasn’t returned Fritchey’s call, which Fritchey said he made yesterday morning. What the heck?
Get Off Your Asses and Prepare Article of Impeachment
Illinois has, according to Fitzgerald, been subjected to a “political corruption crime spree.”
It’s time for that crime spree to end.
The Illinois House needs to convene as soon as possible and begin impeachment proceedings. Fitzgerald’s criminal complaint has basically given the General Assembly a 78-page road map.
We’re not talking a lot of hearsay. Much of Fitzgerald’s criminal complaint is composed of the governor’s own words caught on federal surveillance tapes.
All the House has to do is stipulate that Blagojevich’s words caught on tape are facts and then vote on whether that should be an impeachable offense.
For instance, the governor is quoted as saying this about Obama’s people refusing to go along with a quid pro quo for the Senate seat appointment: “They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. F – – – them.”
Here’s our governor talking about using the Senate appointment for financial gain: “[T]he immediate challenge [is] how do we take some of the financial pressure off of our family.”
The governor sure has a way with words: “I’ve got this thing and it’s f – – – – – – golden and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for f – – – – – -nothing. I’m not gonna do it.”
Blagojevich also was caught talking about using $8 million in state pediatric funding to extract a $50,000 campaign contribution from Children’s Memorial Hospital: “I’m going to do $8 million for them. I want to get [Hospital Executive 1] for 50.”
There’s more, but you’ve probably already read most of the quotes yourself.
The Illinois Constitution’s guidelines for impeachment are pretty bare-bones. Impeachment requires just a majority vote in the House. There’s no “high crimes and misdemeanors” language as in the U.S. Constitution.
After the House votes to impeach, a two-thirds vote in the Senate is all that’s needed to remove Blagojevich from office.
And then he’d be gone. Forever.
I’ve been calling for his impeachment for over one year. I get why the delay was made, but we now have direct evidence of Rod Blagojevich having a firesale for the State of Illinois and it’s resources. Two big votes, with a few procedural votes setting them up and this is all over with.
From the Comments
There’s an additional factor to consider. Historically, impeachment was used by Parliament as a way to curb the abuses of the king’s appointed officials. The entire idea was that abuses of power should be curbed by a body not accountable to the king, but also one that is not hamstrung in its ability to curb abuse by the niceties of criminal law. In this case, we have a public official who is clearly ready to abuse his power in a very vile manner — if the tapes are accurate and not wildly out of context, Blagojevich was ready to sell the office of US Senator. The legislature has the duty, I would argue, to step in and stop this abuse of power from happening. That means, as Archpundit has argued in several posts, that they must put speed above all. Every moment they delay, they risk the Governor abusing his appointment power. Blagojevich will get all the due process to which he is entitled during the criminal trial. But we the people need protection now, even if that means that Blagojevich loses his job. Impeach him, and do it now.
Look, he’s trying to sell the damn state off piece by piece for himself. Allowing this to drag out only gives him more chances. Trying to deal with this because of some precedent it might start ignores that the reason we need to do it is because this assclown has broken all precedents of corruption. In wiretaps that existed for one and one-half month he has been caught trying to sell just about anything the State of Illinois can offer anyone.
ABC Pegs Jackson as Senate Candidate 5
Not surprising, but let’s see if it is confirmed.
The discussion was disturbing on Rod’s end, but we don’t know of how the discussion took place with the Jackson camp so we have no idea if they in fact proposed pay to play or just made the usual horse trading sort of wink and nod. Either way, Jackson, while safe in his seat, won’t be a viable candidate for a special election.
Look, It’s Not Hard to Impeach Someone
Yes, I would have preferred a thoughtful process that included hearings and deliberation.
It’s too late for that. The Speaker had his chance to convene an investigative panel before this. Now, we are stuck with a completely untenable situation. Let’s review the rules for impeachment:
The House of Representatives has the sole power to
conduct legislative investigations to determine the existence
of cause for impeachment and, by the vote of a majority of
the members elected, to impeach Executive and Judicial
officers. Impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When
sitting for that purpose, Senators shall be upon oath, or
affirmation, to do justice according to law. If the Governor
is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall
preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence
of two-thirds of the Senators elected. Judgment shall not
extend beyond removal from office and disqualification to
hold any public office of this State. An impeached officer,
whether convicted or acquitted, shall be liable to
prosecution, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
Impeachment is not a criminal process. It is a political process and as such, it does not require a long drawn out process. This kind of handwringing was for before we got in this situation, not now. Remove him. The grounds have been there for over one year if not longer.
What if the Impeachment Were to Last Beyond the Start of the New Lege Session?
Madigan called Blagojevich’s arrest “a new low for conduct by public officials.”
“I believe in the rights of individuals to due process, but I also believe action must be taken to avoid certain functions of state government from being irrevocably tarnished by Governor Blagojevich’s continued exercise of power,” Madigan said in a statement.
Madigan plans to bring the House back Monday, and the Senate also is returning, to discuss stripping the governor’s power to appoint a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama as U.S. senator. Lawmakers will be meeting in regular session, allowing them to take up impeachment or any other matters they want.
But Madigan spokesman Steve Brown cautioned there are several complications to proceeding with impeachment, including timing.
A new legislature will be sworn in Jan. 14, and if impeachment proceedings start before then, there’s a question of whether they could continue with new lawmakers or have to start over.
Bullshit. It shouldn’t take that long. Get rid of him and stop this nonsense. He must go, the Illinois voters want him gone, there are a plethora of reasons, and tons of evidence. If you cannot get this done by January 14th, the problem is with you, not with the process. Frankly, you can get it done by December 14th and should.
Happy Birthday Rod!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaCCG7QkM_c[/youtube]