Week of Janaury 12 th, 2009
The actual legislative vehicle that impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich came in the form of House Resolution 1671. It contained the usual “Whereas” language that is found in the proceeding one thousand, six hundred and seventy resolutions that have been filed in the House of Representatives of the 95 th Illinois General Assembly. However, this resolution is historic and very different than any ever filed in the nearly two hundred year history of our great state. It outlines in very specific, carefully worded language the conduct of Rod Blagojevich as governor that justifies the abuse of power charge which led to his impeachment by the House.
The Article of Impeachment reads this way: “Based on the totality of the evidence contained in the Record of the House Special Investigative Committee...and as summarized in the Final Report of the Special Investigative Committee filed with the House of Representatives on January 8, 2009… in his conduct while Governor of the State of Illinois, Rod R. Blagojevich has abused the power of his office in some or all of the following ways:”
What follows in the resolution is a list of thirteen specific and well documented charges spelling out the abuses of power which led to this historic action. Some of the charges include the highly publicized plot to obtain personal benefit in exchange for his appointment to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by President-elect Obama, his plot to trade official acts in exchange for campaign contributions such as the attempted extortion of $50,000 from the CEO of a children’s hospital in exchange for releasing funding appropriated by the General Assembly for pediatric care, his refusal to recognize the authority of the legislative branch multiple times, his illegal attempt to purchase flu vaccines and his violation of state and federal law regarding the hiring and firing of state employees. There are more charges. Reading the full resolution and impeachment committee report will certainly stir many to anger. The entire list of charges can be read by going to www.ilga and typing HR1671 in the search box located in the top left hand corner of the page.
The very last sentence of HR 1671 reads as follows: “Wherefore, this abuse of power by Rod R. Blagojevich warrants his impeachment and trial, removal from office as Governor, and disqualification to hold any public office of this State in the future.
I voted Yes to the resolution and it passed by a 114-1-1 margin in the House and now moves to the Senate. The reaction from the governor’s office was what we have come to expect from him, more arrogance and a claim that he has not done anything wrong. He claims that the House of Representatives has been “out to get him” since his re-election in 2006. He points to House records from July of 2007 to support his claim that this impeachment was the final action that came as a result of comments made way back in July of 2007. I remember those comments very well. Two House Members stood up that day in the middle of July during a special session called by the governor to pressure the House into passing legislation to expand healthcare in Illinois. As was typical, the governor failed to provide the General Assembly with any legislation to consider during the special session that he had called at the taxpayers’ expense.
Representative Mike Bost was angry that the governor was continuing to waste precious resources and attempting to bully the legislative branch. Back then, there were numerous reports of hiring illegalities and other abuses of power by the governor. Representative Bost suggested back in July of 2007 that perhaps it was time for the House to form a Special Committee to consider impeachment. The second House Member to comment that day was me. I simply reminded the governor that during special sessions, the Constitution states that the House can discuss impeachment and that he would be well advised to consider that fact if he continued to call special sessions and waste the taxpayers money without ever showing up in Springfield or providing the House with legislation to consider during those times he called special sessions.
It is noteworthy that many of the charges contained within HR1671 describe behavior by Blagojevich that occurred as far back as 2003. His illicit behavior occurred consistently throughout his six years as governor. The House simply waited too long to take this action. The governor was enabled by a Democratic Party majority in the House and Senate. It finally took a pair of handcuffs on the governor’s wrists to convince Speaker Madigan that it was time to take action. Madigan is the head of the State Democratic Party and also served as Blagojevich’s campaign co-chairman in 2006. This should have never been about protecting political parties and this should have never been about politics. .
It is my sincere hope that things move quickly in the Senate. Since a new General Assembly is being seated next Wednesday and the Inauguration of President-elect Obama takes place the following week, it is likely that the new House will have to vote on this resolution again after it is re-Constituted. I would rather have seen the Senate start the trial right after the impeachment vote. But, that would not happen because the governor’s chief ally Emil Jones is still the Senate President until the new Senate is seated. So, the Senate trial is likely to begin the week of January 26 th.
The governor has publicly stated that he feels that the charges were trumped up in the House and he expects a different outcome in the Senate. He points to the “good” that he has done by pushing healthcare reforms like AllKids and defends the blatant violation of laws that occurred when he expanded healthcare without legislative approval. There are many who share the commitment to reform health care in Illinois. His health care goals might be laudable but his claim that “anything goes” in order to get his way is laughable. The ends do not justify the means when laws are broken and the very foundations of our democracy are ignored.
One of the many carefully crafted cornerstones of our democracy is the separation of powers doctrine. Another is the fact that we are a government of written laws and not of individuals. Both of these important concepts are threaded throughout our Constitutions at the State and National levels and both were ignored and trampled on by Blagojevich. He abused his power and violated his oath of office as governor and must be removed from office. The sooner this happens, the better.
I have been reminded throughout this process that we are blessed to live under a form of government so well constructed that we are provided tools to effectively deal with situations like this. Individuals that use public office and public service for self service will eventually be found out and dealt with by the magnificent structure of the government framed by our founding fathers.
We have a lot of work to do when the 96 TH General Assembly convenes next week after the final two days of the 95 th General Assembly occur January 12 th and 13 th. Next week, and thereafter, I will count on your input to guide me this spring as we tackle monumental budget problems and consider many other public policy proposals for our State. As always, I look forward to your thoughts. You can e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com, call me at 217-558-1040 or 618-563-4128, write to me at P.O. Box 125, Hutsonville, IL 62433 and go to www.peopleforeddy.com for updates.